Berlin's Greens and SPD Decide on Coalition with Die Linke

20.10.2026 00:26 HotInfo

Greens and Social Democrats in Berlin are deciding on October 19 whether to start coalition negotiations with the Die Linke party. The Greens convened a small party congress, while the SPD leadership is voting at a digital meeting. Die Linke will decide on starting negotiations only at its party congress on October 31. Deutschlandfunk ↗

The process is accompanied by doubts within the SPD. Twenty Social Democrat members of the German Bundestag warned against cooperating with Die Linke. The chairwoman of the Greens' parliamentary group in Berlin, Hanna Dröge, stated that Die Linke must abide by the exploratory document created by all three parties. Deutschlandfunk ↗

The dispute also concerns the planned termination of cooperation between Berlin schools and the German armed forces. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius criticized this intention, calling it completely incomprehensible. The issue is among the points that could complicate the formation of a coalition between the SPD, the Greens, and Die Linke. Die Zeit ↗

CDU and the youth organization Junge Union have taken a sharp stance against a possible government. Its delegates are demanding a societal rejection of such a grouping and have proposed that Berlin should not have access to information from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Federal Criminal Police Office. Berlin's CDU chief Stefan Evers called the exploratory agreement a capitulation to the radical, partly antisemitic Die Linke party. Die Zeit ↗

Party votes will determine the next steps. Only after their approval can formal negotiations on a joint government program begin. Tagesspiegel ↗

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