Europe can't lag behind in 5G technology - German Chancellor Scholz

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Monday for an expansion of the 5G mobile network in Europe at the Nordic summit on security and competitiveness in Stockholm.

"We have to make it happen, that this progressive technology is the typical one very soon in Europe and that we are not falling behind other continents," Scholz said.

He said that Europe should take advantage of having the "the most progressive technology companies in telecommunications in Europe," in a reference to Swedish company Ericsson and its Finnish competitor Nokia, "which are so successful not just in Europe but also globally."

Scholz visited Ericsson on Monday with the leaders of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The chancellor said he had also held talks in Berlin with Nokia.

Scholz said these companies offer "very safe technology looking at security questions", amid debates on whether the government should forbid telecoms operators from using certain components from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in their 5G networks.

(Reporting by Maria Martinez and Andreas Rinke; editing by Jonathan Oatis)