Germany's FDP says won't agree to 'Jamaica' coalition at any price

Free Democratic Party FDP leaders Nicole Beer (R to L), Christian Lindner and Wolfgang Kubicki attend news conference in Berlin, Germany, September 25, 2017. REUTERS/Stefanie Loos

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's liberal Free Democrats (FDP) set the stage for tough coalition talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the Greens, saying they would not agree to a deal that did not promise a change in the German government's direction. "It is not up to us to form a 'Jamaica coalition' at any price," deputy party leader Wolfgang Kubicki told journalists on Monday, after Sunday's national election pointed to a three-way tie-up as the most straightforward possibility for a coalition. FDP party leader Christian Lindner said that changes were needed in Germany's energy policy and its stance on euro zone fiscal policy. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan and Michael Nienaber; Editing by Madeline Chambers)