As German Chancellor Olaf Scholz battles political turmoil, his vice chancellor warned Monday that a collapse of the coalition government now would come “at the worst possible time”.
“The government is in troubled waters,” Robert Habeck acknowledged as the government has been rocked by infighting between Scholz’s Social Democrats, Habeck’s Greens and the liberal Free Democrats.
But he warned that “this is the worst time for the government to fail… given what is happening in Ukraine, with regard to the economic situation in Germany, with regard to the American election”.
Habeck, who is also economy and climate minister, spoke after coalition crisis talks at the chancellery with Scholz and Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the Free Democrats.
The leaders of the three-party coalition, which has taken a dive in opinion polls, have been arguing for weeks about how to revive Germany’s stuttering economy.
The Social Democrats, Germany’s traditional workers party, advocate fair wages and social welfare, the Greens’ top priority has long been climate and the environment, and the Free Democrats are demanding pro-business policies and an easing…