Live Breaking News & Updates on Markus Soeder Tobias Schwarz

The development gives him an advantage after he and a rival both declared their ambitions.
The Union bloc aims to decide quickly on its candidate after months of shadow-boxing between Mr Laschet, the head of Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, and Markus Soeder, who leads its smaller Bavaria-only sister party, the Christian Social Union.
Mr Laschet and Mr Soeder – the governors of Germany’s two most populous states, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria respectively – both officially declared on Sunday that they are prepared to run, but insisted that they will quickly find a harmonious solution.
Armin Laschet, left, and Markus Soeder (Tobias Schwarz/Pool Photo via AP) ....

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