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After 16 years in power, Angela Merkel gives way, Wednesday, December 8, to Olaf Scholz, 63 years old and social democrat. What changes the departure of the Chancellor for the French, and who is really her successor?
Olaf Scholz, the new chancellor in Germany who succeeds Angela Merkel, took office on Wednesday 8 December. What do the French think of it? “Germany is on the move, after 16 years of Merkel. We will see what happens”, confides a woman, met by the teams of France Televisions. “Angela Merkel is extraordinary, I hope he is up to the task”, continues a man.
A page of history is turning in Berlin. Angela Merkel received a standing ovation in the Bundestag in the morning, before the swearing-in of her successor. He was until now Minister of Finance, and promises in particular to increase the minimum wage to 12 euros an hour. Olaf Scholz became the 9th German Chancellor since World War II. “He is not someone who is going to have lyrical flights, he is not going to take positions that are going to be radical, (…) and finally in that he looks a bit like Angela Merkel in 2005, when she is coming to power “, analyzes Paul Maurice, researcher at the Institute of International Relations.