Merkel Leads Marathon Coalition Negotiations as Obstacles Abound
- German chancellor struggles to move government quest forward
- Talks tip into Friday with migration said to be key obtacle
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel led marathon talks that stretched into early Friday on forming an unprecedented four-party government for Europe’s biggest economy as major differences remained between the potential partners.
After a month of exploratory talks, Merkel had set an informal Thursday deadline to unlock actual coalition negotiations. She and others in her Christian Democratic-led bloc met for hours with the Free Democrats and the Green party to reach a verdict on whether to move forward to the next phase. As the talks dragged on with no end in sight, some participants raised the specter of the discussions in Berlin falling apart.