Söder threatens Berlin with financial sanctions – and questions police aid

CSU leader and Bavarian premier Markus Söder called for sanctions against a possible left-wing state government in Berlin at the Junge Union congress in Bonn. He floated changes to the fiscal equalisation system between the states and to the capital city agreement, and said security consequences should also be discussed. Berlin receives four billion euros from the equalisation system, he said.

Referring to Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt, where Germany's first AfD government could take office in December, Söder said whether Bavarian police officers would continue to be sent there would have to be carefully considered. He cited the AfD's Russia contacts as a reason to oppose the party: 'We don't need Kremlin lackeys in the chancellery.'

'If we're talking about firewalls, then we need one to the left instead,' Söder added. According to ZDFheute, he and Chancellor Friedrich Merz threatened to expel Union politicians who support the AfD.