Olaf Scholz, Federal Chancellor of Germany, is addressing the World Economic Forum now.
Scholz has taken a break from campaigning in the German election to visit Davos.
He begins by reminding delegates that the path to prosperity leads through strong and stable institutions.
He hit out at “black and white thinking” that promises simple solutions, but cannot deliver them.
Scholz says the world needs clarity and steadfastness, particularly on peace and security. We must protect the international order, he says, and the most important element of that order is the inviolability of national borders.
This is why President Putin must not be successful in the war he has launched against Ukraine, Scholz says.
And Scholz points out that Putin’s hopes of keeping Ukraine away from Europe, of avoiding a stronger NATO, and installing a pro-Russian puppet regime in Kviv have failed.
Ukraine is a EU candidate, he points out, Nato has grown, and the Ukraine government stands stronger than ever before.
The Ukrainian army is bigger and stronger than before the war, equipt with Western weapons, Scholz points out.
He gives much of the credit for this to the strength of Ukrainian people, but also points to international support.
And on the issue of possible peace talks, he says:
The Ukrainian people must have the last say about how the war ends.
The push to water down financial regulations, particularly under President Trump, is stoking concern across Europe.
Asked about the deregulatory drive in the US, the governor of France’s central bank, FrançoisVilleroyde Galhau, hinted it could sow the seeds of the next financial crisis.
He singled out the lack of regulation on crypto-currencies and the surge in non-bank lending.
“There is room for improvement [on financial regulation] on this side of the Atlantic,” he said.
“But the idea that we should not regulate at all non-banks… that we should not regulate crypto… I think this could happen to be dangerous in the future.”
“I’m not here to forecast a financial crisis… but we know it can happen and we know it’s due to the regulating cycle: you regulate and you forget the former crisis then you deregulate and you prepare the next crisis. We will see.”
Police in Davos checking IDs Photograph: Graeme Wearden
Security at Davos is notably tight today – perhaps due to anxiety after Greenpeace protesters got inside the Congress Centre to display a banner calling for taxes on the super-rich.
I was just meeting MarleneEngelhorn of taxmenow and PhilWhite of the Patriotic Millionaires, outside the Annual Meeting when the police showed up, asking for ID.
That’s even though we’re not within the confines of the WEF (although much of wider Davos has been taken over by the WEF attendees or companies piggy-backing off it).
Your humble correspondent, though, was free from suspicion as I was wearing the badge doled out by WEF that’s essential for getting into the Congress centre.
A sign of just how odd Davos is this week, as the so-called ‘global elite’ gather for their annual discussions about the state of the world.
Marlene Engelhorn of taxmenow showing her protest signs to the police Photograph: Graeme Wearden
Engelhorn and White are in Davos lobbying for a wealth tax for the super-rich, warning that the influence of the extremely wealthy is hurting democracy, and trust in the media.
Isaac Herzog, President of Israel, has just been discussing the Middle East crisis at WEF.
Herzog argues the region has a huge opportunity to change for the better, but also warns about the risks posed by Tehran.
Israel believes a “a clear message” must be sent to the Iranians, “no more”, Herzog says, in the new era that was announced yesterday (eg the inauguration of Donald Trump).
Herzog also says he is very optimistic about the future of Israel, saying its people and the nation have shown great resilience.
Middle East is in midst of historic change — Syria, Lebanon, maybe Gaza. And Iran is contained. Further progress depends on hostage deal being delivered. Israeli president Isaac Herzog says top priority is to get hostages home. @wefpic.twitter.com/k5Ic1ROU8o
Ukranian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now taking questions, and touches on the issue of a possible peace deal.
Our strategy is that we must approach any sort of diplomacy that will lead to the end of the war.
The issue is, what does Ukraine’s security look like in that situation, he says.
If Ukraine has strong security guarantees, then there cn be a “lasting, just, strong peace” for Ukraine, for Europe, for the US, and for the whole world, he says.
But, Zelenskyy warns:
If the security guarantees are weak, and only words, then from Russia you will get only words and they will come back with war.
Zelenskyy: Europe needs military investment, and Iron Dome of its own
Ukranian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy then urges European leaders to boost their military resources, or risk sliding into irrelevence.
He ponts out that Russia can field rather more than a million soldiers. Ukraine has 800,000, but other European countries have fewer.
So, this isn’t a situation where one country can repell Russia alone.
We are very grateful for Europe’s support, Zelenskyy pledges.
But, he warns, Europe must learn to fully take care of itself.
That must inclue a United European security and defence policy, Zelenskyy says, and all countries must be willing to spend as much as is needed, rather than just what they have got used to.
If it costs 5% of GDP on defence, so be it, he says.
He adds that Europe needs its own version of the Iron Dome, which can repell any threats, he says (a nod to Israel’s defense system)
Zelenskyy: US are an indispensible ally, but what will Trump do?
VolodymyrZelenskyy is now addressing Davos, about the future of Europe, and urging leaders to take steps to remain relevent in the current geopolitical situation.
The Ukranian president says all eyes are on Washington. But who is actually watching Europe at the moment?
20 hours ago, he reminds delegates, Donald Trump was inaugurated, everyone is waiting to see what he does next.
Trump’s early executive orders have shown his priorities, Zelenskyy points out, now people are watching to see how he will end wars (as he pledged during the election campaign).
It is clear that the US are an indispensible ally, Zelenskyy says.
But he warns that an official under the Biden administration had explained that America’s priorities were the Pacific, the Middle East, and then Europe third.
Will President Trump even notice Europe? Will he see Nato as necessary, and will he respect international institutions, Zelenskyy asks.
He is insisting that Europe must establish itself as a strong global player, an indisensible player.
He cautions Davos delegates that there is no ocean separating Europe from Russia.
And Europe should remember that battles involving North Korean soldiers are taking place closer to Davos than Pyongyang, he adds.
Turning to recent deals signed by Putin with his allies, Zelenskyy says they are deals against Ukraine, against Europe, and against US.
Scholz: Freedom of speech does not cover support for extreme right
Olaf Scholz is then asked about Elon Musk, who appeared to give back-to-back fascist-style salutes yesterday, during celebrations of the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump.
Looking across the Atlantic, chancellor Scholz says we need to show “cool heads” in a world that sometimes “seems to teeter on the brink of a nervous breakdown”.
Not every tweet should trigger a debate, he says.
And he pledges to work with the Trump administration, saying:
The US are our closest ally outside of Europe. and I will do everything to ensure it stays like that, as it is in our mutual interest.
And more broadly, Scholz says Europe must become more competitive, to tackle the rise of serious competitors in all parts of the world.
He says:
If we want to preserve our prosperity, we need to keep our technological edge.
Olaf Scholz, Federal Chancellor of Germany, is addressing the World Economic Forum now.
Scholz has taken a break from campaigning in the German election to visit Davos.
He begins by reminding delegates that the path to prosperity leads through strong and stable institutions.
He hit out at “black and white thinking” that promises simple solutions, but cannot deliver them.
Scholz says the world needs clarity and steadfastness, particularly on peace and security. We must protect the international order, he says, and the most important element of that order is the inviolability of national borders.
This is why President Putin must not be successful in the war he has launched against Ukraine, Scholz says.
And Scholz points out that Putin’s hopes of keeping Ukraine away from Europe, of avoiding a stronger NATO, and installing a pro-Russian puppet regime in Kviv have failed.
Ukraine is a EU candidate, he points out, Nato has grown, and the Ukraine government stands stronger than ever before.
The Ukrainian army is bigger and stronger than before the war, equipt with Western weapons, Scholz points out.
He gives much of the credit for this to the strength of Ukrainian people, but also points to international support.
And on the issue of possible peace talks, he says:
The Ukrainian people must have the last say about how the war ends.
Cryptocurrency supporters at Davos are optimistic about their prospects under Donald Trump’s second presidential term.
Speaking on a panel here in Davos, Coinbase CEO BrianArmstrong said crypto had faced a “hostile environment” under the previous administration, which will now change.
The new administration should make it easier to agree a path to agree new rules for treatment of crypto, he says.
According to Armstrong, crypto is still “in its infancy”, as only half the companies on the Fortune 500 have conducted a crypto trial.
He cites crypto’s payment growth, and the rise in crypto EFTs, but insists that “the Trump effect cannot be denied” – and probably drove Bitcoin to its record high yesterday.
Armstrong says:
To have the leader of the largest country come out and say he wants to be the first crypto president… this is unprecedented. It’s hard to deny it has had an effect.
Financier AnthonyScaramucci (who briefly served as Trump’s Communications Director in his first term) predicts that Paul Atkins, who has been nominated as the next chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, would go back to “an old-school framework which will be beneficial for the industry”.
Previously, Scaramucci says, crypto firms were “shooting in the dark’ when tackling regulation.
Scaramucci also claims that US senator Elizabeth Warren, and former SEC chair Gary Gensler had helped the Democrats lose the presidency, the house and the senate last November, through their concerns about crypto.
Scaramucci says he is very hopeful and optimistic about crypto’s prospects.
“This industry is here to stay, and there are companies who are going to accelerate…and unleash uncredible amounts of innovation.
But… South Africa’s central bank governor, LesetjaKganyago, warns that crypto needs global rules that are clear and transparent.
Kganyago warns against allowing regulation to be set by the power of money.
If an industry decides to use money to knock one candidate out, or another one in, ‘that to me is regulatory capture,” he adds.
Away from Davos, Boohoo shareholders have backed the group’s founder and executive vice chair MahmudKamani in the latest blow to Sports Direct founder MikeAshley’s attempt to control the struggling online fashion retailer.
Investors representing 63% of Bohoo’s stock voted to back Kamani or 99% if the vote of Ashley’s Frasers Group were excluded.
Frasers called the meeting in an attempt to oust Kamani who Ashley has said is an “egotistical founder who has an unhealthy grip on the board”.
Greenpeace aren’t the only group protesting against the super-rich at Davos.
Last week the Fight Inequality Alliance projected the message: “TAX THE SUPER RICH!” onto a mountainside near a private airport near Davos, next to the faces of Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg
Another image declared: “LET’S DRAW THE RED LINE & STOP PAYING BILLIONAIRES’ TAX BILL!”
We took your message to the billionaires' ski resort party. 🎿🏔️
And it was loud and clear! 📢📣
“TAX THE SUPER RICH!” 💸 blazed across a mountainside near Davos (where private jets land)—400 meters wide—next to the faces of #Trump, #Musk, and… pic.twitter.com/cdgAnB4Nv6
Von der Leyen: must work together to avoid global race to the bottom
Heather Stewart
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has used her speech at Davos to urge EU countries to work more closely together, in the face of the fragmenting global economy.
“The cooperative world order we imagined 25 years ago has not turned into reality. Instead we have entered a new era of harsh geostrategic competition,” she told the WorldEconomicForum.
“We will need to work together to avoid a global race to the bottom.”
Responding to ex-ECB president Mario Draghi’s report on competitiveness last year, she said the Commission will soon propose new policies in three key areas - deepening capital markets integration; allowing big companies to work across the EU under a single set of rules; and creating an “energy union”.
“It is time to complete our energy union so that clean power can run freely across our continent .”
In what appeared to be a sideswipe at Donald Trump’s approach, Von Der Leyen said, “with Europe, what you see is what you get. We play by the rules. Our deals have no strings attached.” She said her new Commission would make its first foreign trip to India.
VonderLeyen also stressed the close trade and economic connections between the EU and the US, however, saying the EU would engage early with the new administration.
She said:
“We will be pragmatic, but we will always stand by our principles. We will protect our interests and uphold our values, because that is the European way.”
