The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) have agreed on a framework document for further negotiations on forming a government, according to Der Spiegel. Less than two weeks after the early elections to the Bundestag,

Germany's CDU, CSU and SPD parties have produced an exploratory paper on their plans on various topics, including migration, overcoming the first major hurdle on the way to forming a government together.

Chancellor-in-waiting Merz wants to form a coalition by Easter and has warned it was "five minutes to midnight" for Europe to fend for itself against a hostile Russia, with the U.S. under President Donald Trump no longer seen as a reliable ally.