German Economy Minister Robert Habeck on Sunday cancelled a planned trip to the Middle East to focus on talks over a hole in Germany's 2024 budget and said he was "very optimistic" a solution would be found.
German Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck © Reuters/Liesa Johannssen/File Photo
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck on Sunday cancelled a planned trip to the Middle East to focus on talks over a hole in Germany's 2024 budget and said he was "very optimistic" a solution would be found.
The economy minister was due to fly to Dubai on Monday evening to attend COP28 and then to Oman, Israel and Saudi Arabia but was asked by the chancellor to postpone the trip, a spokesperson said.
The coalition government is in intensive talks over how to tackle a 17-billion-euro ($18.50 billion) gap blown in the 2024 budget by a constitutional court ruling last month.
Finance minister Christian Lindner proposed in an interview on Saturday cutting social spending, international climate financing, development cooperation and some subsidies to fill the gap.
Asked about Lindner's proposal on the Sunday evening Anne Will talk show, Habeck said all parties were putting forward suggestions in line with their views but that this was "not a contribution to solve the problem."
"I am very optimistic that we are on a good path to reach an agreement," the economy minister added, declining to give further details before an agreement had been reached.
($1 = 0.9187 euros)
Reporting by Andreas Rinke, Victoria Waldersee; Writing by Victoria Waldersee; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Chizu Nomiyama
Hamas wants a comprehensive deal to end the war in Gaza and swap all Israeli hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel, a senior official from the Palestinian militant group said, rejecting Israel's offer of an interim truce.
In a meeting held Thursday in Moscow, Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, blamed Israel for failing to uphold a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, originally brokered in January by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.
Saudi Arabia's Defence Minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, arrived in Tehran on Thursday for high-level meetings with Iranian officials, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.