What they say about Kosovo in coalition agreement to form German government

German Social Democrat Party candidate Olaf Schelz said the three parties had reached an agreement to form a new government in Germany.

Scholz, who will replace Merkel, said the new government will not require “the least possible”. This government will not seek the smallest common “denominator, but the policy of major influences”. He said he expects party members to provide support for the coalition agreement in the next 10 days.

Pioneering in Climate Protection

The SPD, the Green and FDP, presented the strengths of their coalition agreement. Social Democrats Chancellor Scholz said the tripartite coalition wants to make Germany a pioneer in climate protection. Under the coalition deal, Germany aims to receive 80 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

Initially, Scholz made a statement about the state of Corona's pandemic in Germany. Scholzi said in favour of a mandatory vaccine against Corona in some institutions that house high-risk groups. “Vaxination is the solution to exit this pandemic”, he said in Berlin. “In institutions where there are especially vulnerable groups, we need to make the vaccine” mandatory.

The next government, which will be led by the SPD, with Green and Free Democrats partners, will form an expert advisory body that will inform the administration of pandemic daily, Scholz told reporters.

Health workers and caretaker staff will also receive a special raise. For this reason, new coalition parties have earmarked one billion euros.

Foreign Policy in Coalition Agreement

Foreign policy overall took little place at the press conference. But it is addressed in the deal of Germany's new government.

The new government coalition will impose the protection of a sovereign “Europe to the centre of its foreign policy, said future Chancellor Olaf Schelz.

“The sovereign Europe is the key and is a task for our foreign policy”, Social Democrat Olaf Scholz said. He wants “to enable this sovereign Europe, stimulate it and make it progress”.

In the government statement, Olaf Scholz said foreign policy Germany would develop in friendship with France and in partnership with the US.

EU enlargement with Western Balkan states support the coalition parties. Especially the Green and Social Democrats had this part of their election program.

Balkans in attention

“We support the EU membership process of six Western Balkan countries and reforms needed to meet all Copenhagen criteria”, the coalition agreement of Germany's next government says. “In this context, we strengthen civil society and support other phases of pre-membership”. The Social Democrats, The Green and FDP Liberals say in the coalition agreement that the next “step should open the first EU membership chapters with Albania and Northern Macedonia, visa liberalisation with Kosovo and continue negotiations with Montenegro and Serbia”.

“We support the normalisation dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, as well as efforts to achieve lasting peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, given respect for territorial integrity and overcoming ethnic divisions. In parallel with membership negotiations, the EU must improve its receptive capacity”, the agreement on the future German government says.

The DW question, why foreign policy is behind page 100 in the deal, Scholz said he is aware of Germany's country in world politics. He said Germany will not be in the position of those who only give comments.

Especially do we attribute great importance to US co-operation in the world that has become multipolar, Germany's next Chancellor said.

More Qualified Work Force

The agreement on the government further stipulates the need to remove the time limit for attracting the qualified workforce from the Western Balkans. Blue-Card will also expand for non- academic professions.

Besides the current immigration legislation, we will create a second column with the introduction of a point-based map, so that we can enable employees seeking a job to enter a controlled way into the German labour market”.

“at the same time, will reduce barriers to recognition of educational and professional qualifications from abroad and accelerate procedures”.

Talks With Little Public Information

The parties respected the deadline they had announced, respectively, the formation of the first federal coalition with light colors by Christmas. The common goal is to elect current Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) as Federal Chancellor.

Coalition negotiations began on 21 October. They were held around a major round table consisting of seven high-level representatives from each party and 22 working groups. In the latter, party experts negotiated details of the coalition agreement.

The SPD Chancellor's candidate, Olaf Scholz, praised the atmosphere of negotiations.

But the Greens, in particular, have expressed criticism in recent days. We were sometimes really full because we had the feeling that only the Greens were responsible for protecting the climate”, Annalena Baerbock, co-chairman of the Greens, said a few days ago.

Climate neutrality should be the guide for any political field, not only for an environment ministry but also for agriculture, transportation and, above all, for the economy and industry, Baerbox said.

Schelz does not see coalition as a simple alliance for an election period, just like the leader of FDP, Christian Lindner. If you look at the election platforms as a starting point, the tripartite coalition undoubtedly began as an alliance for a specific goal, but could result more in the future, Lindner has indicated. “A coalition should start working with the aim of re-elected together”. / DW