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Whatever your lifestyle and however you like to have good time, you will find all you want in multicultural and multilingual Lithuania. When the moon takes the
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Christian Democrat leader Angela Merkel is set to replace Gerhard Schröder as Germany's next chancellor, in a political deal that will see the departure of Mr Schröder from the national political stage, senior members of the ruling Social Democrats have told the Financial Times.
Ms Merkel's expected victory in the battle for the chancellorship is likely to be announced on Monday, following a meeting on Sunday evening in Berlin between Mr Schröder and Ms Merkel, according to the SPD politicians, who spoke on condition of anonymity. ..."The chancellor has done what was necessary, to ensure the SPD is on an equal footing with the CDU in the coalition," one official said.
...conservative leaders have said they would accept Schröder as vice-chancellor and foreign minister, an offer he is expected to rebuff. One observer close to the talks says despite hopes within the SPD that Schröder will take a cabinet position, the chancellor has already decided to walk. “He has a lot of years in government,” the observer said. Before taking charge in 1998, Schröder was the premier of Lower Saxony. “Now he can start a lucrative career as an adviser.”
The SPD may be given an equal number of cabinet posts as the CDU and be offered first choice of ministries to control, the MP said. SPD officials said these could include the foreign, economics and family ministries. In addition, the CDU is almost certain to give the SPD assurances - even ahead of lengthy coalition talks expected to start next week - that it will drop key elements of its more radical economic reform agenda, such as changes to job protection and collective bargaining rules.
Many in Germany’s business community had hoped for a government that included the Free Democrats, the most market-friendly party, but there will be no room for them in a grand coalition. Now, top executives and economists expect a slowing or outright halt of reforms and partisan infighting to be the hallmarks of a CDU-SPD government.
Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow a mere one percent this year, the weakest in the 25-nation European Union. Unemployment hit a post-war high of over 5.2 million people in February.
