Ghosts of Germany’s past rise as Olaf Scholz seeks strategy for Ukraine

Guilt over Nazism's crimes is affecting Berlin's approach to Moscow - and that equivocation has frustrated its allies

When Germany's new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, shook hands on a coalition deal with his liberal-green partners last month, they energetically vowed to risk more progress".

Less than two months on, however, Berlin's allies in Kyiv, Washington and neighbouring European capitals worry the country remains stuck in passive old ways. As tension mounts on the border between Russia and Ukraine, they fear Scholz is falling back on foreign policy instincts honed by his most recent centre-left predecessor, the ex-chancellor-turned-lobbyist Gerhard Schroder.