Exploratory talks continue - hopes of agreement on finance
Under mounting pressure from abroad, the CDU/CSU bloc and the SPD are continuing their negotiations. Special funds worth billions are being discussed.
Berlin (dpa/d.de) - On their third day of negotiations in Berlin, the CDU/CSU alliance and the SPD are moving towards a decision on urgent financial questions. Two separate special funds worth hundreds of billions of euros, to be spent on defence and infrastructure, are being discussed.
The overnight announcement that US military support for Ukraine is being suspended for now is putting huge time pressure on the parties seeking to form a government in Germany. Key financial issues relating to further assistance for Ukraine are to be clarified if possible in time for Thursday’s EU summit in Brussels.
Both the likely future Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU, photo) and SPD chief Lars Klingbeil stressed that financial clarity needed to be achieved not only for Ukraine and the defence of the country but also for other areas such as infrastructure, social aspects and economic competitiveness.
Both steps would require an amendment of the Basic Law and thus a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag, which the CDU/CSU bloc and the SPD do not have in the new parliament - even with the support of the Greens. The AfD, the Left Party and the BSW could block any such move, in other words. For this reason, the possibility of the old parliament taking a decision before it is disbanded on 25 March is being considered.