German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sacks finance minister over budget dispute

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has fired his Finance Minister Christian Lindner, after weeks of disagreeing over economic reforms.

Lindner had proposed early elections as a solution to the impasse, a proposal Scholz had rejected, according to Bild.

His sacking signifies the end of the ruling coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and Lindner’s Free Democratic Party (FDP).

The three-party union could not agree on how to plug a €9billionn hole in the spending plan ahead of a meeting of parliament’s budget committee next week.

Lindner told Scholz he saw no way of continuing the coalition and urged him to get ready for an election.

They were due to be held in September 2025, though Linder’s dismissal is likely to precipitate snap elections six months earlier.

More to follow…