Germany's conservative bloc and the Social Democrats (SPD) plan to continue exploratory talks next week aimed at forming a new government coalition, after an initial round of discussions on Friday, five days after parliamentary elections.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) said on Wednesday they had agreed to start talks on a possible coalition with Friedrich Merz's conservatives but stressed their support was not automatic and hit out at his negotiating style.

Germany’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc under chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz and the Social Democrats are set to start exploratory talks on a coalition on Friday, said people familiar with the matter.

Germany's conservative CDU/CSU bloc and the Social Democrats plan to start exploratory talks this week on forming a governing coalition following Sunday's federal elections. The first discussion is planned for Friday,

With 16.4% of the vote, down nine points from 2021, the SPD recorded its worst score since the post-war period. It is likely to join a coalition in the next government, led by the Christian Democrat Friedrich Merz.

Germany’s Social Democrats are taking steps to revamp their leadership as a role in a new government beckons, even though Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party slumped to its worst election result since World War II.

Senior figures from Germany's conservatives and the Social Democrats will begin exploratory talks on forming a coalition government on Friday, sources at the parties told Reuters.

Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) on Wednesday elected Lars Klingbeil as leader of its parliamentary group, cementing his position as the party seeks to recover from a historic election defeat to join Friedrich Merz's conservatives in government.

The centre-right party's leader Friedrich Merz said CDU and SPD are to enter talks to form a coalition, one day after the German election on Sunday. View on euronews