<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will battle on Sunday to put out the fires threatening his government as the three-way coalition meets for crisis talks on a growing series of disputes.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A little more than a year after taking office, the relationship between Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) and his governing partners, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, looks more strained than ever.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earlier this week, Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens accused the FDP of blocking progress, while the FDP's deputy chief Wolfgang Kubicki compared the Green politician to Russian President Vladimir Putin.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kubicki later apologised but the damaging row underlines the state of the three-way coalition -- the first in Germany's post-war history.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The alliance got off to a good start in December 2021 under the motto of their coalition agreement -- "Dare for more progress".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It was put to a tough test when Russia invaded Ukraine just two months on, upending decades of German economic and political certainties.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But tensions have since soared -- particularly between the Greens and the FDP.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The two are unnatural bedfellows, with the former set on environmental commitments to phase out nuclear energy and combustion engines, and the latter promoting very different economic policies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It could not be "that in a coalition of progress only one coalition partner is responsible for progress and the others for preventing progress", Habeck said at a Green party event during the week.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Boiling over -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sunday's talks would be a good opportunity to "overcome blockages" on key issues, Habeck also told broadcaster ARD, blasting the coalition's record and policy leaks.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At the root of Habeck's discontent is a controversial project put forward by his ministry to ban the installation of new oil and gas boilers from 2024 -- a year earlier than previously planned.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The accelerated move from fossil fuels to greener technologies such as heat pumps would be accompanied by a multi-billion-euro package of financial support for switchers, Habeck has promised.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But the idea has caused ructions within the coalition, with critics underlining the costs involved.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The plans must go back to the drawing board and be fundamentally revised," Finance Minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner said after a policy draft was leaked to German daily Bild.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Habeck's determination had something in common with Putin, Kubicki said. Both, he declared, had "a similar belief that the state, the leader, the chosen one, knows better than the people what is good for them".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As tempers frayed, SPD general secretary said the partners needed to "find a new way of working".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"This is an appeal to all three parties in government -- these public arguments must stop now," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- 'Explosive material' -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The boiler bust-up is only one item on a growing list of disagreements, including pension reform, child benefits and cuts to red tape.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The parties agreed to speed up the approval process for key projects to revitalise Germany's creaking infrastructure.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But while the FDP would like to see support for more new motorways, the Greens want to privilege more climate-friendly projects.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The FDP have also rallied opposition against European Union plans to ban cars with internal combustion engines from 2035, insisting on a future for alternative engine fuels -- another idea strongly opposed by the Greens.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Spending demands from across government -- including more money for Germany's sclerotic armed forces -- have made the maths harder for the finance minister.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Lindner, who has insisted on a return to Germany's strict constitutional spending limits, was forced earlier in March to push back the publication of spending plans for 2024 due to a lack of agreement.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Divisions over the budget threaten to bring an end to the coalition, if Scholz fails to back his finance minister, political scientist Juergen Falter told Bild.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Much of the coalition's discord could be traced back to the fact that "the ideas of the Greens and the FDP simply do not fit together", he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bringing their opposing views together was always going to be difficult, according to Falter.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Three-way alliances automatically have more explosive material," he said. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>