Will it be a weekend for the coalition partners, especially the Chancellor. It should finally bring clarity. The leaders of the governing parties want to put together the third relief package in the so-called coalition committee in the Chancellery, which – if not all – will help as many households and companies as possible to cope with the exploding energy prices.
But then the Ukrainian prime minister comes on Saturday and also expects clarity. Denys Schmyhal is in the Chancellery on Sunday. He is the highest-ranking Ukrainian politician to visit Berlin since the Russian war of aggression began more than six months ago.
The Prime Minister will once again demand what Kyiv has been demanding for a long time, but now all the more urgently: modern Leopard 2 tanks from Germany. This in view of his army’s offensives against the Russian occupiers. The Crimea and other areas are to be brought back.
Schmyhal received support before the visit from the Union faction leader and CDU chairman Friedrich Merz. And he has a point: The opposition leader affirms that the direct supply of main battle tanks by the Bundestag is covered by the decision of April 28th.
This means that Merz Scholz is at least in need of explanation if the Chancellor continues to refuse as before. It is true that no NATO state has yet handed over such western-style weapon systems to Ukraine; also the USA does not deliver their Abrams tank.
However, Spain offers Leopard 2 from German production. Means: The rejection front softens. Clarity is also necessary here because, according to a citizen survey by the civil servants’ association, only 29 percent believe that the state is capable of acting and can fulfill its tasks.
This applies to the climate, the cost explosion or Corona as well as to action in war. So this weekend is crucial in every way. For the coalition partners, the chancellor and far beyond.
