Scholz joins EU heads of state and government after coalition collapses – DW – November 8, 2024

How do I deal with President Trump 2.0?

This is a major focus of today’s meeting of the heads of state and government of the European Union in Budapest, said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who addressed the traveling press a few minutes ago.

To make matters worse, the chair of the meeting is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a staunch Trump ally.

Scholz emphasized that in times of numerous crises it is important that the EU remains “strong” and “united”.

And the German Chancellor has problems at home. As leader of a minority government, he is under pressure to call early elections.

Before heading to the summit, he stopped to take in the stunning Budapest skyline in the early morning sun. A moment of calm to reflect not only on the fate of Europe, but also on his own.

Scholz spoke to reporters in Budapest early Friday, but almost entirely avoided mentioning the unrest in Berlin over the past two days.

“Europe and the world face major challenges,” he began, mentioning issues such as Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine and the “constant threat of further escalation” in the conflict in the Middle East.

“That is why it is necessary and right for the EU to stick together and be strong together,” said Scholz. “We discussed that here, also in view of the many changes that are taking place everywhere at the same time.”

Like French President Emmanuel Macron the day before, Scholz pointed to Tuesday’s election in the United States and said Trump’s victory was a central part of the discussions in Hungary.

“We talked about the outcome of the US election. This is right and necessary because the USA is Europe’s most important ally,” said Scholz. “We will continue to work well with the future US president and the question of how we can achieve this was part of our discussion.”

He continued to emphasize the importance of European defense spending and highlighted Germany’s expectation of meeting NATO’s 2% defense spending target for the first time this year.

Scholz then touched on a number of other European issues under discussion, such as plans to improve competitiveness and cut bureaucracy, based on a report by guest Mario Draghi, a former Italian prime minister and head of the European Central Bank.

Aside from mentioning the “many changes” taking place “simultaneously” – if he meant to include developments in Berlin at all – Scholz neither addressed the newfound fragility of his own government nor answered questions.

The opposition leader of the Christian Democrats, Friedrich Merz, told reporters on Friday morning that they had “dealt with disagreement” after talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz the day before in Berlin.

“The Chancellor was unable to plausibly explain to me why he actually only wanted to ask a vote of confidence in two months and not next week,” said Merz.

He suspects that Scholz wants to use the transition period to secure CDU/CSU votes for certain measures in parliament, which he then wants to “use in the interests of the SPD election campaign”.

If his suspicions turn out to be true, said Merz, “this behavior is not worthy of the office and the situation in the country.”

He reiterated his call for “swift” action towards an early vote, with a debate on how to proceed scheduled in the Bundestag on Friday.

He said that Scholz, as the only person who could ask the question of trust, had a “powerful instrument in his hand,” but warned against “acting irresponsibly with this instrument.”

He recommended Wednesday of next week as the ideal date for this, when Scholz had already scheduled the briefing of Parliament, and expressly asked him to do so.

The chairman of the opposition Christian Democratic Union in Germany, Friedrich Merzwho wants to politically exploit the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-way traffic light coalition, says Europe must show strength in this phase Donald Trump‘s second term as US President.

“Donald Trump is not impressed by weakness, only by strength, even by opposition,” said Merz. This is how Europe can deal with the new government in Washington, he added.

Merz and others want Scholz to demand an immediate vote of confidence in his now minority government and early elections from the center-left Social Democrats. So far, however, Scholz is sticking to his call for a vote of confidence in January.

Merz added that Germany must do more for its own security. He said the business model of importing cheaply, exporting expensively and making the U.S. pay for security is “now over.”

“It’s not that dramatic,” he said. “We have to prepare for it, deal with it and draw the necessary consequences.”

The German three-party coalition government made up of the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) collapsed over the course of the night on Wednesday and Thursday.

First, Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner, whose allies in the FDP then left the coalition government – with one exception, who left the party instead.

Scholz has since indicated that he intends to govern in the short term with a red-green minority government and rely on the opposition’s votes to handle year-end business. He proposed a parliamentary confidence vote in mid-January, followed by early elections around March.

However, opposition parties have called for a much earlier confidence vote in parliament, possibly next week. A vote of no confidence in the Bundestag sets a two-month deadline for calling new elections.

After staying in Berlin during the day, officially removing FDP ministers from the government, appointing replacements and holding talks with Christian Democratic opposition leader Friedrich Merz, Scholz traveled late to Budapest for the first major meeting of European heads of state and government since Donald Trump’s election victory in the United States.

There they can discuss the sudden prospect of a change of government in Berlin, perhaps not long after the change of government in Washington.

msh/sms (DPA, AP, Reuters, AFP)