BERLIN– German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder‘s government shook last Thursday as members of his coalition said they might oppose the planned mobilisation of up to 3,900 troops for the Afghan war. Analysts said Schroeder was facing his biggest crisis since 1999 when the traditionally pacifist Greens, his junior coalition partner, only reluctantly backed the use of German aircraft in the Kosovo conflict. But they said the government would probably survive a vote in parliament next week as the Greens were likely to shy away from letting it collapse.

Greens Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer threatened to resign in a heated debate with the party‘s 47 deputies on Wednesday night, and warned them that opposing the mission could bring down the government. The German constitution attempts to stop any return to the militarism of the country‘s past by requiring that parliament approve deployment of troops outside the NATO area. Some Greens said the party may try to resolve its differences with an additional motion in parliament.

Schroeder urged parliament on Thursday to approve the troop mobilisation by a big majority to reflect Germany‘s solidarity with the United States after the September 11 attacks.

The cabinet agreed to the mobilisation on Wednesday in a landmark decision that could lead to the first fighting mission of German troops outside Europe since World War Two. The mobilisation is certain to be approved by parliament because the main opposition parties, the conservative Christian

Democrats and liberal Free Democrats, have said they support it. But Schroeder would be embarrassed if he failed to get a majority with his own coalition. His pledge of „unlimited solidarity“ with the United States would be undermined, and the Red-Green government that has ruled Germany since 1998 could break apart. Their backing of past military action has eroded pacifist grassroots support and environmental issues have moved down the list of voters‘ concerns.

If the coalition did collapse, Schroeder could form an alliance with the liberal Free Democrats or try to rule in a minority government until the next election in September 2002. Fischer said on Thursday it would be „fatal“ if Europe did not join the United States in battling the perpetrators of the hijacking assaults on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Several Greens have called for a halt to the bombing of Afghanistan, and a survey on Thursday showed 57 percent of Germans were against sending their own troops to Afghanistan.

Reuters