The collapse of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s talks to form a three-way coalition government is “bad news for Europe” given the leading role of the European Union’s biggest member state, the Dutch foreign minister said on Monday.
Germany was thrust into political disarray late Sunday as talks to form a new government collapsed, raising the prospect of a new election while clouding Angela Merkel’s future as Chancellor. Germany’s political crisis was weighing on the euro and European shares after the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) unexpectedly pulled out on Sunday from weeks of talks with Merkel’s conservatives and the ecologist Greens.“It’s bad news for Europe that the government in Germany will take a little longer,” new Dutch Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra said on arrival for talks with EU peers in Brussels.
Germany is a very influential country within the EU so if they don’t have a government and therefore don’t have a mandate it’ll be very hard for them to take positions.” Germany’s outgoing EU Minister Michael Roth, a member of the Social Democrats who is not in talks on forming a new Merkel government, said: “We all have an interest in getting a mandate so that we are able to take care of business in Europe.” “We have never had such a situation in Germany. So, given the collapse of these exploratory talks, we will need to assess the situation and decide accordingly.” The spokesman for the EU’s executive arm in Brussels stressed the need for stability in Germany, as did an official in French President Emmanuel Macron’s office.
The political crisis in Germany was affecting Brexit talks specifically at the moment, as the EU was “waiting for a substantial offer from the British” on their exit bill. Arriving at the same talks, the Czech Republic’s EU minister Ales Chmelar said: “We are hopeful that we will have a strong government in Germany sooner rather than later.
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