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- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been criticized for delaying the delivery of tanks to Ukraine.
- Scholz’s indecisiveness became the subject of Ukrainian memes that coined the term “Scholzing”.
- “Scholzing” means communicating good intentions, but finding or inventing reasons to delay action.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s indecision is the stuff of memes.
While Scholz spent weeks hesitating – and in the face of international pressure – after sending advanced Leopard 2 tanks to fight Russian forces in Ukraine, his name took on new meaning.
—Timothy Garton Ash (@fromTGA) January 19, 2023
“Scholzing”, a verb found in Ukrainian memes, has come to mean “to communicate good intentions, only to use/find/invent any reason imaginable to delay and/or prevent them from happening”. according to historian Timothy Garton Ash.
Representatives for Scholz did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
—French Canadian Fella ⚜️🇨🇦🇺🇦 (@lebeaujfnoel) January 22, 2023
Although Scholz this week announced Germany’s approval for send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, he delayed the decision saying that the availability of the tank should be checked. He also insisted that this decision be linked to a commitment by the United States to send their own Abrams tanks to the front line.
Significant Western aid supporting Ukraine has come under international criticism since the invasion began last year, with some academics and policy experts, such as Charles A. Kupchan, professor of international affairs at the Georgetown University, arguing in a New York Times opinion piece that fighting against Russian control of Ukraine’s Donbass region and Crimea is “not worth risking a new world war”.
—川和碧薇💙💛 (@BiviHuaHua) January 24, 2023
Ash didn’t immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment, but describe Scholz’s delay in sending the tanks as “weak, contradictory, inconsistent, historically insensitive, morally problematic, dishonest and counterproductive”.
“Dragging German feet could mean that Russia will end up clinging to more of this territory, and therefore be able to claim a partial victory in any resulting de facto if not de jure peace settlement. “Ash wrote in a Sub-stack message about Scholz. “There is good reason to believe that some German policymakers – as always, strategically prioritizing the long-term relationship with Russia – privately feel that this would be an outcome we should be content with. truth that dare not speak its name.
—Flyin’Fella До Валгалли (@Kryptobirdie) January 20, 2023
Scholz’s exceptionally cautious approach to relations with Russia, according to European political commentator Matthew Karnitschnig written for Politicois “rooted in the mainstream German narrative” that the country’s ongoing economic and diplomatic relations with the Soviets are “what ended the Cold War and led to reunification”.
“Yet Germany’s perception of how and why the Cold War ended has become its reality and informs both policy-making and public opinion,” Karnitschnig said. wrote. “Scholz also showed that the only thing the Allies can count on Germany for is that they will drag their feet, analyze every decision, big or small, and then play what the Germans like to call a ‘beleidigte Leberwurst. (an offended liverwurst), demanding more “respect”.
Karnitschnig is not the first to compare Scholz’s political maneuverings to those of a sulky sausage – in May, German news site DW News reported Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany Andrij Melnyk used the phrase to describe Scholz after he refused to travel to Kyiv after the Russian invasion.
“It doesn’t seem very political” DW News reported Melnyk said at the time: “Behaving like a beleidigt Leberwurst.”