German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has officially dismissed Chancellor Olaf Scholz and 14 ministers from his government.
This is what Die Zeit writes about.
After the inaugural session of the new Bundestag, he praised them for their work and presented them with their certificates of resignation at Bellevue Palace
Steinmeier thanked the Chancellor primarily for his response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which was a "huge effort".
Scholz and his government are now de jure out of office. But coalition talks on a new government are not yet complete, so Steinmeier asked Scholz to continue to run the official affairs of his cabinet until a new government is appointed.
In theory, such an interim government retains all its powers, but as a rule, it no longer makes any major decisions and only makes those appointments it deems absolutely necessary. For example, on March 27, Scholz will fly to Paris for a summit on Ukraine.
It is not yet clear when a new government will be formed. If CDU leader Friedrich Merz and his potential cabinet stick to their previously announced timetable, they could conclude coalition talks by Easter. However, the CDU/CSU and the SPD have recently downplayed expectations for a quick deal, citing their desire to find as much common ground as possible.
- The Christian Democratic Union, led by Friedrich Merz, won the German election on February 23. They will need to form a coalition with another party to have a majority of votes and the ability to form a government.
- During the full-scale invasion, Merz visited Ukraine several times and met with Volodymyr Zelensky. He supports the provision of both humanitarian and military aid, but is not ready to talk about security guarantees or German peacekeepers. The main difference from the current government is that Merz wants to allow the supply of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.A German-Swedish cruise missile with a range of 500 kilometers. Current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has consistently opposed the supply of these missiles to Ukraine, fearing an escalation of the war.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.