“Nuclear power is a dead horse in Germany”

Olaf Scholz has opposed the FDP’s demand to stop the dismantling of nuclear power plants. Neither the coalition partner nor the poor poll numbers deter him.

In his own words, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) does not feel provoked by the FDP’s call for a halt to the dismantling of nuclear power plants and considers the issue to be settled. This emerges from the Deutschlandfunk “Interview of the Week”.

“Nuclear power is over. It is no longer used in Germany. The phase-out has taken place by law. Nuclear power is a dead horse in Germany,” he said. And: “I don’t need to speak a word of power,” said Scholz.

Scholz wants to create cheap energy through renewable energies

The FDP made its move against the background of the continued high electricity costs, which are a burden on the economy and especially on energy-intensive industry. The SPD parliamentary group and the Greens are therefore calling for a state-reduced price for industrial electricity, but the FDP is against it, and Scholz has been skeptical so far. He demands a financing proposal from the FDP: “It must of course be part of every discussion if you put billions somewhere where you take them away,” he said on Deutschlandfunk.

“We have to ensure that Germany has structurally inexpensive energy production. We are doing this by expanding renewable energies, also at a pace that has not been the case before. Incidentally, we are also doing this by building a hydrogen network, where in this one and the necessary decisions will be made early next year,” declared the Chancellor.

Scholz wants to continue course despite poor poll numbers

In principle, Scholz does not want to be deterred by the current federal government’s poor poll numbers and wants to continue on his course. Referring to the numerous crises – Corona, climate crisis, globalization, Russia’s war against Ukraine – he said that some were “a little exhausted”.

It is therefore important to continue to pursue a clear course. That means creating the basis for economic growth with modernization processes, doing everything to ensure that things are fair and that workers are better off, and having respect for different attitudes to life and achievements in life.

According to the ARD “Germany trend” from the Infratest-dimap Institute from this week, satisfaction with the federal government continues to decrease. 79 percent stated that they were less or not at all satisfied with the work of the coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP.