The allegedly reached agreement paves the way for further detailed talks, thus ending the uncertainty about Germany’s role on the international stage and strengthening Chancellor Angela Merkel’s position.
The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) have reached a breakthrough in coalition talks on the formation of the country’s government, the Reuters news agency reported, citing its sources.
After the CDU/CSU bloc failed to form a government with the Greens and the Free Democratic Party, they counted on the coalition with the SPD, which had initially refused to participate in it, but then changed their position on the matter.
As the SPD leader Martin Schulz has revealed during the talks, lasting from January 7 till 11, the sides had set up a good foundation for the upcoming preliminary talks.
The hard situation in forming a government is connected to the German Free Democratic Party’s (FDP) decision to withdraw from the coalition talks with the CDU/CSU and the Greens in on November 20, 2017. As a result of this move, if the coalition talks fail, the remaining options for Merkel will be snap elections or a minority government.