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Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez: "Spain and Germany are both very ambitious"
Photo: MARISCAL/EPA
Russia also dominated the talks between Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez during the inaugural visit to Spain.
Scholz called on the leadership in Moscow to take clear steps towards de-escalation in the Ukraine conflict.
The situation on the Ukrainian-Russian border worries the governments in Berlin and Madrid and is "very, very serious," said Scholz on Monday in the Spanish capital at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
It is also clear: »A military aggression against Ukraine would have serious political and economic consequences.
That's why it's our job to do everything we can to avoid such a development, which in the end everyone has to suffer from," warned Scholz.
Advancing energy policy together with Spain
In addition to Russia, Scholz and Sánchez spoke primarily about energy policy: the Federal Chancellor wants to advance the ecological transformation in energy policy together with Spain. “Spain and Germany are both very ambitious. We want to ensure that we make rapid progress in the expansion of renewable energies," Scholz said on Monday during a visit to Madrid. It is an »economic future technology«.
»The expansion of wind power on the high seas, on land and solar energy is important.
And of course that also means that we do everything we can to ensure that the company becomes an economically successful one, that the networks are good and that there are good connections between us and our neighbors," said Scholz.
It is important to set up a good network across Europe that promotes the use of renewable energies.
Sánchez also acknowledged the support of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), then Federal Finance Minister 2020, in the negotiations on EU financial aid for the corona pandemic.
“Chancellor Scholz played a leading role in this.
Thank you for that,” said the Socialist.
Spain was hit particularly hard at the beginning of the pandemic and is benefiting particularly from EU reconstruction aid.
In the summer of 2020, the EU states agreed on a 750 billion euro program to overcome the deep corona economic crisis and to finance future investments.
Spain is entitled to non-repayable aid and loans totaling around 140 billion euros.
Germany played an important role in agreeing on the aid package, which is also to be financed by shared debt.
muk/dpa
