Détente

The Merkel era is ending not with a bang but with a fretful whimper.

This week we are reviewing some of the key moments that shaped the Merkel era on our podcast

Europe’s largest, most powerful country turns inwards and waits as, in all-night sessions, party bigwigs poker their way towards a coalition that can satisfy at least some of the voters’ demands.

At the end of it all a binding contract is signed. The virtual dead-heat that emerged from Sunday’s election, with the (SPD) just under 2 percentage points ahead of the rival Christian Democrats (CDU), suggests that finding a stable government will be a slog. A German government by Christmas, as promised by the SPD leader Olaf Scholz, seems overly optimistic.

The process is frustrating for outside observers but it helps to adapt to what is going to happen next and dampens expectations of a radical shift in direction.

Text - Sebastian Seibt

The Merkel era is ending not with a bang but with a fretful whimper.

This week we are reviewing some of the key moments that shaped the Merkel era on our podcast

Europe’s largest, most powerful country turns inwards and waits as, in all-night sessions, party bigwigs poker their way towards a coalition that can satisfy at least some of the voters’ demands.

At the end of it all a binding contract is signed. The virtual dead-heat that emerged from Sunday’s election, with the (SPD) just under 2 percentage points ahead of the rival Christian Democrats (CDU), suggests that finding a stable government will be a slog. A German government by Christmas, as promised by the SPD leader Olaf Scholz, seems overly optimistic.

The process is frustrating for outside observers but it helps to adapt to what is going to happen next and dampens expectations of a radical shift in direction.

Text - Sebastian Seibt

Note: In the recent days, there have been a series of comments, messages, posts about the allegations against Cristiano Ronaldo. The issue of sexual offences is important to us and we have been and will continue to dedicate time and resources to help the cause. This will take some time for many reasons but for now here is an explanation of what has happened so far.