The End of a Belle Époque: Stability and Risks in Germany’s Elections

... has a potential for conflict. Ivan Timofeev: Russia — Germany: Perceptions and Motives It turns out that the CDU needs a coalition of three parties. The centrist Free Democratic Party (FDP) claims 10–11% of the vote and could either balance the Greens, or boost the coalition with the CDU/CSU and the SPD to the required majority. The first option was already considered 4 years ago and the negotiations did not lead to success, despite the political weight of Merkel, which Laschet does not have. FDP leader Christian Lindner is not the ...