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.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced that he will ask for a vote of confidence on Dec. 16, paving the way forward for an early parliamentary election in February. Scholz declared his plans for a vote of confidence during a speech in parliament on Wednesday,