Mr Scholz’s hesitance in aiding Ukraine may be harming his reputation as leader.
Despite early polls suggesting Germans were typically against sending military aid to Ukraine, a recent poll by Der Spiegel, conducted from April 17-19, found nearly two thirds of Germans did not see Mr Scholz as a strong leader – of which 42 percent selected “no, absolutely not”.
When Germany did bring forward a package of sanctions, it overturned a long-held ban on sending weapons to warzones and stopped the certification of the controversial Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline.
However, Mr Scholz’s coalition Government stopped short of a ban on Russian fossil fuels, indicating that the economy was still too reliant on them.