Germany live blog: Current political developments in Berlin

Germany live blog:

The Left, the Greens and the SPD in Berlin meet for preliminary discussions

Oct 1, 2026, 11:07am Reading time: 1 min.

They are meeting in Berlin today: Left Party top candidate Elif Eralp with Green Party leader Werner Graf and SPD politician Steffen Krach (photo from August 24th) dpa

Attitude towards anti-Semitism and organized crime in focus +++ Hape Kerkeling calls for AfD ban proceedings +++ BSW changes its name +++ all developments in the live blog

Maaßen: We should first talk about banning the left

The former President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Hans-Georg Maaßen, said at the hearing in the Thuringian state parliament that he assumed that the AfD was committed to the free-democratic basic order. In his view, the collected statements from AfD officials were not enough to establish hostility to the party's system. He also couldn't see a second, hidden agenda of the AfD. From his perspective, the prerequisites for a ban procedure are therefore not present.

The AfD has different standards than the Left, said Maaßen. The left is “openly extremist”, and there is also Israel-related anti-Semitism. “We should first talk about banning the left,” said the former top constitutional protection officer.

When asked by a member of parliament, Maaßen said that he had lunch with the Thuringian AfD parliamentary group leader Björn Höcke on Wednesday "to get a picture of him". In a free democracy, everyone has to talk to everyone. Maaßen has been monitored by his former authority, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, since the beginning of 2024 in the area of ​​right-wing extremism. He is suing against it.

Hape Kerkeling calls for an AfD ban procedure

The entertainer Hape Kerkeling has called for a ban to be initiated against the AfD. He also justified this in a hearing in the Thuringian state parliament on Tuesday evening by saying that the party was trivializing the National Socialist dictatorship in German history. “Anyone who does not handle history responsibly will never be allowed to bear responsibility in our country,” he said. “The promise of our state is: We will not tolerate fascism.”

Kerkeling pointed out that many people in Germany are afraid because they have a different skin color, are queer people or people of Jewish or Muslim faith. A party that feeds its existence on hatred of minorities should have no place in Germany. “Dear MPs, use your vote to finally initiate this important process,” said Kerkeling.

MP Daniel Haseloff from the AfD said his party would not take part in Kerkeling's questioning before the state parliament's justice committee because it was a political procedure.

Beck warns the SPD and the Greens against forming a coalition with the left

The President of the German-Israeli Society, Volker Beck, has warned the SPD and the Greens against a coalition with the Berlin Left. “This is a threat to the security of Berlin and its population,” Beck said in the Politico Berlin Playbook Podcast before the parties’ first talks on Thursday. Beck expressed doubts that the planned talks on anti-Semitism could lead to a solid basis for a government alliance.

The Left is ready to “sign almost anything so that we can continue on the path towards the coalition and the Red City Hall,” said the Green politician. But one cannot rely on such assurances.

The former Green Party member of the Bundestag accused the Left Party of having a “deep anti-Semitism problem”. In addition, there is “deep involvement in their cadre of people who have contacts or sympathies with terrorists and clan criminals.” A preamble in a coalition agreement does not solve these problems.

Beck accused the SPD and the Greens of wanting to stick to an alliance with the Left Party despite their concerns. “I fear that, for better or for worse, the SPD and the Greens will want to enter into these talks and will therefore be satisfied with any linguistic formulas,” he said.

Knobloch criticizes the AfD and the Left Party

The President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, Charlotte Knobloch, urgently warns against the AfD: “I am afraid, people are afraid,” said Knobloch on the ARD talk show “maischberger” on Wednesday evening. "The AfD belongs away. Otherwise I don't know how our future will develop," said Knobloch, who survived the Holocaust as a girl in hiding.

We have to “make sure we get this party back under control,” she emphasized. The ninety-three-year-old finds it “a catastrophe that we are talking about such a topic these days” and “have to ask voters to withdraw from voting for the AfD because it has no future for our country.”

Knobloch was also critical of the Left Party in Berlin. From their point of view, a government under this party would be “a major catastrophe, not only for the Jews in Berlin, but for all Berliners.” “Politicians have to be very, really careful to ensure that this doesn’t happen.”

Knobloch expressed praise for former Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU). She “really enjoyed working with her and trusted her a lot.” She doesn't see a connection between Merkel's policies and the rise of the AfD. Rather, she would like Merkel's time back: "We could call it back if we had the opportunity. At the moment, according to Jewish opinion, our politics are a bit too slow," said Knobloch.

Green Party leader Banaszak calls for a price cap for the Deutschlandticket

The Green Party leader Felix Banaszak has called on the federal government to stop a further increase in the price of the Deutschlandticket. “More than 35 percent price increase since the introduction of the Deutschlandticket is a hammer,” Banaszak told the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”. “I call on the federal government to put a price cap on the Deutschlandticket instead of downgrading public transport to second-class transport.” He sharply criticized the coalition's planned fuel discount. “With the 2.5 billion that the fuel discount costs taxpayers in three months, the environmentally friendly Germany ticket can be kept price stable until the next federal election,” said Banaszak. Instead of helping people in a meaningful way, the government is wasting billions in taxes to benefit oil companies.

Söder: The government has woken up from paralysis

CSU leader Markus Söder sees the black-red coalition slowly getting back on track after a certain shock following the recent elections. He was happy “that the government has woken up from its state of shock and has now returned to productive cooperation,” said the Bavarian Prime Minister on Bavarian television in the evening. But he qualified: "You can't make huge leaps with the SPD at the moment - so take it one step at a time." At the same time, Söder emphasized: “The pace must be increased and effectiveness improved.”

Söder described the fuel discount, which comes into force at night, as an absolutely necessary measure and an important signal - even if the instrument is not entirely fair. But it is the only measure “that can be done quickly and implemented”. But a fundamental energy tax reform is needed, he emphasized. "In the long term, we cannot afford that refueling is so expensive. We also cannot afford that energy is so expensive." One could argue that in addition to the industrial electricity price, for example, a craft electricity price is needed. So the fuel discount is okay for now. But Söder reiterated: “That won’t be enough, we need more.”

There is a lot of work being done in Berlin now, said Söder about the black-red coalition. “Thank God some things are working now,” he added - things were very uncertain at the time, for example when it came to the question of long-term care insurance. And that is why the Berlin cabinet decision on long-term care insurance, no matter how difficult it may be in individual cases, is “overall an important signal that the reforms and the reform process are continuing.”

Söder also commented on the speculation about a change of chancellor. “Friedrich Merz is Chancellor and will remain Chancellor,” said the Bavarian Prime Minister on Bavarian television that evening. Söder pointed out that, constitutionally speaking, a change of chancellor only occurs under “extreme” conditions. And the CSU leader added: Given the voices in the SPD that perhaps wanted a left-wing coalition, it cannot be ruled out that a change of chancellor would possibly end in a debacle and even in new elections - if there was no majority in the Bundestag. That's why Söder confirmed: "The Chancellor is in office." And he added: “I would like to be Prime Minister in Bavaria.”

Linnemann: “Socially acceptable subsidies” instead of care caps

According to Federal Health Minister Carsten Linnemann, the planned commission for further care reforms should not be about capping personal contributions for care costs in homes as demanded by the SPD. “No, he’s not going into the commission,” the CDU politician told ZDF’s “Heute Journal” when asked about this SPD wish. “So a lid is extremely dangerous, you just have to say that.”

Linnemann argued that the SPD proposal only saves “perhaps 300 euros” for those affected - with a personal contribution of more than 3,000 euros. He also expressed concern that a cap could lead to “costs escalating further” because providers increase prices. Instead, the minister announced: "We will tackle the issue by introducing socially acceptable benefit subsidies."

He referred to the performance supplements for nursing home residents introduced in 2022. These are staggered depending on the length of stay in the home and are intended to cushion the ever-increasing personal contributions. With a view to the commission, he called it a mandate “to make these subsidies socially acceptable”.

The SPD, on the other hand, explicitly mentioned the care cap it proposed as part of the program for the commission. “The Nursing Commission now has the task of presenting concrete results for a structural reform within the next few weeks, including a constitutionally compliant structural balance between statutory and private nursing care insurance,” said deputy group leader Dagmar Schmidt. “As well as a care cap that effectively protects those in need of care and their families from ever-increasing personal contributions.”

The SPD had called for the personal contribution for pure care costs to be limited to 1,500 euros. In July, this averaged 1,775 euros per month - including costs for accommodation, meals and investments, those affected or relatives had to pay an average of 3,364 euros.

BSW is filing the name of the founder

The BSW will complete its announced renaming on October 1st and will in future do without the name of founder Sahra Wagenknecht. But the abbreviation remains. The party decided to change from the “Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance” to the “Social Justice and Economic Reason Alliance” in December 2025. However, the application was postponed due to the advertising effect in the state election campaigns.

“The older ones will remember: “Raider is now called Twix. Nothing else changes,” explained the party. “It’s very similar with BSW.” General Secretary Oliver Ruhnert reiterated that it was clear from the start that the name of the founder would only be part of the party name for a transitional period. “We used the name and popularity of our party founder to highlight our political profile and to be recognized as a new force in the party jungle,” said Ruhnert. “The abbreviation BSW has now become established.”

According to the party, there were hundreds of ideas for the new name. A party conference then decided on the new long version of the abbreviation BSW. The former left-wing faction leader Wagenknecht founded the party in 2024.

The Navy has a new inspector

The previous Navy inspector, Vice Admiral Jan Kaack, retired with a ceremonial handover of command on Wednesday. In front of more than four hundred invited guests from the Bundeswehr, NATO and overseas, marines in parade formation and the Marine Music Corps at the Mürwik Naval School, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) and Inspector General Carsten Breuer honored the outgoing Navy chief as an outstanding officer who has worn the Navy's “blue cloth” for more than 40 years.

In the past four years in particular, Kaack has set the navy on a new course, which has been due primarily to the completely changed security situation in the North and Baltic Seas since the Russian attack on Ukraine. The tunes Kaack chose for his farewell included “Pink Panther” and a piece from the film “Dances with Wolves” in memory of two speedboats on which he sailed as a young officer, Panther and Wolf.

Rear Admiral Tobias Abry took command of the German naval forces late in the afternoon. He promised to continue to consistently align the Navy “with the threat posed by Russian research” or the Russian Federation. It is important to further increase the feasibility, availability and scalability of the naval forces. Abry, who previously spent a long time at sea and gained experience in many national and international staff assignments, gave the motto: “Courage and optimism are mandatory!” In the evening, Kaack was farewelled with a big tattoo and handed over to private sea travel - as a sailor together with his wife and family.