In his New Year’s address, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his thanks for the solidarity and spirit of helping others that German society has shown in responding to catastrophic flooding and in combatting the coronavirus pandemic. “People are coming together in mutual support”, Scholz said. He added that it was a major task to lay the groundwork for the country to keep moving forward. According to Scholz, “The 2020s will be a decade of new beginnings”.