Social Democratic Party, SPD, chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz, center, stands in an elevator after a news conference with the party leaders of the Social Democrats, the Green party and the Free Democratic Party in Berlin, Friday, Oct. 15, 2021. After the parliamentary elections on September 26, the leaders of the three parties announced that they would recommend coalition talks for a new German government. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber), APTOPIX