Friedrich Merz, the leader of the Christian Democrats, has ruled out a coalition with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which finished second in last week’s elections.
Germany’s centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) and centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) have begun talks to explore the possibility of forming a coalition government.
The discussions in Berlin on Friday come less than a week after a snap German election.
Friedrich Merz, the leader of the CDU, the party which — along with its Bavarian allies, the Christian Social Union (CSU) — won the most votes last Sunday, will most likely become the country’s next chancellor.
However, Merz, who has said he wants to form a government by Easter, will need to form a coalition first.
The process is not without its challenges.
The CDU, like the other parties elected to the Bundestag, has ruled out working with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which finished second in the elections.
This means that the CDU’s best hope of forming a coalition lies with the SPD, the party which came in third place last week.
There is plenty the two parties disagree on, including migration policies, welfare reforms and the debt brake.
While the CDU wants to reject asylum seekers at the border, the SPD sees this as incompatible with German and EU laws.
As for the welfare system, the CDU has promised to overhaul it. But current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, of the SPD, has said that this would only be a rebranding exercise, as the current arrangement will not be completely abolished.
The debt brake, a topic which contributed to the breakdown of the last coalition government in November, is another area of contention.
The SPD thinks the debt brake needs serious reform, especially at a time when Germany is under pressure from the US to increase defence and military spending. However, the CDU argues that it is best to keep things as they are, and create a separate fund for defence spending.
Both parties are keen to claw back the support they lost to the far-right on Sunday. The AfD gained the backing of around one million former CDU voters and 700,000 former SPD supporters.
