title: Merkel's conservatives warned not to close off coalition options
text: MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservative alliance should avoid making big policy commitments before they start coalition negotiations, potential junior government partners said on Thursday. Germany is set for months of uncertainty after Merkel s CDU/CSU alliance won a fourth term in Sunday s election but bled support to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). The Christian Social Union (CSU), Merkel s party s Bavarian ally, has signaled it wants a rightward shift, to focus on security and setting a limit on immigration numbers to dampen the appeal of the AfD, a policy firmly opposed by the Greens. This could complicate Merkel s hopes of building a three-way coalition between the conservatives, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and the pro-immigration, environmentalist Greens.  Nobody should set out maximal demands that could already be seen as ruling it (such a coalition) out,  Greens leader Cem Ozdemir told the Funke newspaper group. Merkel s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and will meet with the CSU on Oct. 8 to seek a common position ahead of negotiations with the other parties. The FDP also warned against making commitments that would undermine coalition prospects.   Even if there s no guarantee of success, it would be wrong to pull down the shutters this early,  party general secretary Nicola Beer told the RND newspaper alliance. Little movement on a coalition is expected before an Oct. 15 vote in the western state of Lower Saxony, currently ruled by the Social Democrats (SPD) - who have said they will go into opposition at the national level - and the Greens. Leading economic institutes said on Thursday that the next government can count on record budget surpluses over the next two years due to a solid upswing, potentially facilitating Merkel s task of building a coalition.  