German Embassy in Tirana said Friday that about six weeks after the Bundestag elections, the parties CDU, CSU, and SPD have reached an agreement to form a new federal government and agreed on a joint government program.

But before CDU leader Friedrich Merz can be elected Chancellor, the deal still needs to be approved internally: SPD members will vote, the CDU will hold a small party conference, and the CSU’s executive committee will decide.

“The joint coalition agreement underlines that Germany will firmly support the Berlin Process and the EU membership of the six Western Balkan countries through a differentiated and performance-based approach to assess the individual progress of the candidate countries,” German Embassy stated.

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