Scholz relies on Canadian instead of Russian raw materials

Created: 08/22/2022, 06:19 am

Chancellor Olaf Scholz is in Canada for a three-day visit.

© Kay Nietfeld/dpa

During his three-day visit to Canada, the Federal Chancellor emphasized the close ties with the country.

Scholz wants to expand the cooperation, especially when it comes to raw materials.

Montreal - During his three-day visit to Canada, Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to significantly expand cooperation with the world's second largest country in the development of raw materials.

"The country has similar rich natural resources as Russia - with the difference that it is a reliable democracy," said Scholz after his arrival in Montreal.

“This opens up new fields of cooperation.

We want to cooperate closely, especially when it comes to building a hydrogen economy.”

The SPD politician Scholz visits Canada together with Vice Chancellor and Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens).

The two will be accompanied by a high-ranking business delegation.

After arriving in Montreal, Scholz met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for dinner.

Further political talks between the two are planned for Monday.

Agreement on hydrogen planned

An agreement on closer cooperation in the production and transport of hydrogen is to be signed during the visit.

But it is also about the delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Germany and the extraction of minerals and metals such as nickel, cobalt, lithium and graphite that are available in Canada and are important for the production of batteries.

Scholz emphasized that Germany has hardly any other country outside the European Union that has such close and friendly ties as Canada.

"Not only do we share common values, we also share a similar view of the world," he said.

With an area of ​​almost one million square kilometers, Canada is the second largest country in the world after Russia, but with around 37 million inhabitants it is comparatively sparsely populated.

The country is Germany's partner in the G7 of economically strong democracies and in NATO.

dpa