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My fellow citizens,

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Tonight is the end
of a difficult year.

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No round-up of the year can leave
out the images of 24 February,

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when, in the light of dawn, the
first Russian missiles struck Kyiv,

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Kharkiv, Odessa 
and other Ukrainian cities.

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Putin is conducting an imperialist
war of aggression,

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at the heart of Europe.

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This watershed moment
is also a tough test

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for us and our country.

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Many are worried about the war.

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We sympathise with
the Ukrainian people

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who, even on days like today,
have no peace

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from the Russian
bombs and missiles.

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And we are all feeling
the effects of the war

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in our everyday lives –

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when shopping
in the supermarket,

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at the petrol station, or paying
our electricity or gas bills.

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And yet, the history of 2022

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is not purely one of war,
suffering and worry.

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After all, Putin did not manage,

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as he had planned, to overrun
Ukraine in a matter of days.

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On the contrary,

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the Ukrainians are bravely
defending their homeland –

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thanks in part to our help.

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And we will continue
to support Ukraine.

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The European Union
and NATO are not split,

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as they have been in
various crises of the past.

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They stand more
united than ever.

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And we in Germany
did not bow down

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when Russia turned
off the gas this summer.

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Because we refuse
to be blackmailed.

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My fellow citizens,

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for me, that too is the really
remarkable history of 2022.

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It is one of cohesion
and strength –

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and, yes,
one of confidence as well.

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It is a history that all of
you have helped to write –

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all across our country.

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In Wilhelmshaven on the North Sea,
for example.

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Two weeks ago, 
the Höegh Esperanza anchored there –

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a floating terminal that will in
future supply us with liquefied gas.

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It took our engineers
and skilled workers

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less than 200 days to build the new
terminal and the pipelines needed for it.

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Additional liquefied-gas
terminals will begin operations

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in the coming weeks and months –

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in Lubmin, in Stade,
in Brunsbüttel.

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With these efforts,
we are making our country

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and Europe independent of
Russian gas for the long term.

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And we are getting
ourselves through this winter –

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also thanks, incidentally, to
well-stocked gas storage facilities

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and to the joint effort

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we have made to save
energy over recent months.

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That will remain important
in the months ahead.

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Let me already express
my sincere thanks for that!

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The history of 2022
tells of a country

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where we step up to help others;

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of 29 million volunteers
working up and down the country;

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of the overwhelming
sympathy and solicitude

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with which so many of you

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have greeted the
people fleeing Ukraine.

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In Cologne, I met women and men

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looking after
Ukrainian war refugees.

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The new arrivals at the time included
an entire women’s football team,

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some of them accompanied
by their children.

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Those women had had to leave

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not only their belongings
behind in Ukraine.

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They had been parted from their husbands,
boyfriends, fathers and brothers.

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Offering help in such an emergency
is what makes us who we are.

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It makes our country a
more humane country.

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The history of our country
at this watershed moment

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is also being written by those

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who work for our security –

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in the police, for instance,
or the Bundeswehr,

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or our fire and rescue services.

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At a military training area

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in Bergen in the Lüneburg Heath,
I saw

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how conscientiously
our troops train

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to defend our country
and our friends and allies

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from all threats.

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They deserve the greatest respect
for that – and our gratitude.

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In 2022, I experienced Germany
as a country that innovates.

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In Schwarzheide,
for example, in Lusatia.

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Young skilled workers
and technicians there

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enthusiastically showed me

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how they are going
to recycle old batteries

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for us to use in electric cars.

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Or take the little town of
Allendorf in North Hesse.

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Our engineers
there are developing

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modern, highly efficient
air-source heat pumps.

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Here in Germany –

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for a clean future for
the generations to come.

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I am also thinking of all those

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who then assemble and
install such machines.

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In Munich,
I met a number of them –

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tradespeople, electricians,

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chimney sweeps and
installation technicians.

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They said to me,

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“We are the problem solvers
when it comes to climate action

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and the energy transition.”

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And that’s true.

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They too, with their work,
are ensuring

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that our country
has a bright future.

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My fellow citizens,

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There are places like Munich and
Allendorf, like Cologne and Schwarzheide,

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Bergen and Wilhelmshaven
all over our country.

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Places where people work
hard and work meticulously.

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Where everyone does their bit.

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And where people hold together
and are there for one another –

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in clubs and grassroots initiatives,
in volunteer fire brigades,

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in hospitals and care homes,
in schools and nurseries,

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at village and town fêtes.

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That is Germany at
the start of this new year!

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A strong country.

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A country working
with élan and alacrity

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on a bright, secure future.

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A country that lends a hand,
particular when times are hard.

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A country where we
leave nobody behind –

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whether in our towns or rural areas,
whether they are old or young,

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well-to-do or less well off,

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whether they were born
here or came here later in life.

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So that everyone in Germany
can cope with the price rises,

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we have put together big
relief packages in the past year.

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Tomorrow, on New Year’s Day,
more changes will take effect:

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The housing benefit helping all

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those who work for low incomes

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or are living on small pensions.

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A significantly higher child
benefit and higher child supplement,

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to give our families’
finances a boost.

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Tax breaks 
– totalling EUR 19 billion –

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for the many who work

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and strive every day
here in our country.

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And finally, we are capping
the cost of electricity,

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gas and district heat.

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My fellow citizens,

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Our cohesion is
our greatest asset.

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I therefore have one wish for us
at the beginning of this New Year:

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Let’s keep to the path

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that we set out
on this past year.

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Let’s follow it with courage.

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But above all,

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let’s continue to hold
together in the coming year –

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between Munich
and Wilhelmshaven,

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between Schwarzheide in Lusatia
and Cologne in the Rhineland.

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Wherever you are seeing
out the old year tonight,

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and perhaps raising a glass

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to the new with your family,
your friends –

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I wish with all my heart

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that this New Year will
be a good one for you!