Dear Chancellor Olaf Scholz,

I must say that I did not feel an Obama-like sensation when you were crowned the new chancellor on December 8. It all came across as rather sober and not very colorful. You studied law, grew up in Hamburg, and have been working for the SPD for years, just like your wife. There were no children with life stories that brought me closer to you as was the case with Joe Biden. The most exciting thing I could find about you was that people called you ‘Scholzomat’ because you have a somewhat robotic way of communicating.

But here you are now. The man who had to fill the big shoes of Angela Merkel. With a back straighter than a level, you knew you had to act. ‘This is a turning point in history. The world is no longer as it was before.’ And there you raised your thumb to the decision to invest 100 billion in defense and you are supplying 1000 anti-tank vehicles and 500 air defense missiles to Ukraine. Remarkable, because your Germany has always kept a low profile regarding involvement in other wars after World War II. But now you want to intervene. You, of all people. Not only because you govern a large and powerful country, but especially because you have a responsibility when it comes to our peace. ‘The attack on Ukraine threatens our shared post-war order.’

The back was straightened, the fist clenched. Let them call you Scholzomat, we now know that behind that robotic appearance lies a big heart.

Thank you.