Monday, 17 August 2026Europe · Analysis
Independent · Brussels & Berlin
Person
Former Federal Minister of Finance, Free Democratic Party
The Free Democrats poll at 4, 5 percent days before Sunday's election, risking their first ever exit from the southwestern state parliament and raising doubts about the party's national survival after last year's federal wipeout.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz's two-party government faces public infighting, far-right pressure and a cultural shift that treats deliberation as weakness rather than strength.
Friedrich Merz takes office leading a CDU-SPD coalition that has already torn up the debt brake, promising a €500bn off-budget fund for infrastructure and defence while pledging to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
The February 23 vote follows the collapse of Olaf Scholz's traffic light government. Polls point to a CDU-led administration, but the shape of the next coalition depends on whether smaller parties clear the five percent threshold.
The newsletter
Delivered to your inbox on the days we publish. No daily digest, no push notifications, no advertising.