Germany's conservative election winner Friedrich Merz came a step closer Saturday towards forming a government which he has pledged will revive Europe's top economy and its armed forces with massive new spending.
The bold moves are part of his plan to rebuild Berlin's standing in Europe, which Merz has said must respond to the sweeping changes driven by US President Donald Trump that have rocked the transatlantic alliance.
Merz's CDU/CSU bloc and the Social Democrats (SPD) of defeated Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday announced they had concluded exploratory talks and would now move onto the next, decisive stage of full-fledged coalition negotiations.
"Less than an hour ago we concluded the consultations between CDU/CSU and SPD and we have drawn up a joint exploratory paper," Merz said, adding that this paved the way for the coalition talks.
Merz said both sides shared "the conviction that we have a great task ahead of us, that we will soon need a new government in Germany with a parliamentary majority".
He said both sides were "aware of the great challenge we are facing -- above all the international situation, but also in the European Union and the challenges facing the whole of Europe".
While Merz said both sides had agreed on tough new steps against irregular immigration, Lars Klingbeil of the SPD said his party had won assurances on key demands, such as a 15-euro-($16-)per-hour minimum wage and stable pensions.
The plan is for Germany to have a government in place by mid-April that would end around half a year of political paralysis after the three-way coalition of outgoing Chancellor Scholz imploded in early November.
Even as talks are set to continue and some hurdles remain, the likely future governing allies have already surprised European partners with their plan to spend hundreds of billions of euros to revive the ailing economy and rebuild the military.
The ambitious and costly plans would cast aside Germany's historic reluctance to take on large-scale debt and would see it invest in defence on a scale not seen since the Second World War.
The spending boost -- which Merz's Bavarian ally Markus Soeder has termed an "XXL" splurge -- comes in response to Trump and his administration casting doubt in Europe on the future strength and reliability of the NATO alliance.
AFP/RSS
