<span fr-original-class="customBullet" fr-original-style="font-size: 24px; line-height: 12px; vertical-align: middle; display: inline-block;" style="font-size: 24px; line-height: 12px; vertical-align: middle; display: inline-block; box-sizing: border-box;">•&nbsp;&nbsp; Berlin lights:&nbsp;Germany's “traffic light” coalition, uniting the Social Democrats (SPD), Greens, and Free Democrats (FDP), has collapsed, plunging the country into political uncertainty.<ul fr-original-style="padding-inline-start: 20px;" style="padding-inline-start: 20px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; box-sizing: border-box;"><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">What happened?&nbsp;The coalition unraveled after a protracted standoff over the 2024 budget: Chancellor Olaf Scholz favored increased debt-funded spending, citing pressures from the Ukraine conflict, while Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the FDP pushed for tax and spending cuts. Scholz’s dismissal of Lindner led the FDP to withdraw its ministers, leaving Scholz with a fragile minority government.</li><li fr-original-style="" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Looking ahead:&nbsp;Federal elections, originally scheduled for late 2024, may now occur in spring. Scholz faces a confidence vote on January 15, while CDU leader Friedrich Merz demands an earlier date. Polls suggest a CDU-SPD "grand coalition" may be the likely outcome, as public support for the SPD, Greens, and FDP wanes.</li></ul>

traffic light” ile ilgili hikayeler