There were nights when political Berlin stared spellbound at the illuminated windows in the Chancellery, at who came out onto the balcony with whom. The coalition committee met inside, and often enough it was not just about important projects of the traffic light parties, but also about the survival of the coalition. In the coalition agreement, the SPD, Greens and FDP agreed to discuss “current political issues” once a month and to “coordinate further work planning with each other”. The coalition members met for such a regular meeting on Wednesday evening, and expectations had already been dampened. It was said in unison that no concrete decisions were to be taken – but the asparagus, fruit and cheese platter were not quite regular.
That was the focus of the evening: for the first time, the conversation focused in detail on foreign policy. After Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), it was not the party leaders who spoke as usual, but rather Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. According to coalition circles, she painted a bleak picture of the situation in Ukraine and warned very urgently against further advances by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s troops. She also discussed the growing concerns of the Eastern European NATO allies. One should not allow autocratic rulers and despots to assume that they can get away with attacking a country.
It is said that Mützenich was “captured”.
The Greens and Liberals were pleased to see that positions were converging again after the arguments over support for Ukraine in recent weeks. The Chancellor finally provided clarity about the SPD’s position. Their parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich did not repeat his formulation of a “freezing” of the conflict. It is said that he would probably no longer see a friendly relationship between Germany and Russia “during his lifetime”. Mützenich’s tone was completely different than last time. “He was captured,” it says.
According to participants, the term “Taurus“Not – unlike the FDP and the Greens, the Federal Chancellor does not want to deliver the cruise missile to Ukraine. The dispute resulted in harsh attacks between the coalition partners. All actors agreed, it was said, that support for Ukraine needed to be increased , also to avert negative consequences for Germany and the EU, such as a new mass exodus from Russian attacks or a new economic shock.
Regarding the economic situation, the second important topic of the meeting, there was agreement in the description of the problem: more investment is needed. The FDP also sees it that way. The coalition partners preferred to leave out the delicate question of where these investments should come from given the difficult budget situation. It was said that the mood between Scholz and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) was tense. That morning, the two of them, together with Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), agreed to slightly postpone the first round of the budget: the departments now have until May 2nd to deliver their figures to the Ministry of Finance, not just April 19th.
The 2025 budget is about how the traffic lights are perceived in the country – the question of whether they can do anything at all. The coalition does not want to promote this skepticism. As with the topic of Ukraine, everyone emphasized the seriousness of the situation. However, concrete steps or at least the general direction of the common policy were not discussed in detail. Scholz, Habeck and Lindner probably want to do some discreet preparatory work before the big group meets again in the Chancellery. Then maybe there will be an exchange again about the existence of the traffic light.