Parties: After Merz’s statement, debate about black-green coalition

After statements by CDU leader Friedrich Merz about the possibility of a black-green coalition at the federal level, negative voices from his own camp are being heard. “Black-green is not a model for the future,” said CSU general secretary Martin Huber to the editorial network Germany (RND). The chairman of the Junge Union, Johannes Winkel, told the portal “ZDFHeute” that 18 months before the federal election was not the time for coalition speculation. “But what you can already say is that the black-green coalition at the federal level is beyond the political imagination.”

Merz wrote an email to supporters at the weekend about future coalition options for the Union, which is currently by far the strongest force in surveys. He had kept open alliances with all three parties in the current traffic light coalition. He named the SPD and the Greens as possible partners in the event that a coalition with the FDP was not enough. “Not a particularly tempting prospect, but there must be a majority capable of governing,” he wrote in his newsletter.

Merz: There must be no alternative to a coalition

Merz also argued with the example of Hesse, where Prime Minister Boris Rhein, as the election winner, conducted explorations with the SPD and the Greens and then decided on the Social Democrats as a coalition partner. “If the Hessian CDU – as many members and voters demanded – had ruled out a coalition with the Greens from the outset, this exploration of the best success in the interest of the CDU would not have been possible, the SPD would have appeared much more self-confident,” says Merz . There should also be no alternative to a coalition.

JU boss Winkel now argued: “The green zeitgeist of the 10s, which unfortunately also affected the Union, is the cause of many of the fundamental problems in Germany.” The signal must therefore be very clear: “Black-green is not a model for the future.”

Huber: Greens mainly responsible for bad mood

CSU politician Huber renewed the fundamental criticism of the Greens, which recently determined the tone of the CDU and CSU towards the party. “The Greens, with their policy of ideological paternalism, are primarily responsible for the bad mood in the country,” he said. In contrast, he argued that the CSU stood for a “politics of the reality of life”. “The CSU and the Greens simply don’t fit together.”

CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt also rejects considerations of a black-green alliance. “With us there is only a change of policy in Germany. The Greens have significantly advanced social polarization in Germany with their ideological projects. This left-green paternalism and re-education policy must be ended. The Greens will be more opponents than partners,” says Dobrindt German press agency.

In his newsletter, however, Merz also made it clear that he was aiming for a “policy change” compared to the current traffic light government of the SPD, Greens and FDP in the next federal election. “In foreign and security policy as well as in energy and climate policy, in economic policy as well as in labor market and social policy,” he wrote. The Bundestag will be re-elected regularly in 2025.

Al-Wazir welcomes Merz’s change of course

The Hessian Green Party politician Tarek Al-Wazir, who ruled with his party as a junior partner with the CDU until the recent change of government in Wiesbaden, sees Merz’s recent statements as a change of course. He welcomed the fact that he had obviously understood “that this fundamentalist course of the Union is not sustainable,” he told “ZDFHeute”.

Democrats must be able to talk to each other and compromise and, if in doubt, also be able to form a coalition. “This is especially true in times when democracy is threatened by extremists. It was absolutely inappropriate that Friedrich Merz declared the Greens to be the main enemy.”

Last year, Merz described the Greens as the main opponents within the federal government. This was also controversially discussed given that there are black-green coalitions in several federal states.

Kretschmann sees great opportunities for black and green

Advertisement for the black-green option at the federal level most recently came from Baden-Württemberg, where a green-black alliance has ruled since 2016. Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) rated the chances for such an alliance in Berlin after the next federal election in 2025 as “very good”.

“We need this connection between ecology and economy,” argued Kretschmann. The state’s interior minister, CDU politician Thomas Strobl, said that based on the good experiences in Baden-Württemberg, he could not recommend Merz to do it with the Greens under any circumstances. “The opposite is the case.”

Increase in membership of the Greens

Meanwhile, the Greens say they have gained more than 4,500 members since the beginning of the year, more than ever before. The party leadership sees a connection between the relatively high number of new members and the protests against right-wing extremism and for the protection of democracy that have been going on for weeks. “This weekend, hundreds of thousands of people were again on the streets across Germany to take a stand against right-wing extremism and for our democracy,” said the party’s political director, Emily Büning, to the dpa.