Thread by @andersostlund

Olaf Scholz' lead advisor on Russia is Jens Plötner, who was the mastermind behind then-foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier's disastrous Russia policy. That could explain why the disastrous policy is still in place.
zeit.de/politik/deutsc…

Since Jens Plötner worked so close with Steinmeier on Russia one also have to ask what influence Steinmeier has on the current policy towards Russia. There is little hope for a change in German Russia policy as long as the SPD old timers are still in power.

Germany has been on the wrong page of history with regards to Russia for the last 20 years. For a moment I thought that Scholz would make it right and make sure Germany would do the right thing. That hope is now fading away.

Germany's reputation is already suffering badly due to its unwillingness to confront Russia in a meaningful way. If Germany continue on the current track there will be no way for Germany to save its reputation. Germany will again end up on the wrong side.

It's heartbreaking to see the German government act like this. This was a unique chance for Germany to once and for all show that it had learnt from history and could step forward as a solid defender of democracy and peace.

Watching the German government doubling down on a policy that has proven to be such an utter and disastrous failure leaves little room for hope. The only real option now is that the German opposition joins forces with the Greens and Liberals to oust Scholz from office.

German culpability for what Russia is doing now is well established. Steinmeier opposed sanctions after Russia attacked Georgia, Merkel agreed on NordStream II within a year after Russia attacked Ukraine and now Scholz is vetoing an oil and gas embargo against Russia.

No other country was so well positioned as Germany to stop Russia's imperial aggression but instead of dealing with the rise of evil Germany enabled it. There are so many well known examples of this it's not worth the time to list them all.

The most eager pro-Russia forces in the German governments over the last 20 years are still influential and SPD controls the chancellor's office in Berlin so there is little hope for change with the current government coalition.

Ukraine could have been spared the war of 2014 if Germany had acted stronger against Russia early on. Now Ukraine has many other solid allies and will, in my opinion, win the war against Russia even without a solid German response.

So the German government's actions will be more and more a German problem. Germany's reputation as an ally and defender of democracy will be in tatters, Germany will be politically isolated in the EU and NATO, Germany will not be trusted.

It's the task for the German people to set the direction of their country and to protect its standing and position in the world. From the outside it appears a very thankless task to bang ones head against the German concrete wall.