Argentine President Javier Millay, known for appearing in public with a chainsaw to symbolize the drastic his economic policy, received some advice from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during their meeting today in the German capital Berlin, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
"Don't lose sight of social harmony," Scholz told Millay.
According to his official spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit, the German chancellor emphasized the need to protect social equality and called on Millay to implement socially acceptable policies while carrying out his radical economic reform in Argentina. On the other hand, the ultra-liberal Miley does not think much about state support and the redistribution of wealth, considering taxes to be "theft", DPA points out.
"The state is not a solution to the problem, it is the problem" is one of the mantras of the Argentine president, the agency notes, explaining that it is his views that have made him one of the most controversial leaders in South America.
Millay's visit to Germany was accompanied by protests, including yesterday in Hamburg, where he was awarded a medal by the "Friedrich August von Hayek" foundation. Several dozen demonstrators protested today against him and in front of the chancellery in Berlin, holding up placards reading "Away with Millais". and they chanted in Spanish "Miley, you filth, you are the dictatorship".
According to the original program, Millay was to be greeted with military honors, but they were canceled along with the planned joint press conference with Scholz, DPA noted. Instead, the two leaders — one "pragmatic" and the other "bombastic," as the agency described them — met for just an hour, at Millay's request.
They are said to have discussed economic relations between the two countries and agreed to end the quarter-century-long negotiations on a free trade deal between the European Union and the South American trade organization Mercosur, which includes Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay in addition to Argentina.
DPA draws attention to the fact that Argentina has large deposits of lithium, which Germany urgently needs for the "green deal".
Spokesman Heberstreit also said that the two state leaders were unanimous that "Russia is capable of ending its war in Ukraine.