Fact check: Scholz did not call for German state of emergency over Russia-US peace talks

Misleading claims targeting the German chancellor have been spreading online days before German voters head to the polls to elect a new government.

Transcript

00:00No, Olaf Scholz has not called for a state of emergency in Germany over the situation

00:05in Ukraine.

00:10Donald Trump's efforts to kick off peace talks with Russia without Ukrainians or Europeans

00:16at the table have astonished leaders across the continent.

00:21But some reactions have been taken out of context online.

00:25These social media users have misleadingly claimed that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz

00:30has called for a state of emergency in Germany due to US efforts to negotiate with Russia

00:36without consulting with Europe.

00:38But his words have been manipulated and taken out of context.

00:42This is what he did say.

00:57Scholz refers to notlage, which means emergency.

01:01But social media users have misleadingly suggested he was referring to a state of emergency or

01:07notstand, which the government can introduce in times of crisis and which can severely

01:12curtail citizens' rights.

01:15Scholz also references an article in the German Basic Law that allows exceptions to the country's

01:21so-called debt break in exceptional emergency situations.

01:27The Christian Democrat Friedrich Merz, tipped to become the next German Chancellor, has

01:32said he's also open to triggering this exception to boost defence spending given the ongoing

01:39war in Ukraine.

01:40While Scholz has clearly expressed alarm at Trump's overtures to Russia, rejecting a peace

01:47dictated on Ukraine, he has not indicated this could lead to a state of emergency in

01:52Germany.