BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday promised new measures, including tax measures, to help households deal with soaring energy prices sparked by the dispute with Russia over gas.
“Our fellow citizens can count on us not to abandon them,” said the head of government at a press conference in Berlin.
The transition to renewable energy is a key priority for Germany, a large consumer of natural gas, which will not relax its efforts to achieve independence from fossil fuels, he added.
Europe’s biggest economy is seeing its growth threatened by soaring oil and gas prices, fueled by dwindling supplies of Russian gas since Moscow’s troops invaded Ukraine in February.
The government of Olaf Scholz has therefore announced in recent months a series of measures aimed at relieving businesses and households, whose heating and electricity costs are soaring.
Asked about the risk of seeing this crisis cause social unrest in Germany, Olaf Scholz replied: “No, I do not believe that we will see such unrest in this country, because Germany has a welfare state. (…) This welfare state must act in a situation like this, saying that we will not let anyone down.”
He also explained that a cap on oil prices, a measure envisaged by the G7 countries, would need to be supported by countries other than those of the Group.
(Report Kirsti Knolle, Paul Carrel, Rachel More and Sabine Siebold, French version Marc Angrand, edited by Kate Entringer)
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