BERLIN

Germany’s center-left, environmentalist, and liberal parties signed a coalition agreement on Tuesday to form the country’s next government.

Chancellor-designate Olaf Scholz praised the good teamwork between his Social Democrats and coalition partners, and expressed hope that this will continue in the next years to address the country’s problems.

“As we’re starting to work, we have a difficult task to master, fighting the coronavirus crisis,” he said at the signature ceremony, stressing that the government will boost efforts to contain the pandemic.

Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) narrowly won the Sept. 26 elections over Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, and managed to hammer out a coalition deal with the two smaller parties after weeks-long negotiations.

The three-party coalition government of the SPD, Greens, and the Free Democrats (FDP) is set to be sworn in by the federal parliament on Wednesday.

Germany's long-serving chancellor, Angela Merkel, did not run in the election, and repeatedly said she will leave active politics once the new government takes office.