German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (L) is seen through the window speaking on the phone at the Chancellery with German Chief of Staff Wolfgang Schmidt (2nd L) in Berlin before a coalition committe meeting on November 6, 2024. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
Berlin: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz held crunch talks Wednesday to prevent a collapse of his fractious coalition government, hoping to focus minds on unity on the day Donald Trump was reelected to the White House.
Discord on how to revive Germany's flagging economy and carve up a tight budget has flared dangerously for weeks between Scholz's Social Democrats and his junior partners, the Greens and the Free Democrats.
A do-or-die moment could come when the three rowing parties, after a series of crisis talks to resolve the deadlock, were due to meet for coalition committee talks on Wednesday evening at the chancellery.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the pro-business Free Democrats has demanded sweeping economic reforms and openly flirted with the idea of bolting the unhappy alliance ahead of scheduled elections next September.
This could spark snap elections, likely around March -- or leave Scholz and the Greens trying to cling to power in a minority government.
Scholz has urged pragmatism over ideology from his two junior coalition partners and told them: "If you want to, you can reach an agreement."
On Wednesday, he pointed to the divisive US election campaign and, without directly addressing the tense coalition talks, made an appeal for German unity.
"We may have different political and social views, but we live in one country," he said. "There is more that unites us than divides us."
