Czech president Zeman congratulates Merkel on election win

Czech president Miloš Zeman on Monday sent a telegram of congratulations to German Chancellor Angela Merkel following her victory in parliamentary elections.

Zeman also thanked her for the friendly neighbourly relations developed between the two countries noting though that he and Merkel had different opinions on some key issues.

Merkel’s CDU-CSU won the elections but with a drop in support. She faces forging a new coalition after the Social Democrats vowed to go into opposition after their support slumped to 20.5 percent.

In his message, Zeman made no reference to the strong showing of the far right AfD, which has for the first time won seats in parliament after becoming the third biggest party.