The first ever visit of the Prime Minister of Bhutan, the 54th session of the Federal Cabinet, and meetings with the heads of state and government of Azerbaijan, Sweden, and Israel – see the Federal Chancellor's week in pictures here.
Berlin, 13 March 2023: This Monday Lotay Tshering visited the Chancellery on the first official visit of any Prime Minister from Bhutan to Germany. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz was particularly enthusiastic about the Kingdom's climate protection activities: "Bhutan in fact absorbs more carbon than it emits. That’s impressive!"
That evening, the Federal Chancellor gave an interview for the Japanese daily newspaper Nikkei.
Berlin, 14 March 2023: The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, visited the Chancellery on Tuesday. Scholz describes the Near Eastern state as a "partner of growing importance" for Germany and the EU, which has the potential to make an important contribution to the diversification of the German and European energy supply.
Berlin, 15 March 2023: Among other things, the Federal Cabinet adopted the national water strategy during its 54th session, the core objectives of which are to guarantee drinking water supplies, to protect groundwater and ecosystems, and to provide sufficient water for agriculture and the economy.
On Wednesday, Ulf Kristersson paid his first visit to Federal Chancellor Scholz. The 59-year-old has been the Prime Minister of Sweden since October last year. Sweden also currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
An important topic was the Russian offensive against Ukraine. According to the Federal Chancellor, the discussions covered the implications for regional security as well as Sweden's and Finland's planned accession to NATO in addition to closer collaboration in the field of security and military policy.
Berlin, 16 March 2023: In the morning, the Federal Chancellor made a statement in the Bundestag in which he expressed his satisfaction at the ways in which the challenges of the past year had been overcome. Germany, he said, had become independent from Russian gas, oil, and coal in just eight months, and completely rearranged its energy supply.
The Federal Chancellor met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday. Israel can rely on Germany to fulfil its responsibility for Israel's security, Scholz said.
The two leaders visited the Platform 17 memorial at Grunewald railway station, from where Berlin Jews were transported to ghettos and extermination camps in the East starting in 1941. Reichsbahn.
EU Council President Michel visited the Chancellery on Friday ahead of next week's European Council meeting.