New German Chancellor is an unknown quantity for Russia

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 08 Dec 2021 by Alex Teddy
On December 8 Olaf Scholz became the Chancellor. Angela Merkel had held this post since 2005. She grew up in communist East Germany and speaks Russian fluently. She had a better rapport with Putin than any other EU leader. The two agreed on the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline. Merkel was one of the only foreign leaders with whom Putin used the familiar 'ty' form of 'you' in Russian.Putin sent a message felicitating Scholz on ascending to the headship of government. Putin is eager that he has just as cooperative a relationship with Scholz. It is hard to see the relationship being as cordial as it was with Scholz predecessor. Scholz is a Social Democrat whereas Merkel was a Christian Democrat. The two parties had been in coalition for several years. They are not far apart ideologically. Germany is the EU's largest economy by a long way.Chancellor Scholz has said that he will stand against authoritarian leaders. Some see this as a threat to Russia. Scholz is in coalition with the Greens who bitterly opposed Nord Stream 2. 40% of Germany's gas comes from Russia. Once the pipeline is pumping this will increase.

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