Scholz! LIVE: How We Will Save Germany’s Economy – My Action Plan! (IN ENGLISH)

the incoming chairman of the Union parliamentary group has opened this General debate and that is unusual at least in any case it is against parliamentary Customs because usually the chancellor talks after the leader of the opposition now the leader of the opposition will become Chancellor at some point after I would like to say a few words about the elections that took place in Saxony and thuringia because I think this belongs here and it must also be said clearly the election result for the a the election results for right-wing populist parties are depressing and we will never get used to it in Germany the AFT is bad for our country the AFT will ensure that our country descends if it can Implement its policy the AFT has a human image that's from yesterday a woman's picture that's from yesterday and we will do everything to ensure that this political formation loses its importance in Germany again Z you are married to the past and indeed a past that they stylize which did not exist at all they are trying to bring the future to our country and that's why this is the big debate here in Germany in many countries in Europe and incidentally also in the USA the debate on the question of whether we in our countries believe that we have a better future and are making policies to achieve it or whether we believe that we should be oriented only to the past and therefore enmity our country and Lead it to ruin with resentment we will prevent this do not moan but act and Tackle that's the motto our country is facing great challenges and I think that we must should and will talk about these major challenges in this debate great challenges that we are facing and that we have to overcome one of the big questions for the future of our country is immigration and migration I will now start with what is part of the history of our country the experience of recent years and decades and what is important for the future that we have had economic growth in the last 20 years that in recent years we have managed to ensure that our country has been economically successful this had and has to do with the fact that many women and men from other European countries and from other countries of the world have joined in contributed their talent here and ensured that this economy is moving forward and because future conditions are being discussed I want to say this very clearly there are many countries around us and bills of this kind are also available for us who say that there will be a big economic problem this results from the fact that the working population is decreasing for some the having of those who work there is predicted in a few decades and there is a country in Europe that just like some English-speaking countries has the opportunity to make sure that we do not descend economically because we find so many who want to get involved and that's why it's right to make exactly that possible with the labor immigration law that we have launched and also with the new citizenship that we have [Applause] regulated we are doing things the same way as in the USA Canada Australia and other countries which are drawing growth potential from this and saying we want people to get started here to learn the German language to obey the laws to earn a living but then also to have a say that is the case there and it is also possible in this country now with the laws that we have brought forward anything else would cause US economic difficulties there is no country in the world with a shrinking labor force that has economic growth this is the truth that we are faced with yes and at the same time it also means that we are one country especially before the experiences that we carry around with us in our history the experiences and the tragedy of fascism and national socialism we are a country that offers protection to those who are politically persecuted who have to run their lives save their lives and this is stated in our basic law and we don't put that up for debate so cosmopolitanism is necessary but cosmopolitanism does not mean that everyone can come who wants to we have to be able to choose who comes to Germany that's what I'm saying here quite explicitly and that is why it is also part of our task to manage irregular migration to reduce the number of those who come to Germany irregularly and to return those who cannot stay that is why my government has ended the enaction of conservative interior Ministers of CCSU she has finished the big saying knock she has made sure that action is finally taken and done very different for many decades of Christian Democratic interior ministers who have not packed it they can't do it this is the truth that we are faced with you are the type of politician who believes that with an interview in build am santic he would have already solved the migration issue this is not the case in reality especially if you belong to the group of politicians who hardly having left the editorial offices have forgotten what they just proposed because they never planned to take care of it this is wrong policy and that is why we have achieved the biggest turnaround in dealing with irregular migration in Germany on this this issue as well this government we sat down in an arduous process when the numbers got bigger again we have not made ourselves easy with any suggestions we have made careful arrangements and we have reached far-reaching agreements for example that the detention is extended for those who somehow always evade their deportation for example that you can look around in a refugee facility if someone is not at the place where he is a longstanding problem that we have solved for example in which it is not possible to prevent repatriation with objections contradictions lawsuits and new applications we have done all this even the benefit of the Asylum Seeker benefits Act is now further reduced this is also one of the things we have done unlike you we have even expanded the number of safe countries of origin sayings are knocking nothing works out they are the ones who create nothing and I say to this we have made sure that this also happens [Music] now the number of those who come to us has decreased because for example we have troduced border controls and have now decided at the beginning of this week that we will do this at all borders in Germany for as long as possible we have had success with this and we will continue this successful procedure ladies and Gentlemen by the way we also do this although it will be difficult with our neighbors some of you are now quite surprised that the neighboring countries are still there that they say oh we don't think that's great at all I think we have to get through this it is now necessary that we endure this dispute as well but it's part of it by the way also because so many women and men are sitting there with great hubis I say explicitly the power of the Federal Republic of Germany ends at the border of the Federal Republic of Germany if you have not heard of it yet by the way I also want to say that we said I am here in this German bundestag we will also carry out deportations to Afghanistan and Syria for criminals again and we did it that was difficult we were constantly asked how does it work and does it work you just said that we have done what you do when you act responsibly namely we have worked carefully and indeed we have now organized such a deportation flight to Afghanistan and I'm telling you we're going to have more and we're going to continue that ladies and gentlemen we are now going to discuss a Security package tomorrow in the German bundestag which we have launched and which is also necessary with stronger laws regarding the handling of weapons with stricter gun laws with better opportunities to combat islamist extremism and explicitly also with more opportunities to act precisely when it comes to irregular migration I want to say this clearly at this point anyone who comes to Germany from Italy from Portugal from Greece from Finland and says that I want to stay here now cannot apply and say that I want to get my living here financed this is not connected with freedom of movement and that's a good thing because there are 400 million inhabitants in the European Union and if everyone could be there I would come by and would like to have performances now that wouldn't work and in fact we are now doing the same thing with the existing laws where we are now making sure that they are implemented and the new laws that we are now launching so that we say yes if your procedure has been or is being carried out in another country in Europe then you have to get the service there and not with us this is a matter of course that applies to 400 million residents of the European Union and who also have to operate these procedures elsewhere that's what we decided and then there is the common European Asylum system that sounds too abstract and honestly I think a lot of people here in Germany have thought that this is a thing that is happening somewhere on the external borders of the European Union seriously wrong this also means legal changes for us very far-reaching ones for example with the options for action of the airport procedure IDs faster more expeditious procedures for those where the procedures have no chance of success we will implement this very quickly now and we will not wait until the last moment these laws are almost ready to be written they will soon reach the German bundestag and they will still be decided this year we will use all the opportunities to cope with this task Mr BS then you offered that we also do things together yes yes they even offered to let me blow up my Coalition would also be a great thing but I didn't do that but I tell you specifically I tell you specifically that was good that you made this offer because the citizens of this country do not want to experience any theatrical performances here they want us to make serious and serious policy seriously I like to spell out to you how the word goes but it's really the way politics needs to be done the citizens do not want what a newspaper called here to happen now a mud fight where everyone is now telling themselves why they are good and the others are bad in my opinion this is not the right way to approach this issue and that's why I say it would have been good if we had come to Common Solutions and I'm telling you even if you might not want to hear it we never slam a door shut you can come back again and again despite the bad experiences we had when this offer was already on the table a year ago and we had United with the countries and we had explained to them what we want to do with the countries and we told them that we also like to do something beyond that and I have already told everyone here in this government majority prepare for it I am very determined to come to an agreement and also to do things maybe some of them are difficult and I still remember one or another enthusiastic expression it was so that they could not get away as quickly as one could even look that's a problem they hit each other in the bushes and now again this is not good for Germany they hit each other in the toughs they wrote a script to or 3 weeks ago where they say they're making an offer on cooperation and then if it's possible they knock it out and say it's not enough this is not how we should deal with such a serious matter in this country they want cooperation across party lines and I say again because everyone always likes to quote historical comparisons there are great political leaders in opposition parties and there have been them again and again for example for examp example the Asylum compromise 9293 the greatest achievement of the opposition leaders of this was that they convinced their party to make a compromise and take steps that was not the achievement that you made life difficult for the government so to speak but you cooperated with the government on a nationally important issue went to your party congresses said we are doing this now we are enforcing this now leadership is not about climbing a barricade making a demand with a wild gesture leadership is that you turn around and are able to move your own people to a compromise this is leadership Mrs Ms and because the matter is so important I would like to say explicitly we are still ready the door is not closed we would do that with them we now have rejection at the borders due to the Border controls we are doing 30,000 since we started this so that no more false ones are told here we will use all possibilities to carry out rejections within the framework of the applicable law and we have put on the table a concept of effective rejection where we are ready to do this with the opposition and I say to this we will do it too even if you do not participate the government will implement this concept and get it off the ground and we hope that you will still be there and that you will not leave the door we are keeping open [Applause] unused so that's the situation and therefore one more sentence on the whole topic a quarter of our German population has an immigration background this means that you or a parent has come from another country once and they must also be able to rely on the fact that even in difficult times and when such problems as irregular migration also have to be tackled through a clear stance and tough policy that you know that they can rely on you that you have principles and that they are the ones who rely on us we are grateful for your contribution in our society ladies and gentlemen we also have other major challenges one of them is the Russian attack on Ukraine and I say that it is very important to emphasize once again at this time it is Russia that started this war it is Russia that continues to lead him with brutal harshness unchanged and it is Russia that simply wants to conquer its neighboring country in whole or in part paying high prices for it some Reports say 3 to 400,000 dead Russian soldiers or seriously injured and this is terrible for something that only leads to the fact that someone who has political responsibility there at some point after his death if he could then read could read he would have expanded the country a few kilomet terrible I say this explicitly and that's why it should be said at this even though we know that a part of those who have now voted for right-wing populist and populist parties did it because they do not agree with us supporting Ukraine this should not be talked away that it is right that we support Ukraine as long as it is necessary and that's what we're going to do because it is a breach of our peace and security order that Russia is trying to shift borders we will do this with our own resources we will do this through what we have agreed together with the member states of the G7 the economically strong democracies a 50 billion loan for Ukraine so that it can do what is necessary for its defense for its country at the same time we will do everything to ensure that the opportunities to have peace are a fair peace that is not a dictatorial peace not a surrender that respects the integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine as an invaded country that such a piece is always explored with and we have done many many things to make this possible with peace conferences that have taken place all over the world in Denmark in Saudi Arabia on Malta in Switzerland a big peace conference in bergenstock in Switzerland now is the moment now is the time when we have to explore what possibilities arise and it is right for the Ukrainian president to say and I repeat this again that we need another Peace conference and then it must be Russia sitting at the table that is the task we have to tackle now to explore what is going on ladies and gentlemen the future of our country is at stake there are many uncertainties especially in the rich countries of the world and debates about how we conduct them here it is sometimes important to make this clear are also conducted elsewhere there are surveys in the USA in Canada in Australia in Europe in many countries and it is precisely in these rich countries that there is much less confidence in the future than in Asia for example in Africa and this has to worry us because of course the question of whether we want to penetrate the future or go back to the past is the decisive political question as I said at the beginning and that's why we have to do everything we can to modernize our society to create the opportunities that are necessary for it to actually succeed and we have done a lot a lot a lot with the decisions of this government to ensure that there are changes changes that mean for example more investment in our infrastructure for example in our Railways not with the proposal like Mr Ms that we should then have fewer trains running but with massive investments in infrastructure so that this actually works out so that the trains run better we will have to invest billions for 10 years have to rehabilitate entire Horrors because everything has been missed for decades this applies to the roads this applies to the radio masts of we have to few this applies to the issue of the speed of approval of industrial facilities and at the same time we need to improve the growth potential of our country we are doing this with the growth initiative which is specifically aimed at getting out everything that is good and what is possible for the young people in our country for the families by saying we want to create better opportunities for young families we are spending billions to ensure that the expansion of all day activities in schools and daycare centers is now progressing this is a decisive Improvement we make sure that there are more opportunities in vocational training and that prospects arise for the young people there we make sure that those who need to learn a new profession also have this opportunity and we are specifically fighting to ensure that older people have a perspective to work for as long as they want to and there are two points that are important one of them is when you are in your mid-50s or early 60s ask for a moment by the way for many decades ask around what someone at 5561 believes when he loses his job whether he will find a new one again this is not so ask around how many are hired that is why it is important that we improve these opportunities and Prospects so that everything that we can get out of our country is brought out but it is also important that we support those who want to work more and this is what we are doing with the growth initiative by supporting people to increase their working hours and saying that companies can pay additional search charges for this by supporting the fact that someone can work voluntarily Beyond retirement age and then gets support because the contributions can be collected by himself are paid to the pension insurance instead of by the employer or you get something from the pension Insurance because you retire l L that is all we are doing mobilizing our country making growth possible and looking ahead for a realistic perspective modernization is necessary for our society and for cohesion and for a good future and that to should be said here the most important asset that many have in our country is their pension entitlement pension insurance and that's why 17-year-olds who are now leaving school and have to pay contributions for five decades need a clear statement of what they can rely on the fact that we want to guarantee a stable pension level in Germany is one of the big plans of this government and it has something to do with confidence that you can create security for every single person in such a long life project we guarantee this security for the citizens so there are many issues that are necessary for us to develop new Dynamics so that we can move forward with our national economy but we must not and will not shy away from the great challenges we are facing now and that's why I think it's right that this bundestag is discussing the issue of immigration migration and irregular migration and how to limit them I think it is right that we discuss how to guarantee peace and security in Europe and support Ukraine and I think it is necessary that we discuss modernization growth and future prospects and that we do not let the country be discredited by those who just want to drag it back into the past and threaten our economic future thank you very much