Germany’s fractious coalition falls apart—and how!
Olaf Scholz finally runs out of patience with Christian Lindner
EARLY IN THE morning of November 6th, as Europe digested the result of America’s presidential election, three senior figures in Germany’s government were huddling for crisis talks in Berlin. But Olaf Scholz, the chancellor, Robert Habeck, the vice-chancellor, and Christian Lindner, the finance minister, were not sketching a response to Donald Trump’s promised tariffs, or working out how Germany might compensate for a loss of American support to Ukraine. Instead, they were deciding whether to blow up their fraying coalition.
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This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The exploding traffic light”
Europe November 9th 2024
From the November 9th 2024 edition
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Marine Le Pen spooks the bond markets
She threatens to bring down the French government, but also faces a possible ban from politics
The maths of Europe’s military black hole
It needs to spend to defend, but voters may balk
Ukraine’s warriors brace for a Kremlin surge in the south
Vladimir Putin’s war machine is pushing harder and crushing Ukrainian morale
Vladimir Putin fires a new missile to amplify his nuclear threats
The attack on Ukraine is part of a new era of missile warfare
A rise in antisemitism puts Europe’s liberal values to the test
The return of Europe’s oldest scourge
Once dominant, Germany is now desperate
As an election looms its business model is breaking down