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German CDU/CSU, SPD to Present Coalition Accord Tuesday - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The alliance of Germany's Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) are planning to present Tuesday a coalition agreement concerning the formation of a new government, the Rheinische Post newspaper reported Monday.
Sputnik

The newspaper reported, citing the SPD leadership's schedule, that on Tuesday Angela Merkel, Seehofer and Martin Schulz, the respective leaders of the CDU, CSU and SPD, would make a short statement following the coalition's talks on the new government.

The media outlet added that the three politicians would meet to sign a document at the level of parliamentary groups at 09:00 a.m. local time (08:00 GMT).

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On January 26, Michael Grosse-Broemer, the leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, said that the coalition talks were going to end on February 3-4, while a week later, CSU head and Bavarian Minister-President Horst Seehofer said that the talks were expected to be completed "in the upcoming days."

In late November, following the failure of negotiations between Merkel’s bloc, the Free Liberal Party (FDP) and The Greens party, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier offered the CDU/CSU and SPD to launch coalition talks. The two biggest German parties accepted the initiative, despite the fact that the SPD had initially ruled out the possibility of forming a coalition with the Merkel-led alliance.

READ MORE: Germany's Coalition-Forming Marathon Enters Final Stretch

German parliamentary election took place on September 24, 2017, with the CDU/CSU alliance winning 33 percent of the vote and securing 246 seats in the parliament. Meanwhile, the SPD came in second with 20.5 percent of the vote, the equivalent of 153 seats in the Bundestag.

 

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