BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – One year after the start of the traffic light coalition, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has drawn a positive balance. “In a difficult situation for our country, we managed to find solutions to the problems. And we showed that Germany is capable of acting,” said Scholz on Thursday evening after consultations with the prime ministers of the federal states in the chancellery.
It was a “busy year” with many stirring moments. After the Russian attack on Ukraine, he spoke very consciously of a “turning point”, said Scholz. With the attack, the agreement on the peace and security architecture in Europe was terminated. And it has demanded our work. “We had to make very, very many decisions to ensure that the consequences of this war in Germany, in Europe, can be dealt with and that we support Ukraine.”
100 laws have been passed, “including the largest relief packages in the history of our country”. The government has also acted in terms of energy security, explained Scholz, with reference to longer-running nuclear power plants and the construction of new liquid gas terminals.
Scholz thanked everyone involved for what they had achieved – including the country heads. He recalled that last year he met with the heads of the federal states for the first consultations as Chancellor, just one day after taking office. He felt that day was “very nice”, he likes to remember it./faa/DP/mis