100 days of Merz government: Vice Chancellor Klingbeil draws mixed conclusions

Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil (SPD) has given a mixed assessment of the first 100 days of the black-red federal government. “The bottom line is that we have achieved a lot together in this initial period that will change our country for the better,” Klingbeil told the “Rheinische Post” on Thursday. He cited the financial package for infrastructure and defense, “two budgets, the growth booster for the economy,” and the pension package passed on Wednesday.

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However, with regard to the canceled constitutional court election in July, the SPD leader emphasized: “When we make agreements, they must be honored. We in the SPD must be able to rely on that.” The Union faction in the Bundestag did not support the election of SPD candidate Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, which had been agreed upon in the coalition. “At the start of the summer recess, this overshadowed the coalition's successes,” Klingbeil said.

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Nevertheless, the relationship between Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and him is “trusting,” the finance minister said. At the start of the coalition, he emphasized: “We didn't have a 100-day grace period, it was probably not even three days.”

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Klingbeil is cautiously optimistic about the fall: "I want this coalition to succeed. We all share responsibility for that.“ Klingbeil emphasized: ”People want us to find solutions, and we have to work on that.“ He said the black-red government is ”very far removed" from the discord of the previous government made up of the SPD, Greens, and FDP.

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