Most Western governments probably breathed a sigh of relief when German Chancellor Helmut Kohl's conservative coalition held onto a political majority in German national elections this week. But the losses were heavy, and control of parliament is now down to a razor-thin margin.

While Kohl's 12-year right-center coalition stayed in power as a result of the election, it would not be totally wrong to describe the outcome as a defeat for Kohl. His coalition went into the voting with a 134-seat majority in parliament and emerged with an advantage of only 10 votes at most.That is enough to maintain power and have the right to name a new Cabinet. But it also means that Germany's political landscape is going to be more uncertain in the next four years. Interim elections may cause the slender majority to disappear altogether.

The balloting produced some other odd mixtures, most of them indicating a tilt to the left in German politics.

For example, the Republicans, a radical party of extreme rightists that had enjoyed some support in recent years, received less than 2 percent of the vote and thus failed to acquire a single seat in parliament.

Biggest winners in the voting were the Greens, a leftist-environmental oriented party that had been in decline in recent years. The Greens went from eight seats to 49 seats in parliament.

Other big winners were the east-German based Party of Democratic Socialism, a new name for the old communists of that region. They went from 17 seats to 30 parliamentary seats,

All of these changes are a reflection of the disappointment that has followed the reunification of Germany. Not many people would like to turn back the clock to the bad old days of divided Germany, but the costs of reunification, both financial and social, have been heavier than anyone

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imagined. Since reunification in 1990, unemployment has soared. There are 3.5 million jobless in Germany, including more than a million in eastern Germany as a result of the collapse of the communist economy there. The economy is sluggish, and companies are hampered by labor laws and worker benefits that make it too expensive to expand.

Trying to pay the staggering costs of rebuilding of former East Germany has sent the German budget into a tailspin. The current budget is facing a $462 billion deficit, and total public indebtedness has soared to $1.3 trillion. Public disillusionment is wide-spread.

But a turn to the political left hardly seems the answer to economic recovery in Germany and more stability in the heart of Europe.

Germany is going to be balanced on a political tightrope in the next few years, and its neighbors are going to be holding their breaths as well.

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