Overview
- In a new interview, Volker Wissing says he agreed to remain in government after a brief exchange with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
- He recalls the decision being sealed in a Chancellery service corridor where staff stored dirty dishes.
- He stayed on as a non-party minister after Scholz dismissed FDP ministers, while Christian Lindner, Marco Buschmann, and Bettina Stark-Watzinger departed.
- He says the coalition clash over the federal budget and Germany’s debt brake forced a loyalty choice, and he argues parties should not blow up governments because democracy needs stability.
- After leaving the FDP, he describes a rupture in his Rhineland-Palatinate network, with some ties holding as close friendships and others falling silent.