Germany: The Soltz government begins its term with full machines

First crisis meeting on the pandemic, visits to Paris and Brussels, completion of the transfer of power: the German government of Olaf Solz begins its term with full machines.

The ninth post-war German chancellor to succeed Angela Merkel has taken up his post at the chancellery and is already working, knowing he will have no grace period.

Top priority: the health condition that remains in the red despite the acceleration of vaccinations of the third dose in recent days.

Germany has recorded more than 70,000 new cases and 465 Covid-19-related deaths in the last 24 hours, with a seven-day incidence index of 422.3.

Vaccination of children

In this worrying situation, mainly for the regions of the former East Germany where the ratio is 1,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the new chancellor will chair the afternoon of the first crisis meeting with the representatives of the 16 states of the country.

One week after the corresponding meeting chaired by Angela Merkel and which resulted in the imposition of new restrictive measures, the new meeting will not necessarily lead to the adoption of new measures.

“The Bundestag is discussing the implementation of all these measures (decided last week). The scope is huge. Many things are new, they have not existed for a year”, mainly the fact of access to non-essential areas only in vaccinated or recovered, “the new chancellor explained yesterday.

Before the new vaccination mandate is passed in the coming weeks, the government will have to take a position on vaccinating children, following the opinion of the German Vaccination Committee.

The new governing body will have to complete the transfer of power at the same time. The interesting appointment of the day, the handover of the ministry of Finance by Olaf Solz to the liberal Christian Lindbergh, who, although he has no ministerial experience, is considered one of the heavy names of the government. The European partners will be watching closely the first steps of this faithful to fiscal austerity and debt braking.

Another key figure in the Soltz government, Greens, also inexperienced as Germany’s first female foreign minister, has already begun visits abroad from Paris.

Analena Berbok supports a more aggressive line against China and will continue after Paris with a visit to Brussels, where she will have talks with European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrell and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Nancy Fezer, the first woman interior minister, will attend the first meeting of her counterparts in Brussels today.

Tomorrow it will be Olaf Solz’s turn to visit Paris on his first visit abroad. France was the first destination abroad of its predecessors.

The new chancellor will also have his first teleconference talk tomorrow with US President Joe Biden.

His positions on a possible boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics or on the Russian threat against Ukraine are eagerly awaited, although Olaf Solz, like his predecessor, does not like loud statements.

Source: AMPE