A 58-year-old man tried to commit suicide on Christmas Eve by ramming his car into the headquarters of Germany's Social Democratic Party in Berlin, police said on Monday.
The man was injured in the failed attempt and taken to hospital. He had gas cartridges in the car and jerrycans containing petrol.
He had also laid out a bag with inflammable material in front of another building — the headquarters of the CDU party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The police were alerted by the building's caretaker, who found the bag.
Berlin police are investigating the incident.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has rejected calls for later retirement in a video message for Labour Day published on Wednesday.
“For me, it is a question of decency not to deny those who have worked for a long time the retirement they deserve,” said Scholz.
Employees in Germany worked more hours in 2023 than ever before: “That’s why it annoys me when some people talk disparagingly about ‘Germany’s theme park’ – or when people call for raising the retirement age,” he said.
Scholz also warned of creating uncertainty due to new debates about the retirement age. “Younger people who are just starting out in their working lives also have the right to know how long they have to work,” he said.
Scholz did not explicitly say who the criticism was targeted at, but at its party conference last weekend, the coalition partner FDP called for the abolition of pensions at 63 for those with long-term insurance, angering its government partners SPD and the Greens.
Scholz saw the introduction of the minimum wage nine years ago – and its increase to twelve euros per hour by his government – as a “great success”. “The proportion of poorly paid jobs in our country has shrunk as a result,” he said.
READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Is it worthwhile to set up a private pension plan in Germany?
However, he said there were still too many people “who work hard for too little money,” highlighting the additional support available through housing benefit, child allowance and the reduction of social security contributions for low earners.
“Good collective wage agreements also ensure that many employees finally have more money in their pockets again,” he added.
And he said that the country wouldn’t “run out of work” in the coming years.
“On the contrary! We need more workers,” he said, explaining that that’s why his government is ensuring “that those who fled to us from Russia’s war in Ukraine get work more quickly.”
Work means “more than making money,” said Scholz. “Work also means: belonging, having colleagues, experiencing recognition and appreciation.”
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