Christian Lindner

Further consequences may follow the outcome of the election in the state of Brandenburg, with the leader of the Liberal Party (FDP) and finance minister Christian Lindner leaving open the possibility of leaving the federal government coalition.

According to the results of the survey, the social democratic head of government is favored by only 19 percent of respondents.
According to the ARD/Infratest public opinion survey, Scholz has one percent less support than in December, which is the lowest value in the Infratest survey on the popularity of a federal chancellor since 1997.

Germany has said it expected its tax intake to be smaller than initially expected in 2024, adding to budget tensions dividing the Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition.

Berlin would collect 30.8 billion euros ($33.6 billion) fewer than previously expected in the coming year, according to a biannual estimate published by the finance ministry.

The long-awaited visit of Foreign Minister Analena Berbock (of the Greens) may have been canceled due to covid, but the line-up of top German politicians in Greece is no way over. On Friday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's visited Thessaloniki for a "Balkan dinner".

Germany's new government is planning to earmark 60 billion euros ($68 billion) to fund "future investment" including its plans to tackle climate change, Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Dec. 10.

According to German media, he received 395 votes.
As a reminder, the parties of the Germany's "traffic light coalition" - the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and the Freedom Party (FDP) - signed a coalition agreement on Tuesday, which marked the end of Angela Merkel's 16-year rule.

Exploratory talks to form Germany's next coalition government collapsed shortly before midnight on Sunday when the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) walked out of marathon negotiations, The Guardian reports.

The European currency plunged to a two-month low against the yen on news that in Germany the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) have pulled out of four-week negotiations with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc and the ecologist Greens.

Former finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was elected speaker of Germany's lower house of parliament on Tuesday, a position from which he will try to impose discipline on far-right lawmakers who opposed his appointment, reported Reuters.

The leader of Germany's Free Democrats (FDP), Christian Lindner, seen as a likely successor at the finance ministry if his pro-business party enters a coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), has criticized outgoing Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble for not being tough enough on Greece.