Despite declarations by Friedrich Merz, the likely future chancellor, the future government's road to taking office looks to be long and strewn with pitfalls.

A senior member of Germany's conservative bloc has called on the Social Democrats to put party interests behind those of the country, as both parties are widely expected to begin talks on forming the next government.

Preliminary talks between Germany's CDU and SPD have yielded an early result, with the parties agreeing on a special fund to boost defense spending, freed from the "debt brake."

Conservative and center-left parties launch coalition talks on Friday. hoping to avoid prolonging Germany’s post-election uncertainty.

After its historic election defeat, Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) plans to elect its new leadership at a party conference in June, six months earlier than planned. In addition to the party leadership and the election result,