ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt has welcomed the prospect of his sister party in Germany forming a coalition government with the country's re-elected chancellor Angela Merkel.
Merkel's previous coalition partners, the centre-left SPD, suffered their worst election performance since 1949, reflecting the drubbing suffered by socialist parties across Europe in June's European elections.
Latest figures show that Merkel's CDU/CSU bloc won 33 per cent of the vote and the Free Democrats (FDP) captured 14.6 per cent.
Merkel said a coalition between the FDP and her centre-right CDU/CSU, which is expected to be formed within a month, offered the best chance for economic recovery for Germany.
In her victory speech, she said she wanted to be a chancellor of all Germans at a moment of economic crisis.
Reacting to the results of the weekend election, Verhofstadt, elected an MEP in June, praised his colleagues in the FDP who achieved a 50 per cent increase in support compared with the last federal elections.
"Germany needs a change of direction and a government with a clear political agenda that will focus intensively on addressing the effects of the financial crisis, job losses and restoring economic growth," said Verhofstadt who sent a message of congratulations to FDP leader Guido Westerwelle.
"Guido Westerwelle and his FDP colleagues have done extremely well to score so highly in the elections. Their clear messages and honesty about the state of the economy and what action is needed clearly resonated with many people."
"I trust now that the process of coalition building will be smoother and swifter than in 2005 under the grand coalition and that the new government can quickly get down to business."
"The good result for the German Liberals follows their excellent results in the European elections in June where they almost doubled their numbers and demonstrates support amongst the public for principled, clear and honest pro-European parties that perceive of the EU as part of the solution rather than the problem of current economic difficulties."
Further comment came from European People's Party (EPP) president Wilfried Martens, who hailed the CDU/CSU's performance as a "great victory."
The former Belgian PM pointed out that Merkel is one of the 14 EPP heads of state and government in the EU, "making the EPP the strongest and most influential European political party with an absolute majority of leaders in the European council."
He added, "Chancellor Merkel has received once again a strong mandate from the German citizens and this is a great achievement considering the difficulties of the current global economic and financial crisis. Merkel's strong leadership and effective governance inspires trust and confidence in the people."
"Merkel’s victory and the formation of a new centre-right government, is a very positive development both for Germany and for the EU. For the many European challenges that lie ahead, I am confident that Merkel will continue to have a leading role in promoting EPP policies and solutions."
Martens, who called Merkel to congratulate her on Sunday, added, “I look forward to personally congratulating Angela Merkel in the upcoming EPP summit of heads of state and government on 29 October in Brussels."
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