Chancellor Olaf Scholz won Germany¡¯s election by emulating Angela Merkel¡¯s steady, unexcitable approach to government. That inherent caution is beginning to look like a liability as he faces his first major international crisis.
Cast as the West¡¯s weak link in deterring Russia, Scholz¡¯s administration has rejected sending weapons to Ukraine and is holding out on allowing Estonia to transfer Cold War-era equipment to the country, despite more than 100,000 Russian troops massed near its border. Instead, Germany has offered to finance and train people for a field hospital and send over 5,000 protective helmets.
Amid efforts to deter the Kremlin with a list of potential punitive sanctions, Germany sought to exempt the energy sector from a block on Russian bank transactions. While Scholz has vowed solidarity with the U.S. and its NATO allies, he seemed reluctant to accept the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as a potential target.
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