BREAKTHROUGH

Angela Merkel Has Clinched a Coalition Deal in Germany

Making hefty concessions to her Social Democratic partners.

It’s taken four months of wrangling, but Angela Merkel has finally struck a coalition deal with the center-left Social Democrats. German media reported the parties—Merkel’s CDU/CSU and Martin Schulz’s SPD—agreed to a deal on Wednesday morning after months of political uncertainty following last September’s inconclusive election. Der Spiegel reported the SPD won control of the ministry of foreign affairs in negotiations, as well as the ministries of finance and labor, while Merkel’s CDU will retain control of defense, economy, agriculture, health, and education. The SPD’s 460,000 members vote by mail in the coming weeks to have the final say on whether to accept the coalition agreement.