Status: 03/27/2023 23:32
Exhausted from the evening coalition committee, Chancellor Scholz had to leave for Holland on Monday. On the flight, he was again allowed to explain the tentative status of negotiations. Host Rutte has allowed himself a dig.
By Martin Schmidt, ARD Capital Studio
They arrive at the government plane together by helicopter directly from the Chancellery. Dutch-German intergovernmental consultations in Rotterdam have long been on the agenda of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and many of his ministers.
Good mood in front of the cameras
Cancellation is not an option, that would seem like a big traffic light crisis. The Chancellor advances down the lane with his briefcase towards the stairs. FDP ministers Volker Wissing and Marco Buschmann follow, flanked by their Green colleagues Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock.
They smile at each other, it seems that they are in a good mood on camera. There is also no sign of tiredness after the night of trading. Everyone is said to have bathed again. In any case, it was not possible to continue the negotiations in the helicopter because of the ear plugs. On the contrary: ten minutes more and a few eyes would have closed, the rumors say.
Pistorius is in a good mood
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has been on the plane for a long time. He was not present at the coalition committee that night, and in any case he has a lot to do with his defense department. “You’re the only one who got enough sleep,” a journalist greets him. “The joke isn’t new either, I’ve heard it for the third time,” Pistorius smiles.
There are probably other reasons for his good mood: during the day, the Ministry of Defense announced that 18 modern tanks “Leopard 2” arrived in Ukraine. The helicopter crew had barely taken their seats when an icy sleet pelted the runway, as if they had brought an ice age back from the Chancellery.
But that’s not why the plane can’t take off on time. Finance Minister Christian Lindner is 20 minutes late and suddenly the front stairs don’t disappear. Everything hooks in some way on this day.
A short statement on a tight schedule
Scholz knows how great the public interest is in knowing how the night of joint government went. He doesn’t want to wait too long and allow even more speculation about the state of his traffic lights to grow. A brief statement is spontaneously accommodated in the tight schedule. Immediately after landing, the convoy stops briefly at a small arrivals terminal. It has to be improvised quickly.
The problem: In the room, the background of the Chancellor’s corner provided for filming does not fit – a bathroom door, a magnificent plastic model of a luxury yacht or a framed poster of a glider pilot are in the way. Since time is of the essence, the government spokesman quickly lends a hand and the glider pilot is left behind. What the Chancellor Has to Say offers a similar amount of content as the exposed white wall.
Not enough for matches
Scholz speaks of “a lot of progress” and “many, many agreements” for modernizing Germany. However, he immediately admits that there are obviously not enough agreements: they are just a good basis for continuing coalition talks the next morning.
A little later, the journalists who traveled with them tried again. Meanwhile, the large tour group arrived at Rotterdam’s new art depot, on its “really good break,” as Scholz called the German-Dutch government inquiries at the airport. A dog with a pitying look looks down from a painting at the joint press conference with Scholz’s Dutch counterpart Rutte.
Rutte gives tips on how to appreciate wine
As Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte begins to gesture to describe the friendship between the neighbours, Scholz looks a little tired for his first time in the spotlight. He reads your prescribed jokes (German-Dutch friendship is always great as long as there’s no football). Unlike Rutte, Scholz’s hands only move to turn pages.
Only when the questions are asked does the chancellor seem more alert again. “No, I couldn’t sleep and as you can see I’m fine,” Scholz replied when asked again about the coalition talks. He’s looking forward to “good night” in Rotterdam. “But not so much wine,” Rutte spontaneously hints in German on the side, but Scholz doesn’t go into it.
He tries to explain once again that the coalition committee wants to make “very clear and concrete definitions” to achieve the “German speed” that he proclaimed not only in the construction of LNG terminals, but also in other areas.
The plane is still a long time coming
Furthermore, such a long night session is also a shared experience when you are together. “You’ve been talking about this for a long time,” says Scholz. Rutte starts again with a smile: “In the Netherlands, we have an occupational health and safety authority.”
She should have intervened at dinner at the latest: the German delegation is sitting at the long table at seven-thirty, visibly shaken, opposite their fellow Dutch ministers. The top floor of the art depot offers a grand panorama of the Rotterdam skyline.
The tables are decorated with large colorful flowers, the white wine glasses are full. But somehow the traffic light coalition seems to prefer a bed. The plane back to Berlin leaves more than two hours later.