Standing with each other “can be a source of strength — especially in difficult times like these,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in his New Year address. He asked Germans to reject being “played off against each other.” “We can make 2025 a good year,” Scholz said.
By New York Times
The annual New Year’s Eve speech by Germany’s chancellor is traditionally heavy on national unity, reflections on the past 12 months, and calls for optimism.
While all those ingredients were present in this year’s televised address by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, he also included an oblique reference to a non-German who has taken a strong, some might say baffling, interest in the country’s politics: Elon Musk.
Mr. Scholz’s New Year’s Eve speech, which will probably be his last, comes amid unusual political turbulence in modern Germany and rising polarization in Europe. The tone of his address reflected the stakes for the country as it faces stalled economic growth, with the chancellor calling for “solidarity” while acknowledging that life had become more expensive for many.
The three-party coalition government that came to power in 2021 collapsed in November, and Mr. Scholz, a center-left Social Democrat, lost a confidence vote this month, triggering federal elections that will be held on Feb. 23.
