Main battle tanks for Ukraine: SPD parliamentary group leader Mützenich turns from brakes to accelerators

Every line of Rolf Mützenich’s letter expressed the satisfaction of having refuted the critics of the chancellor, who was said to be hesitant about arms deliveries to Ukraine. “All the hasty judgments evaporate in hot air. Germany is neither slowing down nor is it isolated,” the SPD faction leader wrote to his MPs on Wednesday after the joint decision of several countries to provide Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia.

The SPD politician poured malice on representatives of the Greens and FDP, who would have “fed” a “media barrage” against Olaf Scholz. He expressly thanked the Chancellor for his “leadership and nerves of steel”.

But messages that are missing are also important. Throughout his life, politicians from the left wing of the SPD, who were critical of the military and derided by critics as the “tank barrier” (“Image”), did not say a word about the limits for future arms deliveries. Only the chancellor himself did this when he ruled out also supplying combat aircraft in the ZDF program “Was nun, Herr Scholz?”.

Symbol of all central misconduct of German foreign policy.

Marie Agnes Strack ZimmermannFDP defense politician, about Rolf Mützenich

At first glance it seems like a contradiction. Because the Cologne MP is seen by his opponents as a representative of a misguided idea of ​​relaxation in relation to Russia. In fact, Mützenich insists on the fundamental possibility of negotiations with Moscow and praises the value of diplomacy. The FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann called him on Twitter “a symbol of all the central misconduct of German foreign policy”.

In the eyes of his critics, Mützenich, who has rejected nuclear deterrence since his doctoral thesis on nuclear weapons strategy, refuses to recognize that only military force can stop Vladimir Putin’s imperialism.

But how does that fit in with the fact that last Thursday the faction leader gave the chancellor carte blanche for further arms deliveries? Literally he said: “There are no red lines. Therefore, Ukraine should get what is important for the right to self-defense.”

There are two important explanations for this. The first is: The new role as an arms supplier is unreasonable for the armaments critic. But Mützenich believes in the creative power of social democratic politics and is determined to keep an SPD chancellor in office, even if his loyalty is more to the function than to the person.

The second is: Mützenich still sees scope for his parliamentary group’s own initiatives and wants to use all opportunities to “shape the government work more in a parliamentary way”, as he once called it.

Some underestimate his determination. The worker’s son had once moved from the University of Cologne to Bremen after failing a Latin exam, but can be considered the personification of the Latin saying “Suaviter in modo, fortiter in re”: gentle in tone, unwavering in the matter. The 63-year-old likes to portray himself as inconspicuous. He is stubborn like few others.

A few days after the Russian attack, Mützenich is said to have only found out about the Chancellor’s decision in favor of the 100 billion special fund for the Bundeswehr a few days beforehand. The parliamentary group leader demanded a price for Scholz’s mistake of not involving him earlier, says a well-connected member of the parliamentary group: Contrary to its draft, the government had to pledge as much money for diplomacy and development work as for the Bundeswehr.

One fact is easily lost in the sharp criticism of Mützenich’s contentious positions: only nine of the 206 SPD deputies refused to give their consent to the special fund, also because of the massive campaigning by the faction leader. The same crack is going through the faction in the arms deliveries as also through the population, said the SPD foreign politician Michael Roth this week. Nevertheless, she supports every decision made by the chancellor with a very united front.

Rolf Mützenich expressed himself very clearly and in solidarity.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in the ZDF program “What now, Mr. Scholz”

This reliable support from the largest traffic light faction is also a prerequisite for Germany’s ability to act in times of war. The thought game gives an idea of ​​​​how the unity of NATO would look like if Scholz did not receive “carte blanche” and instead had to argue with half of his faction for weeks about every single tank.

The chancellor clearly knows that a left-wing parliamentary group leader, who is sometimes hesitant in public, can secure him more support than a hard-line Realpolitiker – and keeps his party together because the skeptical voices also have a place in the SPD.

Asked in the ZDF how useful in the debate Mützenich’s defense of his policy against the critics had been, Scholz named a key term for the Social Democrats. The group leader, he praised, had “expressed himself very clearly and in a very solidary manner”.

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