NNot only in France, where social protests with widespread strikes are part of national folklore, things are likely to get even more uncomfortable than they already are for other governments in Europe. A now double-digit inflation rate increases the concern of many citizens of economic decline due to energy prices that are hardly affordable.
Dissatisfaction is growing, especially in East Germany, and is articulated on the streets and market squares. A resentment for which the Federal Government Commissioner for East Germany, Carsten Schneider, shows understanding.
In view of the gas and electricity bills, many “beads of sweat stood on their foreheads,” says the Thuringian SPD politician. He also sees the almost daily demonstrations, such as in Magdeburg or Chemnitz, as an outlet for people who fear for their existence. Schneider’s appeal that they should please be “sensitive” to whom they were chasing seems helpless.
In Brandenburg, for example, the AfD benefits in surveys from the seemingly haphazard acting of the traffic lights in the relief packages. Berlin’s course in the Ukraine war, which was particularly unpopular in East Germany, also contributes to this. Saxony’s CDU Prime Minister Kretschmer recently picked up on this mood again. Negotiations with Russia and the end of sanctions as a goal is his mantra. Putin likes to hear that too.
