German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said he’ll fight attempts across Europe to weaken the euro, pledging that his Free Democratic Party will stand up for central-bank independence before federal elections on Sept. 22.

Roesler, whose FDP is Chancellor Angela Merkel’s junior coalition partner, warned in a speech to a party convention in Berlin of a “new danger” emerging in Europe as governments resist austerity and policies to boost competitiveness and instead discuss artificially devaluing the euro. Such moves risk spurring inflation, hurting those on middle incomes, savers and retirees, he said today.

“That’s why we’re fighting so hard for a stable currency,” Roesler said. “That’s why we view attempts to impose political influence on the independence of the European Central Bank as lethal. That’s a threat to stable money. That is why we as Free Democrats say: ‘Hands off our ECB.’”

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