German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has told reporters Russia's invasion of Ukraine is the biggest current crisis. The now traditional summer press conference comes as Germany confronts several problems at home and abroad.German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday said that Russia's attack on Ukraine was the biggest challenge facing Germany and the world at the present time.
Scholz made the comments at a summer press conference that became an annual tradition under his predecessor, Angela Merkel.
What did Scholz say?
Scholz said that Germany had broken with the tradition of not supplying weapons to conflict zones by delivering arms to Ukraine to help it fight the Russian invading forces.
"We will continue doing this in the coming period," Scholz said.
Scholz doubled down on a previous statement that Russia's invasion represented a historical turning point, saying that Moscow's actions harked back to 19th century political concepts of aggressive territorial appropriation.
Turning to domestic concerns, the chancellor said his government wanted to provide relief to all sectors of society in view of rising energy prices.
"There will be another package," he said, referring to measures that have already been introduced.
He said that the government would "do everything" to help particularly people on low or medium incomes "to get through this difficult time."
He called the planned package of tax-reduction measures by Finance Minister Christian Lindner "very helpful" in this regard, and said pensioners and students would also receive help.
Scholz said he did not expect social unrest in Germany triggered by the high energy prices, saying that the country's welfare schemes would prevent this.
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