Merz demands end to Berlin talks with the Left – Reichinnek hits back
The chancellor calls Berlin's Left Party "particularly extreme and radical" and warns of a burden on the federal coalition. Left leader Reichinnek: "The biggest burden on this government is you."
Photo: Dati Bendo / European Union, 2025 / EC - Audiovisual Service / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Video: YouTube · tagesschau · youtube.com
Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) has called on the Social Democrats and the Greens to end exploratory talks with the Left Party in Berlin "immediately." After a closed-door meeting of the CDU leadership on Monday, he described Berlin's Left as "a particularly extreme, radical left," Reuters reported. According to Tagesspiegel, he spoke of an "unprecedented process" and said: "I hope that the SPD comes to its senses."
A red-green-red alliance would "without doubt be a burden" on cooperation at federal level, Merz said. He cited the coalition agreement, which rules out any cooperation with parties hostile to the constitution and democracy, as well as allegations of antisemitism against the Left. "There is a majority together with the CDU in the Berlin House of Representatives," he said.
The Left's parliamentary leader in the Bundestag, Heidi Reichinnek, accused Merz in Tagesspiegel of constantly meddling in the talks from the sidelines instead of doing his job and making people's lives affordable. She added: "The biggest burden on this government is you." There was initially no reaction from the SPD or the Greens.