German government crisis

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faced a confidence vote in the Bundestag on December 16, 2024, which ultimately resulted in a loss of support for his leadership. The vote, which had been initiated by Scholz himself, sets the stage for early elections. Following the expected loss of the vote, Scholz is expected to request the dissolution of the Bundestag from President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote in parliament on Dec. 16, setting the stage for early federal elections in February 2025.

Scholz, addressing the Bundestag, defended the decision, framing it as a calculated step to give German voters the power to determine the nation's political future.

After leaving Belgrade, she arrived in Tirana, where she was welcomed by the Prime Minister of that country, Edi Rama.
Media in the region remind what Merkel said when she arrived in the Western Balkans in 2015.

Germany has taken in an additional 249 refugee children from Greece, the country's interior minister Horst Seehofer said Wednesday, noting that most of the minors are sick or the siblings of migrants that are already in Germany.

Germany is open to welcoming underage refugees from Greece, provided that the current situation at the Greek borders with Turkey - also the EU's external borders - is resolved, according to a Wednesday report on Germany's state TV ARD.

Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed on June 2 that Germany's government will push on with its work, even after her junior coalition partner SPD plunged into crisis following the resignation of its party chief.    

Greece's main opposition chief Kyriakos Mitsotakis will visit the German state of Bavaria on Thursday to address the special two-day session of Christian Social Union (CSU) parliamentary deputies in the town of Seeon.

Germany has reached an agreement with Greece to send back migrants to the Mediterranean country if they have already applied for asylum there, a German Interior Ministry spokeswoman said on Friday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says talks with Greece on its taking back migrants who previously sought asylum there are well-advanced but similar negotiations with Italy have some way to go.