February 25, 2025

As Friedrich Merz and the conservative CDU/CSU bloc look for partners with whom they can form a government, the SPD is one obvious choice.

DW spoke with Social Democratic parliamentarian Dirk Wiese about his thoughts on forming a coalition with the CDU/CSU.

"Mathematically, only one responsible coalition option exists for the country," said Wiese.

"And that is why it is important that we seek exploratory talks with the Union, to see if we can establish a basis for trust, if there are shared topical interests that could help us find a way to come together."

"But," he added, "it's not a given that it will happen."

Wiese said it is important that talks actually begin "this week," emphasizing that they are key to building trust.

He also underscored the responsibility he said both the SPD and the CDU/CSU have to make this two-party coalition possible, which he referred to rather than speaking to the idea of being in the opposition.

In regard to budgeting, Wiese said the cleanest path toward increasing defense spending would be to reform the so-called debt brake that keeps the government from borrowing — something Merz and the CDU oppose.

Wiese said the SPD is open to talks but will take no part in playing domestic, foreign or social security against one another when governing.    

February 25, 2025

Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) will only enter into a coalition with the Christian Democrats (CDU) if their 360,000 members vote for it, the party said on Tuesday.

"The members have the final say," said party chairman Lars Klingbeil. "The members will make the final decision."

Klingbeil is expected to take on leadership of the SPD's much reduced parliamentary group on Wednesday before representing the party in coalition talks with the CDU.

But, despite the CDU's coalition options being realistically limited only to the SPD, Klingbeil has warned his party not to take potential participation in government for granted.

He said the SPD must not give the hubristic impression that "the socialists already see themselves as part of the next government" in the wake of their historically poor election result.

According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung broadsheet, the SPD's membership survey could take round two weeks. That won't please CDU leader and probable next Chancellor Friedrich Merz who wants to form a new government by Easter (April 20) at the latest.

As for what conditions the SPD may allow themselves to make, outgoing parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich said the party "will not be forced into anything for which we cannot take responsibility."

He demanded in particular that Merz and the CDU guarantee that an attempt to work with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), as they attempted to do in a vote ahead of the election, "never happens again."

February 25, 2025

Christian Democrat (CDU) leader and probable next German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday that coalition talks with the Social Democrats (SPD) "have begun" and that he expects them to "intensify in the coming days."

Merz repeated that he intends to form a government by Easter — which falls on April 20 —, saying that there are a range of topics including security, immigration and the economy which cannot wait.

"The global situation is changing dramatically day by day, all of which requires a capable German government," he said, expressing confidence that his party can agree on a "good coalition agreement" with the SPD in "a short time."

On the conservative side, negotiations are set to be led by Merz himself with the support of Markus Söder, head of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the CDU's Bavarian sister party.

The SPD delegation is expected to be led by party chairman Lars Klingbeil once he has been elected to lead the SPD's parliamentary group on Wednesday.

February 25, 2025

Markus Söder, the head of the CSU, the Bavarian sister party of Friedrich Merz's CDU, has called for a new special German defense fund which he said would "send a powerful signal" internationally.

As for how Germany would finance such a fund, Söder said his conservatives would be open to using the existing majority in the country's outgoing parliament to stock up the so-called Sondervermögen – the €100-billion special fund for Germany's armed forces, which outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

This, however, would be a discussion for CDU leader and likely incoming Chancellor Merz to discuss with SPD chairman and parliamentary leader Lars Klingbeil, who Söder said were the "central axis" in this.

"We're talking to each other but it's far too early to say anything," said Merz on Tuesday. "At the moment, I see it as difficult."

The key to this endeavor is that the debt-funded special defense fund was anchored in Germany's constitution and is therefore exempt from calculations relating to the country's fiscal "debt brake."

Theoretically, this means that additional loans could be taken out to increase the fund, provided such a motion were passed by a two-thirds majority – which the CDU/CSU, SPD and Greens have in the outgoing parliament.

In the new parliament, however, which will be put together based on the result of Sunday's election, the growth of the far-right AfD and the socialist Left Party, who are both opposed to increased defense spending, will wipe out that majority.

The AfD, which will form the biggest opposition party in the new parliament after coming second in the election with 20.8% of the vote, slammed the suggestion as an unconstitutional "coup."

"The previous parliament is history," said a spokesperson. "Never before in the constitutionally prescribed 30 days between election and the convening of a new parliament has an old parliament ever passed laws, let alone changes to the constitution."

Finance Minister Jörg Kukies from the Social Democrats (SPD) said time was short for "such a complex undertaking," but insisted:

"Legally speaking, a change in the law would be possible … to set up a new special defense fund. Until the swearing in of the new parliament, the old parliament remains fully capable and retains all rights, including changes to the constitution."

February 25, 2025

Friedrich Merz was at the Chancellery in Berlin on Tuesday for closed-door talks with outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

It is assumed that the two would talk about the transition phase ahead of coalition talks between Merz's CDU and Scholz's SPD after both parties confirmed exploratory meetings.

Earlier in the day, Merz met with other conservative leaders including Markus Söder, and bloc parliamentary leader Thorsten Frei.

February 25, 2025

The SPD has signaled that it will not roll over easily as Germany's two major parties brace for tense coalition talks.

On Monday night, SPD co-chair Lars Klingbeil gave an interview to public broadcaster ZDF where he made it clear what the CDU is up against.

Klingbeil said that his party would "never shirk" its duty when called to govern the country, but stressed that the Social Democrats could not be blamed if negotiations were protracted. It is the responsibility of the winning party to make sure they do not become so, he said.

Moreover, he added that "it is no secret that Friedrich Merz has deepened the rift with the SPD in recent weeks." Klingbeil was alluding to a highly controversial debate where the CDU proposed a series of strict new immigration laws — laws that judicial experts warned were illegal under German law.

Merz refused to comment on a claim from AfD co-leader Alice Weidel that he had sought the AfD's support ahead of the vote. The measures ultimately failed, and afterwards Merz denied accusations he had torn down the AfD "firewall," a long-standing agreement in German politics no to collaborate with a far-right party.

The SPD will require assurances that the CDU has "clear boundaries against the AfD" before the party will consider signing a coalition agreement.

February 25, 2025

Election results since German reunification in the 1990s show how the makeup of parliament, the Bundestag, has changed from being dominated by two major parties (the CDU and SPD) to between five and seven parties fighting for seats.

Although the increasing popularity of smaller parties like the Greens and the Left has resulted in more choice for German voters, it has made it more difficult to form cohesive coalitions that represent at least 50% of voters.

The diverging interests of the last coalition of the SPD, Greens, and FDP caused the government to collapse last November, prompting the snap election.

Complicating matters further, most parties are not willing to work with the far-right AfD, which won the second-highest number of seats at Sunday's election.

February 25, 2025

Markus Söder, the leader of the CDU's Bavarian sister party the CSU, said that in light of Germany's precarious economic and foreign policy situations, the center-right bloc and the center-left SPD had a duty to build a coalition and get to work.

"We have to pull ourselves together to form a government that solves our migration issues and our economic issues," Söder told public broadcaster ARD.

With Europe no longer able to count of the US under President Donald Trump for support in matters of defense and foreign affairs, all eyes are on Germany to see whether this can be accomplished quickly.

Söder acknowledged that the debt brake, Germany's mechanism for regulating spending, remains a major hurdle. The conservative bloc is hesitant to change it, while the SPD has been advocating for reforms for months, insisting that the country must be prepared to spend more public funds on modernizing infrastructure and other necessary improvements.

The Bavarian leader called the upcoming negotiations "tricky," and said he hopes that the SPD doesn't introduce new hurdles to the process.

February 25, 2025

Sunday's election has cemented the far-right AfD party's rhetoric in the Gemrany political landscape.

The party's vote share has nearly doubled from the last federal election and it has made substantial gains in eastern Germany in particular, helped by anti-immigrantion talk. 

DW spoke to voters in the city of Frankfurt (Oder), on the border with Poland, where some are trying to make sense of the results while others are not surprised at all.

February 25, 2025

The center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), along with its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) came out top in Sunday's vote with 28.6%.

They were followed by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) with 20.8%.

The two parties remaining in the outgoing coalition government, the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens, won 16.4% and 11.6% respectively.

The only other party to make it past the 5% hurdle to enter the German parliament was the Left Party which saw its vote jump to 8.8%.

The other former member of the coalition government, the Free Democrats (FDP), did not manage to get passed the 5% hurdle, securing only 4.3% of the vote.

With the CDU's Friedrich Merz already ruling out a coalition with the far-right AfD, it remains to be seen whether another coalition can successfully be pieced together.

February 25, 2025

Zac Crellin

Thank you for joining us as we continue to keep you up-to-date on the latest developments following Germany's federal election on Sunday.

The first moves have already been made toward forming a coalition government after center-right bloc (CDU/CSU) won, but failed to secure a majority over the weekend.

CDU leader Friedrich Merz has said he favors a coalition with the center-left SPD, but the various parties will first have to convene among themselves to discuss who they are happy to work with and where they are willing to make compromises.