A leading candidate for the Free Democratic Party (FDP) in Germany, Christian Lindner, believes that the overwhelming support for sending German troops on a peace mission to Ukraine is premature. According to Lindner, in an interview with “RTL Direkt”, a common European position needs to be established first. “That’s what we need to achieve now, everything else is premature” he said.
Lindner also criticized German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, describing him as a poor advocate for Ukraine. Lindner recalled that Scholz had previously fired him from his position, allegedly due to disagreements over the implementation of a 15-billion-euro stimulus package, with three billion euros intended for Ukraine. Lindner claimed that the idea of providing the three billion euros was abandoned after he was let go, only to be revived later when it was discovered that the funds could be allocated without breaching the debt ceiling, as the German government had spent four billion euros less than planned in the previous year.
In Lindner’s view, the next German government must ensure that Europe comes together, re-establish a sensible relationship with Washington and then demonstrate its ability to act in international politics.