CDU Chairman Merz, SPD co-leaders Lars Klingbeil and Saskia Esken, and Bavarian Premier Markus Söder for the CSU affixed their signatures to the deal, pledging immediate action to “change Germany for the better” through reforms and investment.
Merz said the government would pursue a more active international role, notably within Europe.
Esken highlighted the fight against the far right as a top priority, declaring “we must put an end to right-wing specters.”
SPD’s Klingbeil is slated to become vice-chancellor and finance minister, while CDU’s Johann Wadephul will take the foreign affairs portfolio and CSU’s Alexander Dobrindt will head the interior ministry.
SPD’s Boris Pistorius, currently Germany’s most popular politician, will remain defense minister.
Coalition talks launched after the February 23 federal election concluded in early April and were overwhelmingly approved—by 84%—in an SPD membership referendum.
The pact sets out plans to lift Germany out of a three-year recession with business tax cuts, tighten border controls and curb illegal migration, and deepen cooperation with Poland and Weimar Triangle partners.
Before formalizing the coalition, the parties secured a constitutional amendment in the Bundestag to remove spending caps for defense and create a €500 billion infrastructure investment fund.
The CDU/CSU secured 28.6% of the vote, while the SPD posted its worst post-war result at 16.4%, relegating the far-right AfD (20.8%) to third place.
Polls suggest public support for the new coalition has slipped: 56% of respondents in a ZDF survey disapprove of Merz’s nomination and would not grant the alliance a majority if elections were held today.
(jh)
Source: PAP, Reuters