German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday that he does not expect any protests to take place in the country amid an energy crisis.
“No, I do not think it will shape up that way,” Scholz said answering the corresponding question at his first big press conference as the German Chancellor.
Scholz said he expects the support measures derived by the government to bring results.
“Thereby we clearly demonstrate that we do not leave anyone alone in this issue,” Scholz added.
Currently, there are speculations about a possible energy collapse in Germany in the winter due to a termination of Russian gas supplies. German economy minister Robert Habeck and the head of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Muller, have repeatedly urged citizens to reduce electricity consumption in order to save energy. The Handelsblatt newspaper presented a study on Saturday according to which Germany can stop using Russian gas only if it reduces its 210 terawatt-hours of electricity consumption.
Since 2021, energy prices in Europe have been growing as part of a global trend. After Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, following the appeal for help from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, inflation accelerated across the eurozone, growing from 5.9% in February to 8.9% in July, according to Eurostat. Germany’s annual inflation skyrocketed to 7.9% in May, its highest level since German reunification, before easing to 7.6% in June and 7.5% in July.
