Germany's Scholz paints nationalism as threat to industry at new chip plant

Germany's Scholz paints nationalism as threat to industry at new chip plant

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned against nationalism in the country's east at the groundbreaking ceremony for a semiconductor plant in Dresden on Tuesday, warning that such resentment endangered investments in key future technologies.

"We still need a pro-European Germany that's open to the world, instead of nationalism and resentment," Scholz said in a speech at the site of the 10-billion-euro ($11.08 billion) plant planned with Taiwanese chip giant TSMC and other investors.

"Openness to the world and confidence - if we preserve this, if we defend it, then this major investment will certainly not be the last that we experience in Silicon Saxony and in eastern Germany," he said.

Germany's domestic chip industry is based in the eastern state of Saxony, where rising support for populist parties including the far-right AfD has rattled mainstream parties and executives ahead of local elections set for Sept. 1.

Scholz described semiconductors as crucial to the country's industrial survival and climate targets, and stressed the importance of boosting production in Germany to reduce European dependence on others within global supply chains.