Merz wants coalition government with Social Democrats

AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS

German conservative leader Friedrich Merz, whose bloc won the most votes in Sunday's parliamentary elections, said he wants to form a coalition government with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

He told a news conference that the rise of the far right in Germany was a final warning to centrist parties to find common solutions to the country's problems.

Merz said he intended to form a coalition with outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left Social Democrats.

"Together with the Social Democrats, we are in a position to form a government and that is exactly what we want," Merz said, according to Radio Free Europe.

According to preliminary election results, Merz's bloc, made up of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), won 28.5 percent of the vote, while the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) came in second with 20.8 percent.

The SPD won 16.4 percent, and the Greens, who were in Scholz's coalition, 11.6 percent.

The Left Party also entered the Bundestag with 8.8 percent of the vote.

Merz said that the AfD's rise to 20 percent of voter support was the final warning to the main parties in Germany.

"This is really the final warning to the democratic center parties in Germany to find common solutions," Merz said.

He added that he hoped to convince the Americans that it was in their mutual interest to have good transatlantic relations.

Merz said he would seek good relations with the United States under President Donald Trump, but added that he was prepared for a "worst-case scenario." He welcomed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's interest in improving ties with Europe, adding that the two had spoken several times in recent weeks.