GERMANY - Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany's top parties still had "big obstacles" to surmount before reaching a new coalition deal, ahead of a last-ditch round of negotiations Thursday. The veteran leader, who is battling to form a new government to salvage her political future, warned it would be a "tough day" of talks, which were expected to stretch well into the night.
She said her conservative Christian Democrats would "work constructively to find the necessary compromises but we are also aware that we need to execute the right policies for our country". After her earlier attempt at forging a coalition with two smaller parties collapsed, she is now pinning her hopes on renewing an alliance with the Social Democrats (SPD).
SPD leader Martin Schulz also spoke of "big obstacles" as he arrived for the final day of preliminary talks on whether there is enough common ground to move on to formal coalition negotiations. He said his party wanted to ensure that the new government committed "above all to working toward renewal of the European Union".