German coalition talks could get going by mid-Oct - CDU's Spahn

FILE PHOTO: Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) addresses the media during a statement on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation in Berlin, Germany, September 22, 2021. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's political parties should be clear by the middle of October about who will take part in formal coalition talks after the Social Democrats narrowly won Sunday's national election, the deputy leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats said on Thursday.

"It must be clear by the middle of October, which direction we are going in," Jens Spahn, health minister and deputy CDU leader, told German national radio Deutschlandfunk.