German coalition government collapses as Scholz fires his finance minister

"He has broken my trust too many times", the chancellor said of his Finance Minister Christian Lindner.

Transcript

00:00The German traffic coalition has officially failed.

00:05Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Wednesday that he has fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner.

00:11Inter-party fighting has escalated over the past three years,

00:15with the rift becoming irreparable during the 2025 household budget discussions.

00:21Too often, Federal Minister Lindner has blocked laws out of the question.

00:26Too often, he has acted in a small-scale, party-political manner.

00:30Too often, he has broken my trust.

00:33He even announced on one side the agreement on the household again,

00:37after we had already agreed on this in long negotiations.

00:41There is no basis of trust for further cooperation.

00:45Such serious government work is not possible.

00:49Scholz has said he will put a vote of confidence to the German parliament in January,

00:54and if he loses, then early elections could be held as early as March next year.

01:00The dramatic break-up comes just hours after the US elected President Donald Trump for a second time,

01:07that is expected to increase pressure on the EU and Germany in particular.

01:12German President Steinmeier is expected to deliver a statement on Thursday morning.

01:18Liv Stroud, in Berlin, for Euronews.