“You will never walk alone”: German Chancellor Scholz tries to calm the population and economy about deep budget and government crisis

In his speech, Scholz made it clear that he wants to use the war in Ukraine and its consequences to declare an emergency for the 2023 budget year so that he can switch off the debt brake.

Yesterday, his government already submitted a supplementary budget proposal for 2023. The Karlsruhe verdict has created “a new reality”, Scholz said, but he has everything under control, it seems. Citizens do not have to worry that their benefits will no longer be paid. “You will never walk alone,” Scholz soothed this morning.

Plans to prepare Germany for the future will not be shelved, he said, as that would be an “unforgivable mistake.” This means that the promised billions in subsidies to Intel to build a chip factory in eastern Germany will not be jeopardized. Ukraine can also continue to count on support.

But he did not say how his government wants to achieve all this. Regarding how Scholz wants to draw up a balanced and legal budget for 2024 and whether he wants to switch off the debt brake again, the Chancellor only wanted to say that the discussions are still ongoing.