Overview
- The crisis began when SPD co‑chair and labour minister Bärbel Bas resigned following a family tragedy and said she had also been politically attacked, triggering public recriminations between the SPD and the Union.
- SPD women’s leadership called the Union’s verbal attacks on Manuela Schwesig and Bas “sexism with system,” while Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Junge Union figures rejected those charges, deepening mutual distrust in government ranks.
- A Berlin sondierung paper signed by the Left, Greens and SPD proposes a route to expropriate large landlords with a plan for a law by mid‑2028 and a capped compensation of €16 billion, prompting at least 20 SPD Bundestag members to oppose entering talks with the Left.
- In Saxony‑Anhalt AfD leaders and the new BSW party showed public closeness at a Magdeburg meeting, leaving the AfD three seats short of a majority and making BSW deputies potential kingmakers for an Ulrich Siegmund vote for minister‑president.
- Internal SPD uncertainty grew as Hubertus Heil said he could not exclude a run for party chair, federal ministers including Boris Pistorius publicly criticized Berlin plans such as ending Bundeswehr school cooperation, and commentators warned the row could reshape leadership and policy priorities.