Germany’s quarrelsome government clinches a deal on the 2025 budget

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s quarrelsome governing coalition has reached an agreement on details of the country’s 2025 budget. Friday’s accord comes weeks after Chancellor Olaf Scholz and top officials clinched an initial deal that then got bogged down in a new dispute, further damaging the unpopular government’s image. Scholz has run a three-party coalition of his center-left Social Democrats with the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats since December 2021. The alliance, which brings together parties that weren’t traditionally allies, has become notorious for frequent infighting and on several occasions reopened hard-fought policy agreements.