Chancellor Olaf Scholz is determined to use his last weeks in office with a minority government to pass what he believes are vital laws. But he will be relying on the opposition to make it happen.

The wildly unpopular chancellor's much-criticized decision to phone the Kremlin comes three months before he faces stiff challenges from the populist left and right.

A group of German lawmakers, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, has proposed legislation to legalize abortions during the first three months of pregnancy - provoking outrage from his main conservative challenger Friedrich Merz.