Government formation: Thuringia and Brandenburg before coalition talks with BSW

In Brandenburg and Thuringia the signs point to coalition negotiations with the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW). In Erfurt, after tough negotiations, the state chairmen of the CDU, BSW and SPD announced a compromise on the Wagenknecht party’s controversial foreign policy demands for the preamble to a possible government contract. Coalition talks are scheduled to start on Tuesday.

BSW party founder Sahra Wagenknecht clearly criticized the Erfurt compromise in the evening. She told “Spiegel” that it was clearly lagging behind the outcome of the negotiations in Brandenburg. She also told MDR: “Nevertheless, we will now enter into discussions.”

In Brandenburg, the state boards of BSW and SPD agreed to start coalition talks in the evening, as the two government partners announced. According to the SPD, they should begin on Monday. In the morning, the two party leaders Dietmar Woidke (SPD) and Robert Crumbach (BSW) presented the results of the exploratory talks lasting several weeks.

During the negotiations, the BSW and its federal party leader Wagenknecht had also asked the possible coalition partners to position themselves on their peace policy demands – specifically on diplomatic efforts in the Ukraine war and on the planned stationing of US medium-range missiles in Germany. In Erfurt, the project of a so-called blackberry coalition was therefore temporarily on the brink.

Brandenburg draft criticizes rocket plans

The compromises now found in the two countries differ. The SPD and BSW negotiators in Brandenburg wrote in their draft that they were critical of the missile plans agreed by SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz with the USA. The Erfurt paper, on the other hand, only acknowledges that “many people in Thuringia” viewed the deployment critically or rejected it. “The future government of the Free State of Thuringia promotes a broad-based debate and also gives this attitude a public voice in the spirit of a sustainable commitment to peace.”

It also says: “Within the framework of the European and federal order, we support all diplomatic initiatives to end the war of aggression unleashed by Russia against Ukraine.” Differences are openly expressed: the CDU and SPD see themselves in the tradition of ties to the West and Eastern politics. “The BSW stands for an uncompromising peace course.”

The Brandenburg draft states: “We have agreed that we (…) are committed to finding a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict and the reduction of the associated tensions within Europe through negotiations with the parties to the conflict with the aim of a ceasefire and a permanent to promote peace.” At the same time, the paper is committed to “our country’s defense capability” and to strengthening the Bundeswehr.

According to the BSW regional head, the Thuringian agreement was discussed intensively with Wagenknecht

“We managed to find a consensus,” said Thuringia’s CDU leader Mario Voigt. The negotiations were initially stopped on Friday and resumed on Sunday. BSW state chief Katja Wolf said, with a view to federal party leader Sahra Wagenknecht, that the agreement had been intensively discussed. “Consent is not formally required.”

More than a week ago, the Thuringian BSW board and especially Wagenknecht made the agreement on a peace formula for the preamble of a possible coalition agreement a condition for the start of coalition negotiations in Erfurt. Before the dispute, the three parties had already agreed on an exploratory paper, which the party executives had already approved.

Difficult situation after state elections

The CDU, BSW and SPD only have half the seats in the Thuringian state parliament – so at least one vote from the opposition would be needed to break the stalemate. After the results of the state elections, there is hardly any alternative to a blackberry coalition because all parties rule out cooperation with the AfD, and the CDU also with the Left. The only possibility would be a minority government of the CDU, possibly together with the SPD, which would, however, need both the BSW and the Left for majorities. In Thuringia, the AfD became the strongest party in a state election for the first time in Germany with 32.8 percent.

The situation is somewhat simpler in Brandenburg, where an alliance of the SPD and BSW would have a majority in the state parliament. “It is now an obligation to ensure that Brandenburg is a state that has a secure government,” said Woidke. The exploratory result is an “intermediate stage”. “The real challenge comes with the coalition negotiations.”

Explorations in Saxony continue

In Saxony, efforts to form a government between the CDU, BSW and SPD are also continuing after the Social Democrats had temporarily suspended them. The reason for this was that the majority of BSW representatives in the state parliament had approved an AfD request to set up a committee of inquiry into the corona pandemic. The leaders of the three parties have now agreed to continue the explorations. “The voting behavior in the plenary session as well as misunderstandings in dealing with one another were addressed and resolved,” the parties said.