An election campaign is underway in Germany, a Olaf Scholz, a social democrat who would like to remain chancellor even after the elections in February, meets with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić. Is that also part of Scholz's campaign?
Why did German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić meet in the Saxon town of Freiberg on Tuesday (December 10)? Is it just about exploiting lithium? or perhaps Scholz, as some observers claim, with that meeting in the middle of the pre-election campaign, wanted to show German citizens that he cares about the future of the automobile industry - and thus win a few points in his attempt to get a second term as chancellor? That's what it's about DW in Freiberg he spoke with German journalists who followed the meeting in Solz-Vučić.
Mona Jäger, correspondent of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung from Berlin, does not think that it was an election campaign. She reminds DW that Solz has been dealing with the topic of lithium for a long time: "He was in Belgrade during the summer after Vučić decided to start mining lithium reserves in the Jadra valley again." Immediately after that, Soltz went to Belgrade with the EU delegation, in order to sign a memorandum on lithium mining."
Jaeger believes that the topic of lithium mining cannot even be a pre-election topic, because "it is simply not in the foreground among the citizens of Germany." Only a few Germans, he says, even know that there are lithium reserves in Saxony.
"I think Scholz's goal is primarily to signal that he is concerned about this, that countries further east than Germany should be tied to the West, that they should not be left to China and Russia." It plays a certain role in the campaign, but I think that this is a slightly bigger issue, which will be relevant even after the election," says the journalist of the Frankfurt paper.
A more important topic for the public: jobs in the auto industry
Luc Stordel thinks similarly. A journalist from the German Welt estimates that Vučić's visit and departure with Scholz to Saxony will not be registered in the German public at all: "Scholz was at the Ford factory in Cologne on Tuesday morning, they discussed preserving jobs in the automotive industry. It plays a much bigger role in the public than this visit to Freiberg with Vučić. Here, delegations are completely isolated, ordinary citizens don't even see him."
Stordel reminds that this Wednesday (December 11) Olaf Scholz will ask the question of (no) confidence in the Bundestag, that is, that he is de facto no longer chancellor. It will then be voted on on Monday (December 16): "It is clear that here in Saxony various aspects related to lithium can be discussed, but this meeting in Freiberg Scholz brings nothing to the campaign. This story is going under the radar in public."
Why did Scholz's attitude towards Vučić change?
Mona Jaeger from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has been following Solac for years and points out that he has changed over time: "He used to criticize Vučić, that is, autocratic tendencies in Serbia." He said that Serbia must recognize Kosovo if it wants to become a member of the European Union."
Today, the German chancellor is more reserved when it comes to criticism, adds the German journalist. Why? "I believe that he understood that he needed Vučić, that he (Vučić, ed.) could provide him with access to lithium." And I think that Scholz is pragmatic in this matter, that he is ready for criticism not to be in the foreground. He is ready for pragmatic cooperation, and things like repression or restricting the freedom of the media do not really play a big role," notes journalist Jaeger.
Luc Stordel from Welt is of the opinion that this "pragmatism" of the German chancellor in relation to political leaders is the result of the events in the world in the last few years. More and more, he says, one can get the feeling that clear positions do not pass, that some concessions are needed.
"We have known for a long time that Scholz is not exactly someone who will clearly say what he thinks or take a position. I don't want to say that he is fickle, perhaps a better term is flexible. We should have no illusions, we see what is happening in the USA and elsewhere. This model of arrangement in which we live is no longer something supported by the majority. And when that is understood, then adapting to those circumstances is an integral part of the job," concludes the German journalist.
