The governing coalition in Germany is on the brink of collapse after chancellor Olaf Scholz fired his finance minister, Christian Lindner.
Scholz is a member of the Social Democrats (SPD) while Lindner is a Free Democrat (FDP). The Greens are the third member of the governing coalition.
Scholz said he fired Linder because he no longer trusted him.
The fallout between the two parties also means that the governing coalition no longer has a majority in the Bundestag, and the government will face a confidence vote in January next year. If the government loses the confidence vote, Germany could go to the polls in March.
There have been tensions in the governing coalition which came to power in 2021, because the SPD and Greens want to expand public debt to allow more government spending and give the economy a boost. The more fiscally conservative FDP wants tax cuts funded through the reduction of social and welfare budgets.