Smooth sailing for Chancellor Olaf Scholz

About 155 people were waiting for Chancellor Olaf Scholz to enter the bar — an outdoor venue decorated to resemble a beach club — in Germany's northern city of Lübeck. They'd already been through a lot just to get here, waiting in the hot sun, rehearsing their questions on the benches set up in the sand, trying out what it's like to speak into the microphone. The moderator, an accomplished local radio journalist trying her best to bring excitement to the meeting on the Baltic Sea, encouraged participants to try "warming up."

"This is a bit like a vacation here, isn't it?" she said cheerfully, looking out over the sand, the beach chairs, and the potted palm trees, trying to lighten the mood.

"You're allowed to ask the chancellor anything that's on your mind, and you're allowed to ask again if you're not satisfied with the answer." After all, she said, people had come to this event to talk to each other.

Government approval plummeting

Scholz is seeking to visit each of Germany's 16 states in the coming months for what he calls "chancellor talks," providing an opportunity to "exchange views on problems and concerns," with citizens. The war in Ukraine, skyrocketing energy prices, the question of whether Russia will completely turn off the gas tap to the Germans — there is certainly no shortage of serious issues to discuss in the next 90 minutes, and the government has been trying for weeks to prepare people for the hard times ahead.

Since taking office in December, the governing coalition of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), Green Party, and business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) has lost a significant amount of popularity. Scholz, a member of the SPD, has received a lot of flak from home and abroad for his policies. He has been accused of not providing sufficient support to Ukraine and of repeatedly delaying arms deliveries. The 64-year-old has also been criticized for his communication style, which comes across to many as arrogant and lacking empathy.

A welcoming crowd

But at this bar in Lübeck, most people seem well-disposed toward Olaf Scholz and are happy to have the opportunity to meet the chancellor up close. An elderly man who says he's just celebrated his 81st birthday wants to know whether Scholz can still sleep soundly in the face of all the criticism from "the smart alecks in the media and the know-it-alls in the opposition," who seemingly never tire of bashing the country's leadership. "Where do they get the courage, the strength, and the time to take on such a marathon event?" he asked, noting that the way Scholz weathers the critique "deserves our admiration, thank you very much."

Chancellor Scholz smiles and congratulates the man on his birthday: "If I still look like you at 81, I've done everything right."

Scholz says he is not concerned with polls or what will be in the newspapers the next day. Then, he reels off his routine monologue about Germany's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He speaks of "serious times" in which leaders must avoid taking even one false step. There can be no "trial and error" here, he says. "After all, a single mistake in this situation would be terrible," Scholz says, adding that this is why Germany always consults closely with allies and does not take any unilateral actions.

Unperturbed by protests

Outside the venue and under tight police security, a small protest march has formed. With drums and shouts, the demonstrators try to disrupt the discussion. "Scholz must go," chant the protestors, followed by "liar, liar." But the chancellor is not disturbed by the demonstrators, nor by the few critical questions that crop up.

Despite the turmoil going on in the world, foreign policy is only a minor topic in the exchanges between Scholz and the participants. Mostly they ask about domestic issues. A nurse confronts Scholz about having left her job because of the poor working conditions and asks when the situation will finally change. The chancellor agrees that the situation in nursing is "dramatic."

"We must not just applaud," he said, referring to the pandemic-era tradition of neighborhoods clapping in unison for healthcare workers. The reforms being considered, he says, are indeed moving too slowly, but the improvement being sought is a "major, long-term task."

Whether it's the shortage of skilled workers, the security of pensions, inflation, or chaos in the country's rail network, Scholz usually answers in such a way that his messages are easy to understand but extremely vague in their content. He said that the government was already working on a lot of these issues, but there was much that needed to be discussed further and some things that needed to be reassessed.

Several times, the questions are about social well-being in Germany, which for many in Lübeck appears to be in a precarious position. "It cannot be that people who work eight hours a day don't make enough to live off of," one 62-year-old says.

In response, Scholz points to the minimum wage, which is set to increase to 12 euros ($12) an hour in October: "That will be a big wage increase for six million citizens."

He says his concern has always been that those who work are able to cope with price increases. In order to cushion the burden of inflation on ordinary citizens, Scholz claims, the government has already provided financial relief, and now people must show solidarity, taking a hit if need be to stand together against Russian aggression.

Scholz satisfied with first meet

One attendee, an entrepreneur from Lübeck, criticized the recent wedding of German Finance Minister Christian Lindner as "inappropriate and out of step with the current situation." Lindner got married in high style over the weekend on the resort island of Sylt, with many politicians, including Scholz, in attendance.

The chancellor clearly does not want to comment on the luxurious setting for the nuptials. "The most beautiful thing in life is love," he says. "And when two people find each other and want to get married, you shouldn't overanalyze it. And I think that's true even in these times."

After 90 minutes, Scholz is visibly satisfied with how his first "chancellor talk" went. At the end, all the guests are allowed to line up and have their picture taken with the chancellor, either individually or in groups. "Super, cool," say two women, looking enthusiastically at the pictures on their cell phones. The chancellor stands patiently, smiling in the warm evening sun. Things have gone his way in Lübeck.

This article was originally written in German.

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