Hours after Friedrich Merz's conservatives won Germany's national election, he sent the outgoing Social Democrat government a memorandum dictating how to cooperate during the transition period before he took power.

BERLIN (AP) — Negotiators from German election winner Friedrich Merz's conservative bloc and the center-left Social Democrats started exploratory talks Friday on a possible coalition government, but were tightlipped on the details as they launched what could be a complicated process.

Such talks often drag on for weeks if not months in Germany, but Merz is in a hurry to reach a deal with Europe's biggest economy facing economic malaise and an upheaval in relations with the U.S.