Following Germany’s recent elections that saw no party win enough seats to form a majority government, the Green Party and the FDP, who came third and fourth respectively, are continuing talks to determine what shape a future coalition government might take.
The mathematics of the results mean that realistically a majority coalition government can only be formed if both the Greens and the FDP join with either the Social Democrats (SDP) led by Olaf Scholz or Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats CDU/CSU.
The Green Party and the FDP however are on opposite sides of the political divide and differ in many areas, particularly economic policy.
The two parties are having discussions with each other, and this week they will separately begin talks with the SDP and CDU/CSU to determine which party to enter a coalition government with.
The Green Party favours the left leaning SDP while the FDP is more aligned to the centre-right CDU/CSU.