Efforts to form a new government in Germany are continuing, with a key figure in the liberal FDP saying that his party must co-ordinate closely with the Greens to avoid a repeat of the coalition between the conservative CDU/CSU and the centre-left SPD.
Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel led a so-called "grand coalition" of centre-right and centre-left after they struck a coalition deal following the last elections in 2017. Merkel is retiring after 16 years at the helm, but it's still not clear who her successor will be.
"We have to be careful that in the end we don't get so tangled up with the Greens that there can only be a grand coalition," FDP secretary general Volker Wissing said on German television on Monday.
The Greens and FDP failed to reach agreement after the 2017 election, making a coalition between the CDU/CSU and the SPD the only viable option at that time.
Wissing said that this experience highlighted why "things have to be closely coordinated this time."
Asked about the next steps for forming a government, he said that "first of all, we are still waiting for the Greens' talks with the CDU/CSU. We will then make our internal evaluation and compare the two."
Both the SPD - who won the largest number of seats in the new Bundestag - and the CDU/CSU - who came a close second - are campaigning for a possible government alliance including both the Greens and the FDP. It would be the first three-way alliance in Germany since the early post-war years.
While the FDP is closer ideologically to the CDU, the Greens are closer to the SPD.
