Germany: Negotiations to form a government are extended

The arduous negotiations between the Conservatives, the Liberals and the Greens for the formation of the new government in Germany were interrupted on the night of Thursday to Friday and will be resumed at noon, as announced by top party officials.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had set a deadline of November 16 for the completion of the exploratory talks, agreed to extend them. The party negotiators will return at 12:00 local time (13:00 Greek time) to continue the effort to form the coalition.

Leaving the marathon talks that stopped shortly after 04:00 in the morning (05:00 Greek time), one of the leading members of the Conservatives, Volker Counter, said that the negotiations will continue over the weekend. If no compromises are found on the remaining differences, new, early elections could be called. If, on the contrary, they finally reach an agreement at the weekend, the four negotiating parties will begin drafting the "coalition agreement", the political program of the fourth government under Angela Merkel, which should be formed by Christmas at the latest.

"Let's go to extra time," said Greens co-chair Cem Ezdemir. "There are still differences of opinion, especially on issues of immigration, climate and economic policy," said Christian Lindner, leader of the Free Democrats (FDP).

However, he said that these differences "can be overcome" and assured that "many steps forward" had been taken. "Such a historic plan," he added, referring to the formation of the so-called Jamaican coalition, "should not fail because we did not find a few hours" to complete the talks, he added.

Angela Merkel left the building where the negotiations were taking place around 04:45 (05:45 Greek time) without making any statement. Merkel had set November 16 as the deadline for ending the so-called exploratory talks, almost two months after the parliamentary elections, in which there was no clear winner with a large majority in the Bundestag.

For almost a month now, the Conservatives (CDU / CSU), the FDP and environmentalists, parties with far-flung positions, have been holding talks, in which there have been several disagreements, over the formation of a government.

The Bild newspaper commented that for Chancellor Merkel, the stakes "are not just her next mandate" but "the continuation of her career policy", while Der Spiegel magazine reminded that "no one wants" new elections, as if such elections were called there would be a risk that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party would benefit above all.