NIGHTMARE FOR MERKEL: German crisis looms as coalition parties completely divided

GERMANY’S Angela Merkel faces political turmoil as coalition talks look likely to ground to a halt as the parties remain divided on the main issue of immigration.

Politicians from all three camps have signalled deals on immigration and climate policy will be tough to reach as the German chancellor attempts to unite her divided conservative alliance, which suffered bruising losses in a national election last month.

There are fears it could take months to form a coalition, leaving Germany politically weakened as the European Union (EU) looks to its wealthiest country for leadership on governance reform within the bloc.

In the first two rounds of talks, the CDU/CSU conservatives, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens defied expectations by finding common ground on fiscal policy.

But cracks started to appear when the parties arrived for further talks on the so-called ‘Jamaican coalition’ on Thursday.

Angela Merkel
GETTY

Merkel faces political turmoil

 

Alexander Dobrindt
GETTY

Alexander Dobrindt said he was unsure talks would be successful over immigration

Greens’ Juergen Trittin told Bild newspaper: “We only set out fiscal goals.”

Arriving for the negotiations, Alexander Dobrindt – negotiator for the Christian Social Union (CSU) – said he was far from sure that they would be as successful on Thursday’s “heavyweight agenda”.

He said: ”Without limits on immigration, Jamaica will remain an island in the Caribbean but will certainly not be a coalition in Berlin.

“What happened in 2015 must never be repeated.”

Source: http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/871459/Germany-Angela-Merkel-German-elections-coalition-latest-migrant-crisis 

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