Friedrich Merz said they are all convinced that they have “a great task ahead” in the face of the “challenges that stand all over Europe”
The German conservatives of Friedrich Merz (CDU) and the SPD center-left party announced that they have reached an agreement of principle to form a government that plans to invest massively to revive and remed the economy of Germany.
“We have prepared a joint document and have reached an agreement on a series of questions,” the future conservative chancellor told the press, adding that the partners will start detailed negotiations, probably next week, with a view to forming a new executive.
Friedrich Merz said they are all convinced that they have “a great task ahead” in the face of the “challenges that place themselves all over Europe.”
“We managed to take a first step,” he said in his turn Lars Klingbeil, Copresident of the SPD.
In detail, the two parties managed to overcome their differences in migration, Merz said.
The SPD has accepted a proposal of conservatives to reinforce border controls “according to European partners” and to return to their countries without document.
Social democrats, for their part, imposed their request for increase in the minimum wage, said Klingbeil.
The partners were surprised to agree earlier this week about a gigantic investment program of several hundred thousand euros, intended for rearmament and infrastructure.
Discussions for the formation of a new government are closely followed by European neighbors, who hope that Germany, under the power of the American umbrella since the postwar, play a more important role in safety and defense, at a time when the continent mobilizes to reduce its dependence on the United States.
The conservative bloc, formed by the CDU and the Bavarian Bavarian Social-Christian Union (CSU), won the February 23 elections in Germany, with the far-right alternative party for Germany (AFD) in second place, while the Casseran Olaf Scholz Chancellor SPD was the third most voted political force.
