Scholz-o-matic: German chancellor’s old habits find new audience

Olaf Scholz frustrates journalists with vague and formulaic answers

Less than a week into his tenure, Germany's new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is already reminding the rest of the world of one of his rarer political talents: an ability to frustrate journalists with answers so vague and formulaic they once earned him the nickname Scholz-o-matic".

Social Democrat Scholz, who will govern in a traffic light" coalition with the Green party and the liberal Free Democratic party, on Sunday left his Polish counterpart, Mateusz Morawiecki, none the wiser about his plans for the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, which Poland has urged its western neighbour to scrap.