German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has ruled out holding a vote of confidence in parliament ahead of next year’s elections.
In his annual summer interview with German public broadcaster ZDF, which will air on Sunday evening, Scholz said his coalition government still has a majority in the Bundestag, the country’s lower house, and that there is still work to be done.
Scholz admitted that Germany’s divided political landscape could make governing the country even more difficult, both at the state and federal level.
“I fear that, whatever happens in the coming years, there will continue to be situations in Germany in which it is very complicated to form governments,” the Chancellor said.
Scholz defended his government’s performance during its term in office, despite the three parties being low in polls for next year’s parliamentary elections and suffering historic setbacks in two eastern states in recent elections.
An important topic in the interview was the German government’s support for Ukraine in the war against Russia, a subject that is increasingly being discussed in East Germany.
“I believe that now is the time to discuss how we can achieve peace,” Scholz said, arguing that Russia should be included in the next peace conference.
Scholz dodged a question about whether he still has confidence in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, despite revelations that a Ukrainian citizen is suspected of sabotaging Germany’s Nord Stream pipeline in the Baltic Sea.
“I have a good relationship with Volodymyr Zelensky,” the chancellor said. “At the same time, it is absolutely clear to me that this issue must be resolved,” he added.
Scholz defends migration reforms
Scholz was also asked about Germany’s immigration policy, which has returned to the forefront of political debate following the deadly attack in the western city of Solingen two weeks ago.
The Chancellor’s coalition government on Saturday unveiled a package of measures to speed up deportations and tighten rules on carrying knives. However, opposition parties say it does not go far enough and have threatened to pull out of a key round of negotiations on Tuesday.
“There are already rejections at the border, there are already border controls and we want to make border management even more effective,” said Scholz.
He added: “There will be good proposals (…), all of which fall within the framework of European law, international treaties and our Basic Law,” referring to the German constitution.
Scholz also denied that the coalition had underestimated the migration issue.
“I have brought about the biggest transformation in the way we deal with migration in the last 10 to 20 years,” he argued.
