Herbert Grönemeyer has criticized former Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) as “almost autocratic”. Merkel had twice invited him to the Chancellery, but he always kept his distance and refused, the 66-year-old singer told Stern. “In her lack of openness to criticism, she also seemed almost autocratic – Mrs. Merkel apparently didn’t like to be contradicted,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.
Grönemeyer also said that he still hadn’t understood the former chancellor in relation to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. It is a mystery to him why Merkel, who has seen through men in politics like no other, was so mistaken about Putin.
Merkel’s successor Olaf Scholz (SPD) comes off only a little better. “I find Mr. Scholz’s communication dramatically bad overall,” complained the musician. Unlike some other artists, Grönemeyer advocates arms deliveries to Ukraine. “Anyone who is attacked must be allowed to defend themselves,” he emphasized.
