German chancellor reports major progress on coalition talks

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday highlighted great progress on his three-party ruling coalition talks on a final agreement on the country’s biggest modernization drive since the end of the 19th century.

“I am very, very happy about these talks. We are constantly making progress. We have long since resolved the main issues that needed to be resolved,” said Scholz at a joint press conference with Kenyan President William Ruto in Berlin.

We will have “very, very, very good results,” he said. The focus of the talks is on “modernization and climate protection,” he added.

The leaders of the co-ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD), Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) resumed their marathon talks on a number of controversial issues on Tuesday morning, which had been interrupted the day before.

By the afternoon, there was still no end in sight for the coalition committee, which had kicked off its deliberations on Sunday evening.

The talks dwelt on boosting climate protection in the transport sector and accelerating the construction of highways.

The center-leftist government coalition is also bickering over the replacement of oil and gas heating systems and revamping the child welfare system.