Coalition collapse leaves German govt without US coordinator

The break-up of Germany's three-party ruling coalition has left the government without a transatlantic coordinator in the period of upheaval leading up to the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, reported dpa.

Foreign policy expert Michael Link, from the liberal FDP, informed Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Thursday that he was resigning from his job in the Foreign Ministry.

He said the step was "the logical consequence of the dismissal of the Federal Minister of Finance (Christian Lindner, also from the FDP) from the government and the associated end of the coalition," Link explained in Berlin.

He wrote that the FDP members of the government "can no longer support Chancellor Scholz's unambitious programme." Link was responsible for foreign policy as deputy chairman of the FDP faction in the Bundestag.

In his letter to Baerbock, he argued that Germany "must take more responsibility for security in Europe and urgently strengthen our competitiveness." Only in this way can freedom, values and prosperity be maintained in the long term.

He said that in its dealings with the future Trump administration, Germany needed "a government that confidently represents German and European interests."

It's widely expected across the political spectrum in Berlin that

Trump will take a tough economic line, for example by raising tariffs, and will readjust the US position in multilateral organizations like NATO.

Link said that, as Transatlantic Coordinator, he had been particularly keen to establish strong contacts in the Midwest, the South and the Southeast of the US, and in particular to broaden his contacts in the Republican Party. "These relationships are likely to become very important in Trump's second term in office."