Laschet is "a cautious moderate in the Merkel mode, but with a dose of her predecessor Gerhard Schröder’s business-über-alles reflex and readiness to engage with authoritarians."
He "has warned against demonising Putin for his annexation of Crimea, criticised Washington for supporting rebels trying to overthrow Assad and, as leader of the German state with the closest economic ties to China, voiced support for deepening the relationship with Beijing."
"Asked in November about shutting out Chinese telecommunications group Huawei from Germany’s 5G network — a move supported by his CDU rivals Röttgen and Merz — Laschet repeated Merkel’s economy-over-security talking points"
"Positions like these led Schröder, a Social Democrat (SPD) whose reputation has been badly tarnished by his close ties to Putin and lobbying on behalf of Russian energy interests, to endorse Laschet for chancellor last year in a joint interview the two did."
"... remarks he made at the German-Russian Forum a year ago, in which he appeared to cast doubt on whether Russia was engaged in election meddling, cyber attacks and disinformation campaigns, saying there was a need to clear up which of these allegations were true"
