Berlin, Germany | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel promised Monday that her new government would start work swiftly and lend a strong voice to Europe, a day after she secured a coalition for her fourth term. Germany’s second biggest party, the Social Democrats (SPD), on Sunday finally gave the …
Read More »Merkel to appoint key party critic to cabinet
Berlin, Germany | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel has decided to give a cabinet role to an outspoken critic within her conservative party, as she looks to quell surging discontent in the right wing of the group, a senior party official said Sunday. Merkel is to name 37-year-old Jens Spahn …
Read More »Merkel’s fate in SPD hands as members vote on power pact
Hamburg, Germany | AFP | Germany’s Social Democrats started campaigning Saturday ahead of a party referendum that spells the last threat to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s hopes of forming a new government, five months after an inconclusive election. In a vote expected to be tight, the more than 460,000 members of …
Read More »Confidence grows for deal on new Merkel government
Berlin, Germany | AFP | Talks between the top German parties on forming a new government for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s fourth term spilled into overtime Monday but confidence appeared to be growing they would strike a deal. More than four months after Germany’s general election, marathon weekend negotiations failed to yield …
Read More »Merkel in last-ditch push for German coalition
Berlin, Germany | AFP | Chancellor Angela Merkel embarks Thursday on last-ditch talks with Germany’s second biggest party to form a government, in what is also a battle to rescue her political career. September’s inconclusive elections left the veteran leader without a majority and struggling to find partners to govern …
Read More »Germany in political turmoil as coalition talks fail
Berlin, Germany | AFP | Chancellor Angela Merkel was left scrambling for ways to drag Germany out of crisis Monday after high-stakes talks to form a new government collapsed, potentially forcing Europe’s top economy into snap elections. Germany now faces weeks, if not months of paralysis with a lame-duck government that …
Read More »Merkel back at the polls before tough coalition talks
Berlin, Germany | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced a regional vote test Sunday, after winning a fourth term with a disappointing showing that has forced her to embark on high-stakes coalition talks. Three weeks after German voters handed Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union its worst result in decades, the leader …
Read More »THIS WEEK: Germany’s Merkel gets fourth term with weakened mandate
THIS WEEK: Germany’s Merkel gets fourth term with weakened mandate Angela Merkel secured a fourth term as German Chancellor after the Sept 24 election but with a weakened mandate as far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) made in-roads into the German parliament for the first time. Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union …
Read More »EU leaders look to digital future
Tallinn, Estonia | AFP | EU leaders will look to the bloc’s digital future at a summit in Tallinn on Friday, a day after debating wider plans unveiled by French President Emmanuel Macron to strengthen the union. Macron is expected to seek to persuade sceptical counterparts to overhaul tax rules so …
Read More »ANALYSIS: Angela Merkel, Germany’s ‘eternal chancellor’
Berlin, Germany | AFP | Angela Merkel has been derided as Europe’s “austerity queen”, cheered as a saviour by refugees and hailed as the new “leader of the free world”. But as the pastor’s daughter raised behind the Iron Curtain just won a fourth term at the helm of Europe’s …
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