German government breaks down as US election shakes European politics
German Chancellor dismisses Finance Minister after major budget dispute‚ leading to coalition collapse. Political crisis unfolds right after dramatic changes in US leadership
The german traffic-light coalition hit a dead-end just as the US political landscape shifted dramatically. Olaf Scholz made a quick-fire decision to remove Christian Lindner from his finance minister post‚ which happened mere hours after Trump won the presidential race
The break-up stems from a long-standing budget disagreement: Lindner (who leads the business-minded Free Democrats) pushed for budget cuts while facing economic downturn; however his partners - Social Democrats and Greens wanted more money for social needs defense and eco-projects. The three-party alliance that started about 3 years ago had its fair share of problems including that one time they fought over heating rules
We need a government that is ready to negotiate ... to make the necessary decisions for our country
Scholz pointed at Lindners party-first approach saying its not good for german people. The chancellor mentioned US election results several times noting that Trumps unclear position on Ukraine-Russia situation means Germany must boost its own defense spending; however Lindner didnt support this idea
The political shake-up will likely lead to more changes: theres gonna be a no-confidence vote next Jan 15th (which Scholz probably wont survive) followed by new elections in March. The traffic-light experiment that started with high hopes seems to be reaching its end-point due to different views on germanys future
