Horst Seehofer, leader of Germany's conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), the sister party of Chancellor Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), gives a statement prior to a meeting with the leaders of the conservative CDU/CSU union with the leader of the social democratic SPD party on January 7, 2018 in Berlin. German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened talks with the SPD, Germany's second biggest party, on renewing their alliance, in a new attempt at shaking Europe's biggest economy out of paralysis after September's inconclusive elections. / AFP PHOTO / Tobias SCHWARZ