Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his views on the future of the European Union in an interview earlier this week at the editorial office of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He said the EU should become “more sovereign” and play the role of a “geopolitical player”, especially on defense policy issues. The Chancellor expressed his country’s readiness to “take on responsibility in Europe and in the world”. “Integrating and leading together” – this is the role the head of the German government sees for his country in Europe.

The Sunday edition of the newspaper – “FAZ” summarized the first international reaction to Scholz’s proposal. The idea of ​​the German chancellor was greeted “with joy, but also with amazement”. “Applause was heard from the French government, protests were heard from the Polish government,” wrote Konrad Schuller and Michaela Wiegel.

Excitement and protest

The first place among supporters of Scholz’s proposal was occupied by the French government. “Very good (idea),” said Laurence Boone, Minister for European Affairs France. According to him, the idea of ​​a chancellor of European sovereignty proves a “shift” in his views and refers to the program presented at the Sorbonne by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Boone also found the principle of “co-leadership” to be commendable. “We face challenges not as Germans and French, but as Europeans,” the French minister stressed. This approach, assuming a 27-country agreement, he argues, is better than the “Normandy Format”, in which Paris and Berlin try to resolve the conflict in the Donbas themselves with Ukraine and Russia.

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Berlin arrogance?

The opposite position was taken by the national-conservative government in Warsaw, which regarded fragments of Germany’s leading role as arrogant. Anyone who has made a “big mistake” like Germany, made the country dependent on gas supplies and misjudged Russia, should not aspire to be a leading country, said Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, Secretary of State at Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. . According to him, many countries in Europe are disappointed with Germany’s attitude. “Where is the place for such a thesis here?” – Polish diplomat expressed his surprise.

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The chairman of the European People’s Party in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, praised the geopolitical idea of ​​a sovereign Europe, but criticized the lack of specificity. “The analysis is correct, but unfortunately nothing has been done yet,” Weber said.

Remove the possibility of veto

“FAZ” acknowledges that the Scholz program consists of entries without details. With one exception – the rule of majority voting. According to him, the possibility of each country blocking European decisions must be stopped. “We cannot grant a national veto in foreign policy if we want our voices to be heard,” Scholz said. The Chancellor demands an end to the unanimous rule in EU foreign and defense policy.

“We want to maintain the principle of unanimity in foreign policy” – quotes Szynkowski “FAZ”. Making decisions by majority vote in his opinion is unacceptable. This means that Poland can be forced to accept immigrants against its will.

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Various Western and Eastern themes

Blocking EU decisions doesn’t always have to result from pure selfishness, the authors note. Gunther Krichbaum, spokesperson for the CDU/CSU club on the Bundestag’s European affairs committee, points to the specificity of Eastern Europe – “We in the West, at the beginning of integration after World War II, believed that peace was of the utmost importance. Reconciliation was at the center. The survivors of communist dictatorships are primarily guided by the idea of ​​freedom.” And they said, “We didn’t fight for decades for independence that now other people are telling us what to do.”

The weakness of the Scholz program is, according to “FAZ”, the lack of guidance on how to convince skeptics to liquidate a national veto. Scholz’s postulates make sense, but the chancellor doesn’t say how he wants to achieve this, Krichbaum criticized. Many of the proposals remain “empty slogans”.

Article comes from the site Deutsche Welle