Olaf Scholz surprised at press conference

SPD chancellor candidate Scholz is confronted with questions from foreign journalists at a press conference and answers spontaneously in English.

That goes down well.

Berlin - With a spontaneous demonstration of his - compared to other politicians - acceptable English skills, SPD * Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz * earned a lot of praise on the day of his party's narrow election victory in the 2021 federal election *, for example on Twitter. For example, one user wrote that Scholz was “finally a German politician who doesn't have to be ashamed of the way he speaks English”. Another praised Scholz for his demeanor, which he describes as "confident and calm".

It all began at the press conference in Berlin with a British journalist from the TV station Channel 4 News, who asked Scholz how quickly one could hope for a government to be formed in Germany under his leadership * - and jokingly added whether he was thinking of German chancellor Sending “truckers” to work as temporary workers in Great Britain *, which has been plagued by a logistics crisis.

Scholz replied not only surprisingly quick-witted, but also in the foreign language.

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The SPD chancellor recapitulated that they had “worked hard” to convince the British not to leave the European Union.

Now that this step can no longer be reversed, it is hoped that the United Kingdom will find solutions to the problems that arise from it, said Scholz.

I hope that a good cooperation will continue to be possible.

For the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson *, he immediately proposed a solution: One must offer those interested in long-distance driving an incentive to take up this profession.

Perhaps one has to start with the working conditions and wages.

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In particular, the announcement that the formation of the next government would be sealed by Christmas was astonishing among the foreign journalists. A CNN reporter was extremely impressed by the reports of her US correspondent, who had also asked Scholz at the press conference how he intended to further shape Germany's role in the EU and NATO. Scholz emphasized that his top priority was to further strengthen the role of the EU with Germany and to continue working successfully with the USA *.

Another British correspondent who asked about the CDU * / CSU * election debacle, Scholz shared his blunt assessment of the state of the Union and its candidate for Chancellor Armin Laschet *.

"The people in Germany want to see the Union in the opposition, that's the result of the election," Scholz told the reporter - but then switched back to his mother tongue for most of the rest of the press conference.

(Sandra Kathe)

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