由于选举及立法方面的失败，德国总理弗里德里希·默茨正承受着来自盟友与反对派的双重压力，这增加了这位欧洲最大经济体领导人可能下台的可能性。昨日，其领导的政府撤回了一项重要的税收提案；而经济学家们认为对提振德国疲软的经济增长至关重要的劳动与养老金改革计划也遭遇阻力。
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz came under growing pressure from allies and rivals alike over electoral and legislative failures, raising the possibility that the leader of Europe’s biggest economy could be ousted. His government yesterday withdrew a key tax proposal, while labor and pensions plans that economists regard as necessary to bolster the country’s languid growth are also under pressure.
在极右翼的德国选择党取得显著进展、导致该党在多次选举中表现抢眼之后，默茨所在的政党也开始出现退缩迹象。虽然德国历史上鲜有在任期内更换联邦总理的先例，但据Politico报道，至少有两个欧洲国家的首都已就默茨卸任可能带来的影响进行了内部模拟推演；而《商报》则形容他如今已是“名存实亡的总理”。— 普拉尚特·拉奥
His party’s retreat comes after a series of embarrassing election showings in which the far-right AfD made huge inroads. Germany has little record of a mid-term change in federal leadership, but at least two European capitals have held internal war games on the implications of Merz’s chancellorship ending, Politico reported, while Handelsblatt described him as a “pseudo-dead man.”— Prashant Rao