Coalition Countdown: Will Merkel’s Successors Seal the Deal?

Coalition Countdown: Will Merkel's Successors Seal the Deal?

Berlin’s Top Leaders of Union and Social Democrats Meet for Exploratory Talks

On Friday, the top leaders of the Union and the Social Democrats gathered at the Jakob-Kaiser-Haus, near the German Bundestag, for an initial exploratory meeting to assess the possibilities of a joint government coalition. The participants arrived just before 10 am, with a deliberate avoidance of initial press statements. In addition to the party chiefs, Friedrich Merz, Markus Söder, Lars Klingbeil and Saskia Esken, a total of 15 other senior politicians are expected to take part in the discussion.

Following the Bundestag election, a coalition comprising the CDU, CSU and SPD appears to be the only realistic option, excluding the AfD. A coalition of the Union, the Greens and the Left could also have a majority, but this is considered unrealistic.