White House row heaps pressure on Germany
The country needs to speed up negotiations so it can support Ukraine, politicians say.
BERLIN: Germany’s politicians face mounting pressure to speed up forming a new government and provide fresh aid to Kyiv as Berlin reels from the blazing row between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump.
The stunning altercation between the two men, which ended with Zelensky being thrown out of the White House, came just hours after Germany’s centre-right CDU/CSU and centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) began exploratory talks on forming a new coalition government.
The CDU/CSU came first in last week’s general election and its leader Friedrich Merz, a fervent supporter of Ukraine, has said he wants a new government in place by Easter. That would be a brisk pace by the normal, sedate standards of German politics, where coalition talks can drag on for months on end.
But with continued US support for Ukraine now in fresh doubt after Mr Trump shouted in Mr Zelensky’s face that he had to “make a deal or we’re out”, calls are growing for a quicker tempo in the negotiations.
“Everything has become more urgent,” senior CDU lawmaker Johann Wadephul told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
Nevertheless, while negotiators were continuing to work over the weekend, a break was still planned for Ash Wednesday next week.
“Wouldn’t it be appropriate to negotiate the central points as quickly as possible and then move straight to full coalition talks?” a comment piece in the Spiegel magazine asked.
“Germany needs a government with a parliamentary majority and a chancellor who is able to communicate as soon as possible,” it said, adding: “The next coalition will face a historic task.”
While the talks for a new government inch forward, current Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Sunday (AEDT) the current political limbo must not stand in the way of speedy further help for Kyiv. She called for the current parliament, which can still take decisions before new MPs take their seats at the end of the month, to quickly sign off on a €3bn ($US3.1bn) aid package of aid for Ukraine, which had been blocked for weeks by disagreements on how to finance it.
AFP
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