German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, speaks with journalists as she arrives for an Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels, Friday, Nov. 24, 2017. European Union leaders meet with their counterparts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine for a summit in Brussels on Friday November 24. British Prime Minister Theresa May is also due to hold separate talks with her EU partners. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)
November 25, 2017 - 3:24 AM
BERLIN - Chancellor Angela Merkel is making clear that she doesn't want a new German election as the country's politicians struggle to form a new government.
Talks between Merkel's conservative bloc and two smaller parties on a previously untried coalition collapsed last weekend. Merkel's partners in the outgoing government, the centre-left Social Democrats, initially refused to consider a repeat but said Friday they're open to holding talks.
If Merkel can't put together a coalition the only options would be a minority government or a new election, months after the Sept. 24 vote.
Merkel said Saturday at a party conference in the Baltic coast resort of Kuehlungsborn: "The people voted. And I absolutely do not favour, if we can't do anything with the result, asking people to vote again."
News from © The Associated Press, 2017