German Chancellor Scholz: 'John Wayne' leadership is not my style

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended his leadership style on Sunday from accusations he is too timid.

Rather than shooting from the hip like Western film star John Wayne, who was great "as an individual," Scholz said he would rather get everyone on board with government plans.

"Just imagine what it would be like wanting to go on holiday together as a family and one of the family says 'let's go to Mallorca, no compromises,'" he told public broadcaster ARD.

He said it was difficult getting a family of three parties and over 80 million citizens to agree on the future.

"But we have to make that work," he remarked. You need to get everyone to join in, he said: "That is also my task and I am committed to it."

But he denied allegations this means he does not give direction within the three-way coalition of his Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), which has run Germany since late 2021.

"I believe that I give a lot of direction, otherwise the decisions would not have been taken," Scholz said. "Many, many decisions have been made at a much greater pace than in the last few decades."