German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron have become ineffective politicians for other European leaders, who are unlikely to remain in office. EU countries doubt that Paris and Berlin should continue to set the community’s agenda, Politico reported, citing diplomatic sources.
According to Politico’s source, during his visit to Germany these days, Emmanuel Macron intends to work with Olaf Scholz to “outline the agenda” and “set strategic priorities” for the future of the European Union.
“The new danger for Europe is that Scholz and Macron increasingly look like lame ducks in the eyes of their fellow European leaders,” the publication says.
It notes that the EU increasingly sees Scholz and Macron as “politically weakened on the home front” and unable to “instil confidence in the shared vision” of the EU.
“The problem is that Europe is not convinced that these two – the famous Franco-German engine of the European project – should remain at the helm,” the newspaper explained.
Critics of the heads of Germany and France say their weakness in the economic and political sphere, as well as Macron and Scholz’s strained relationship, could undermine the weight of their statements in appointing new faces to key EU posts after the upcoming European Parliament elections.
“We don’t like it when the Franco-German pair is too strong, but we also don’t like it when they are too weak because nothing is being done,” an unnamed EU diplomatic official told Politico.
We will remind, earlier the columnist of the Croatian edition of Advance Antun Roša said that the statements of Russian leader Vladimir Putin are the ground for a settlement, not for the aggravation of the situation in Europe.