The coalition government of Germany will stick to its planned social program and will comply with it the military aid to Ukraine in the negotiations on the new budget, which must end next month, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said today in his traditional annual summer interview for the state television AER De, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
"We will defend our views in the social sphere and we will develop it," said the head of the largest economy in Europe.
The three parties in the coalition government are negotiating the budget, which according to Scholz should be completed on July 3, before the NATO summit, which begins on July 9 in the US capital, Washington.
"I am confident that we will be able to agree on the budget in July," said the chancellor.
His left-leaning German Social Democratic Party (GSDP), the business-oriented liberals of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Greens, who have representatives in government, are seeking agreement on issues such as welfare money and new housing, while time self-imposed rules limiting government loans, notes Reuters.
When asked if aid to Ukraine was in question, given the complicated situation with the state budget, Scholz replied that, in his opinion, "there is no option to change anything in this regard".
"I have always been in favor of showing prudence and using every opportunity for a peaceful development of the situation (in Ukraine), which does not include the capitulation of Ukraine,", the chancellor said. He added that the government will take a tougher stance against German citizens who only take welfare benefits and refuse to find work, as well as those who are supported by the state and at the same time earn extra income through illegal work.
Claims that the number of such people in Germany is growing are part of the populist attacks against the current German government, according to Reuters.
In the European Parliament elections held in Germany at the beginning of this month, the far-right party "Alternative for Germany" (AzG) recorded a second result with 16 percent of the vote, coming in behind the conservative Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) bloc. Only 13.9 percent of voters voted for Scholz's GSDP, which is the lowest result for this party in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany since World War II, according to Reuters.
"We have to make sure that everyone who is fit for work works," Scholz said.