Overview

• Heidi Reichinnek told Stern that the GDR did not embody the kind of socialism her party envisions and outlined a goal of democratic socialism with expanded public provision in housing, transport, health and education.
• CSU leader Markus Söder responded in an Instagram video calling the GDR "Sozialismus pur" and an unjust state, and he vowed to maintain a firewall against cooperation with Die Linke.
• CDU figures including Ottilie Klein and Christoph Ploß, FDP leader Christian Dürr, and Freie Wähler chief Hubert Aiwanger condemned Reichinnek's remarks as historical distortion and an affront to victims.
• Stern noted that a strict no‑cooperation stance is politically fraught because certain Bundestag decisions requiring supermajorities, such as upcoming constitutional court appointments, may need Linke votes.
• Reichinnek stressed that her party seeks to change the economic system rather than overturn the political order and, in the same interview, described frequent abuse and threats faced by women in politics.