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US President Joe Biden, Angela Merkel and Olaf Scholz at the G20 summit in Rome at the end of October
Photo: Oliver Weiken / dpa
US President Joe Biden has congratulated Olaf Scholz on his appointment as Federal Chancellor.
"I look forward to building on the strong ties between our two countries and working closely together to make progress on today's global challenges," Biden shared on Twitter on Wednesday.
The democrat repeatedly emphasizes the importance of important allies like Germany.
Relations were extremely strained under his Republican predecessor Donald Trump.
There are also tensions between Biden, for example in the conflict over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea.
Biden had a good relationship with Angela Merkel
The differences of opinion on the pipeline had also become clear during the visit of the meanwhile former Chancellor Angela Merkel in July in Washington.
"Good friends don't have to agree," Biden said at the time.
Merkel had defended the project: Nord Stream 2 was an additional project and not an alternative to gas transit through Ukraine.
Despite the conflict, the US President praised Merkel's chancellorship and announced that he would miss her at future summits.
Congratulations from all over the world
After Scholz was elected the new head of government on Wednesday morning, he received congratulations from heads of state from all over the world.
French President Emmanuel Macron was looking forward to having lunch with Scholz next Friday at the Élyseé on Twitter.
A spokesman for the Russian government announced Russia's president
Wladimir Putin
strive for "constructive relations" with the new federal government under Chancellor Scholz.
Xi Jinping congratulated Scholz over the phone: China's state and party leader wanted to raise relations with Germany "to a new level," according to Chinese state television.
col / dpa