Dr. Henning Hoff

The break-up of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’ coalition government was expected, but is still taking place at an extremely critical time. Its successor will have to set clearer priorities—and find greater fiscal space.

The pro-business Free Democrats are likely to leave the government early. It may be party leader—and finance minister—Christian Lindner’s last consequential mistake for a while.

Politically, the Scholz government seems finished, even if it manages to drag on for another year. Germany, which derived much of its foreign policy stance from its seemingly unshakable “stability,” does not look so stable all of a sudden.

Germany is spending the summer trying to temporarily ignore the situation in Ukraine. That’s likely to backfire. Rather, the German government and the rest of Europe should signal stronger, not weaker, support for Ukraine.

Scandals have only dented, but not eroded support for Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland. In September, the party could come close to political power at the regional level. The case for banning it is getting stronger.

With his second visit to Beijing to see Chinese President Xi Jinping, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz set himself up for a failure. In contrast, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, when visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky three days later, had a firmer grasp of realities.