Germans Aren’t Buying Scholz’s Plan to Keep Them Safe and Rich

  • Chancellor is struggling to qualm voters’ fears for the future
  • Far-right AfD has made historic gains in recent weeks
Olaf Scholz in Berlin, on July 14.Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg
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Chancellor Olaf Scholz is struggling to persuade Germans he can handle the litany of troubles looming over the country he has led since 2021.

With his coalition government beset by squabbling, the shadow of a recession lingering, and the industrial base underpinning its economic model under threat, the Social Democrat who won office after a hapless campaign by the Christian Democrat Union is on the back foot again.