Germany's Scholz outraged over 'indecent' Moscow visit speculation
Jan 06, 2025
Berlin [Germany], January 6: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has sharply dismissed speculation by an opposition conservative politician regarding a possible trip by Scholz to Moscow during the ongoing election campaign.
"This is a false claim, you must not do such a thing, it is profoundly indecent, there is no basis for it," he said in Berlin on Sunday. "I believe honest people are allowed to be outraged when false claims are being used."
Roderich Kiesewetter of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) had posted on the social network X on Saturday: "We must prepare for an election campaign surprise."
He asserted that there were increasing indications that "Chancellor Scholz will travel to Moscow or meet Putin before February 23," the date of the election to Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag.
Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit has already announced legal action against Kiesewetter for the comments.
In November, Scholz spoke for the first time in nearly two years with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone, causing annoyance in Ukraine as well as among Eastern European NATO partners.
The chancellor's last visit to Moscow was just a few days before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Source: Qatar Tribune
