German coalition deal important , says Italian PM

Berlin Feb 7 (IANS/AKI) Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni who is visiting Germany on Wednesday hailed the breakthrough deal struck between Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservative CDU/CSU alliance and the Social Democrats (SPD) calling it "important".

"It is important that agreement has been reached on a coalition governent in Germany " Gentiloni said in a speech on Italian-German relations at Berlin s Humbolt university.

"And it is an important result for stability - in Europe and in Italy " he said.

Gentiloni cut short his official visit after Merkel postponed a meeting with him until February 15 when the marathon negotiations between the CDU CSU and SPD stretched into Wednesday from a weekend deadline.

Merkel reportedly phoned Gentiloni herself to tell him that she needed to delay their meeting.

Gentiloni is currently in the middle of an election campaign ahead of March 4 polls in which his ruling centre-left Democratic Party is trailing the populist Five-Star Movement and a conservative bloc led by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

--IANS/AKI
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