Today’s headlines following the fifth anniversary of the 2021 floods clearly belong to Gordon Schneider. At the memorial event in the Ahr Valley, the Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate did what neither his predecessor Alexander Schweitzer (SPD) nor his predecessor Malu Dreyer (SPD) had done before him: he apologized to the people of the Ahr Valley. But were these the right words? And from the right man?
SWR reporter Christian Giese-Kessler from SWR-Studio Koblenz.
SWR
Prime Minister Schnyder’s apology to the people of the Ahr Valley was modest but consistent. It was cheap mainly because it cost him virtually nothing. Gordon Schneider was not in office in 2021. He and his CDU were not in government.
There were no violations of which he or his party could be accused. And this defeats the purpose of an apology in general. Because the one who suffered guilt through his actions asks for an apology. An apology without guilt is an empty gesture.
Schneider’s apology is consistent
Gordon Schneider misunderstands the meaning of an apology in a political context, not only in general but also specifically. Because, especially in politics, where too often the finger is pointed at everything and everyone except oneself, an apology has a completely different symbolic power. Here is the one who shows responsibility, who admitted that he made a mistake. Who doesn’t blame someone else for this mistake. None of this applies to Schneider.
Yet Prime Minister Schnyder’s apology is consistent. Consistently, because he himself promised these apologies.
But it also makes sense if you pay attention to the wording: The flood was also a government failure, he says. The state must protect its citizens and has failed to fulfill this duty. This is a decisive difference from Dreyer, and then from Schweitzer. According to them, there was, of course, human error, but first and foremost it was a natural disaster – and there is no excuse for that.
The flood in the Ahr Valley was a failure of the state
Schnyder makes it clear: the flood was also a political disaster. This creates a completely different obligation. Namely, a commitment to unconditionally support the people of the Ahr Valley.
Therefore, it might even have been wise to say these words in the presence of Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU). Because Schnyder is not talking about national failure, but rather about state failure. Thus, this absolute obligation lies not only with the state, but also with the federal government, that is, with the state as a whole. Also, for example, when it comes to the still open financing of rainwater basins. Politicians in the Ahr Valley have long called in vain for the federal government to take control of the billions.
This also includes a commitment to vigorously pursue disciplinary measures against former district administrator Jürgen Pföhler (CDU), who clearly failed on the night of the flood. There may even be a duty to instruct the prosecutor to reopen the criminal investigation. After all, it would be truly consistent.
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