Overview
- The three Spitzenpolitiker held a Vorgespräch on Thursday and each party has named sondierungsteams to take the next steps in coalition formation.
- The Greens and the SPD say they will only agree to Sondierungsgespräche after Die Linke makes clear, binding commitments on antisemitism, the handling of racism and action against organised crime.
- Those demands follow incidents at a Linke election party in Neukölln where a suspected clan leader and a controversial pro‑Palestinian activist were present, raising partner trust and calls for internal accountability.
- Housing policy is the main expected battleground because Die Linke seeks to transfer roughly 220,000 flats into public control, the Greens want to implement the 2021 expropriation referendum, and the SPD rejects compulsory expropriations.
- If the parties reach the required understandings, formal Sondierungsgespräche will begin and could lead to full coalition negotiations that would put Elif Eralp in line to become Berlin’s governing mayor.