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Weakened Scholz seeks to seize G7 opportunity
Her successor Olaf Scholz, hobbled in domestic opinion polls and of modest global stature, may struggle to match that convivial atmosphere when leaders gather again from Sunday.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz are seen ahead of their meeting over Ukraine security at the Kremlin, in Moscow, on February 15, 2022. The Kremlin earlier confirmed a pullback of some Russian forces from Ukraine's borders but said the move was planned and stressed Russia would continue to move troops across the country as it saw fit. (AFP/Mikhail Klimentyev / Sputnik )
T
he last time Germany hosted a G7 summit, then-chancellor Angela Merkel produced a series of viral images with Barack Obama, clinking giant mugs in a traditional Bavarian beer garden and communing against a verdant Alpine backdrop.
Her successor Olaf Scholz, hobbled in domestic opinion polls and of modest global stature, may struggle to match that convivial atmosphere when leaders gather again from Sunday.
The centrist Scholz, 64, assumed the presidency of the Group of Seven rich countries in January, just a month after taking office in Berlin.
Since then his handling of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, soaring inflation and energy supply complications have put his government to the test while sending his approval ratings plunging.
Scholz told parliament on Wednesday he was ready to seize the three days of talks at the Elmau Castle mountain resort -- the same remote, picturesque venue Merkel chose in 2015 -- to burnish Germany's global image and the standing of the West.
"In Europe's biggest security crisis for decades, Germany as the economically strongest and most populous country in the EU is assuming special responsibility -- and not just for its own security but also for the security of its allies," he said.
A series of summits in the coming days must show "that G7, EU and NATO are as united as ever" and that the "democracies of the world are standing together in the fight against (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's imperialism," Scholz said.
