Berlin: “The red front is standing” – Söder calls for a firewall to the left

Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) has once again called for a firewall against the left and an exclusion of Berliners from the state financial equalization system. “The Red Front in Berlin is standing,” he said on Sunday morning at the “Germany Day” of the Junge Union (JU) in Bonn – the annual meeting of the Union’s youth association.

On Saturday evening, after their explorations, the leaders of the Left, the Greens and the SPD decided to hold coalition negotiations. In addition to the federal government's reforms, the topic was at the forefront of the conference.

On Sunday, the Junge Union passed a spontaneous resolution calling for four immediate measures against cooperation between the Left, the Greens and the SPD in Berlin. This includes, among other things, quickly implementing a law against socialization. During the election campaign, the Left campaigned on expropriating real estate companies because of the high rents in Berlin.

Söder agreed with the Junge Union's proposal: a national law was needed quickly "that ends such socialist expropriation fantasies." He also wants to cut off the money supply to the Berlin government if the red-green-red coalition comes about.

On the one hand, about the state financial equalization, which Söder had often criticized in the past because Bavaria is the states' largest donor. Berlin should be excluded from this, but ideally the entire concept should be reconsidered, he said. He doesn't see "that everyone else should pay for the experiments in Berlin." That's why he suggested cutting the additional money that the capital receives through the Capital City Treaty.

“When you talk about firewalls, it needs to be to the left,” he said. The negotiations in Berlin should also have consequences at the federal level. But Söder also said that the federal government's reforms are now even more important. Fear of reactions to reforms is “like suicide out of fear of death.”

On Friday and Saturday, North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) and Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) also spoke out against the "left-wing" government formation in Berlin at the "Germany Day". Merz said the negotiations showed how important a “strong CDU and Young Union of Germany” are in these times. The CDU takes a clear stance against anti-Semitism and criticism of Israel's right to exist. Addressing the Greens and the SPD, he said: “Stop going down this path.”

The Chancellor also criticized the parties' declaration against anti-Semitism. Such confessions should be self-evident and not a reason for big announcements.

Wüst described the talks in Berlin as “a disgrace for the capital”. He demanded: “The Greens and the SPD would do well to end this shame.” The sharp words were well received by the JU members, and there was thunderous applause, especially for the tirades of insults directed at the political fringes.

However, there was disagreement on the government's reform plans, which, along with the exploratory discussions, were the main topic of the conference. The young people increased the pressure on Merz to implement the reforms.

Söder was criticized for still sticking to the “mother’s pension”, a CSU project. Söder contradicted: He had committed himself to it and now he could not change his mind again.

Only Wüst came out well. North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister criticized the way the government deals with each other in Berlin and expressed understanding for the frustration of the young generation. There was applause in Bonn for this. “A home game,” even the young members called it. However, he was the only one of the three top politicians who did not have to answer the questions from the JU members afterwards.