German politicians did not say no. That is the first thing to put on the record. Vladimir Putin proposed former chancellor Gerhard Schröder - his personal friend with a decades-long link to the Kremlin - as a mediator in the talks between Moscow and the European Union. And in Berlin the debate started immediately.

The dispute is not technical. The dispute is moral and political. When „Nord Stream 2" was being investigated for sabotage in 2024, Schröder's name was never far from the headlines. After leaving the chancellorship he worked at Russian energy companies. He opposed Western sanctions after 2022. He is, in short, everything Brussels avoids today. Which is exactly why Putin proposes him.

Social Democrat Ralf Stegner says it would be „rash" to reject such an option. In his view, if Schröder can open a channel to Moscow, Europe must not let it slip. Former parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich says something similar - with reservations, but without rejection.

Fabio De Masi from the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance goes even further - saying Berlin made a major mistake by not using Schröder's ties to Moscow earlier. „A communications channel could have been opened years ago."

From the German government, scepticism. From the European Commission - a precise and sharp response. Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, is more than clear - Putin's proposal is „cynical". Brussels does not want to legitimise Schröder. But the fact alone that the debate reached the Bundestag means something - and Moscow knew it before submitting the proposal.

What is Putin's play? Simple. He does not expect Schröder to be accepted. He expects the proposal itself to split Berlin. To test the red lines. To open the question of how far Germany is willing to go to avoid a negotiating table. And - clearly - it is working.

For the Balkans this is an old lesson. When a dictator proposes a friend as a negotiator, he is not making a proposal. He is laying down a marker to test who covers for whom. Balkan history knows too many of these markers - they always end the same way, with someone who says „we chose peace", and history then writes about what they actually accepted.