Angela Merkel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will visit Turkey on Oct. 16 to discuss bilateral relations and international issues, her spokesman said on Oct. 8.

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Steffen Seibert said Merkel will visit Istanbul for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Brdo pri Kranju – President Borut Pahor on Tuesday presented German Chancellor Angela Merkel with the Order of Merit for Distinguished Service, Slovenia’s highest honour, for her personal contribution to deepening the relationship between the two countries and for her credible and trust-inspiring European leadership.

Berlin-based analysts and policymakers expect to see a shift in Germany's - and therefore the EU's - approach to the Western Balkans with the end of the Merkel era.

Ljubljana – President Borut Pahor will receive German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Brdo pri Kranju on Tuesday to confer on her the Order of Merit for Distinguished Service, Slovenia’s top honour, Pahor’s office said on Sunday.

An SPD-led government in Germany has significant potential to sharpen international attention to the problems of corruption in Bulgaria. This could create big issues for former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and his GERB party (EPP), which is trying to find ways to return to power.

Most Germans do not want Christian Democrat (CDU) leader Armin Laschet to try to form a government after his conservative bloc suffered huge losses in parliamentary elections, recent  public opinion polls indicated on Tuesday, as dpa reported.

Namely, the long-term political stability of Germany under Angela Merkel, who as an unofficial European leader helped manage a series of political and economic crises on the continent, is over, and after the elections it seems that a weak and compromise coalition will be formed.

Eighteen candidates of Turkish descent have been elected as lawmakers in Germany's federal parliament, Bundestag, in the country's elections that took place on Sept. 26.

The Social Democratic Party (SPD) won the most parliamentary seats in the national elections, while Angela Merkel's conservative CDU/CSU bloc came in second, preliminary official results showed on Sept. 27.

Germany is headed for weeks, if not months, of protracted coalition haggling as Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives insisted on Sept. 27 on trying to form a government even after losing to the Social Democrats in a tight race.

The German Social Democratic Party (GSDP) won the Bundestag election, ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc, the DPA reported, citing data posted on the federal election commission's website after the vote count.

The SDP receives 25.7 percent of the vote, its best result in years.