State elections in Germany: Candidates argue about rents and AfD coalitions

News blog about the Berlin state elections: Candidates argue about extortionate rent and expropriation

September 17, 2026, 11:49 am

In a television debate, the top candidates disagree about what politicians can do about the housing shortage and skyrocketing rents in the capital.

All developments in the news blog

In addition to our own research, we use material from the news agencies dpa, Reuters, epd, KNA and Bloomberg for our news blog. You can also find all the news, analyzes and background information on the election in Saxony-Anhalt on our topic page.

Important updates

CDU district deputy from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: AfD can be a coalition partner

Reservist association concerned about defense plans in the event of an AfD government

AfD leading candidate Siegmund causes outrage

AfD parliamentary group in Saxony-Anhalt has re-elected the parliamentary group leader without a dissenting vote

Berlin SPD candidate Krach rejects suspicions of enrichment

Anna Schimpp

Election campaign in Berlin: Candidates argue about extortionate rent and expropriation

Before the election of the new state parliament in Berlin, the top candidates argued in a television debate about what politicians can do about the housing shortage and skyrocketing rents in the capital.

Left-wing candidate Elif Eralp said in the RBB election arena that she wanted to create an authority that would take action against rent usury, against illegal holiday apartments and against illegal furnished living. In addition, around 220,000 apartments that are owned by large real estate groups need to be socialized. In addition, there must be a rent cap for state-owned housing companies.

SPD top candidate Steffen Krach countered that compensating the corporations would cost the city a huge amount of money, namely between 20 and 30 billion euros. “And I don’t want the biggest check in Berlin’s history to go to Vonovia.” The SPD also doesn't want rip-offs in the city. “And this is enforced by the rent police, who then ring the doorbell if someone is being ripped off – and then there are fines.” It could be up to 100,000 euros.

CDU top candidate Stefan Evers said the consequences of socialization would be irresponsible. “Where are we supposed to get over 30 billion euros in compensation?” The consequences would be rising rents. The Finance Senator referred to laws for simpler and faster construction and the streamlined building regulations. The CDU-led government has done everything it can to ensure that construction is quicker, easier and more cost-effective. Now there is “finally a significant increase in residential building permits again for the first time”.

AfD candidate Kristin Brinker said her party was absolutely against expropriating housing companies. This does not create any living space and is too expensive for the city. “In that sense, it’s complete nonsense.”

Green candidate Werner Graf suggested converting empty offices into living space in the short term. "That's two million square meters that are currently empty. They can be converted into apartments, trainee shared apartments, student shared apartments, yes, but also care shared apartments."

Police confiscate left-wing anti-Höcke poster in Brandenburg

The Brandenburg police confiscated a left-wing poster in Fürstenwalde/Spree with the inscription “Björn Höcke is a Nazi”. The East Police Department confirmed this to the German Press Agency. The poster is part of the “Stand up against racism” campaign, said the state manager of the Left Brandenburg. The party sees the confiscation as an attempt to intimidate them in their fight against fascism. The procedure is “highly worrying”.

The police said: There was a tip from a witness last Friday, whereupon officers drove to the party office and examined the poster in the window. As a result, there was initial suspicion of a crime. “For this reason, the officers seized the poster and filed a report on suspicion of using the symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations.”

Björn Höcke is the state leader of the AfD in Thuringia, which is classified as definitely right-wing extremist. The case is now before the Frankfurt (Oder) public prosecutor's office for further legal assessment. This involves, among other things, the question of whether it is a protected expression of opinion or a punishable insult.

Merz calls a meeting of the CDU leadership on election evening

Chancellor and CDU leader Friedrich Merz has invited the party leadership to a formal meeting in Berlin on Sunday evening to discuss the results of the state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin and their consequences. The German Press Agency learned this from party circles.

The elections are also about the political future of the Chancellor. It will then become clear whether he can stay in office despite an increasing loss of authority in his own party. There is speculation that Merz could be overthrown by the CDU state leaders. He himself appears determined to fight for his office. “Giving up is not an option for me,” he said after the CDU’s election debacle in Saxony-Anhalt.

In previous state elections there were also invitations to the CDU leadership to the party headquarters. However, these were informal and the participation was therefore manageable. After the election in Saxony-Anhalt, for example, only Daniel Günther of the CDU prime ministers came to the Konrad-Adenauer-Haus. This time the aim is for the Presidium to be present as fully as possible to discuss the consequences of the results.

CDU district deputy from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: AfD can be a coalition partner

Almost a week before the state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a deputy CDU district chairman confirmed, contrary to the wishes of the state party leadership, that he considers a coalition with the AfD to be a possible option. "We have to be open and look for the coalition partner that is possible and best for us. That can of course also be the AfD if that's what the voters want," said Sascha Ott, vice-chairman of the CDU Vorpommern-Greifswald district executive, to the Ostsee-Zeitung.

CDU state leader and top candidate Daniel Peters, however, is sticking to the previous course. “We reject coalitions or similar forms of cooperation with the Left Party and the AfD,” he told the newspaper. He uses almost word for word the wording of the incompatibility resolution that the CDU passed at a party conference in 2018.

Ott had already made headlines several times. After the state elections in 2016, his party initially nominated him for the office of justice minister, but withdrew the proposal after he was suspected of sympathizing with AfD positions.

Anna Schimpp

Reservist association concerned about defense plans in the event of an AfD government

If the President of the Reservist Association has his way, the “German Operational Plan” should be withdrawn from the State Chancellery of Saxony-Anhalt. “The AfD is a great danger for our country,” said CDU member of the Bundestag Bastian Ernst to the editorial network Germany (RND). "If she were to take over the government in Saxony-Anhalt, then the Germany operational plan and other relevant information would almost certainly flow to Russia. That's why the plan should be brought back from Saxony-Anhalt." Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) also considered bringing the plan back on Tuesday in front of defense experts from the coalition factions, as the RND reported.

The “Germany Operational Plan,” which is over 1,000 pages long and secret in detail, contains important information about national and alliance defense in an emergency as well as planned NATO movements in Europe. The so-called “OPLAN Germany” is owned by all 16 state governments. There is now growing concern among the other parties that the AfD, if it were to govern in Saxony-Anhalt, could forward the document to Moscow. This would allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to gain insight into Germany's defense plans.

The head of the Magdeburg State Chancellery Rainer Robra (CDU), however, did not advocate keeping security policy information away from an AfD government. He told the RND: “That would drive even more people into the arms of the AfD.” In the event of a defense, the Federal Council would also have to be involved, of which Saxony-Anhalt would remain a member.

According to the RND, an alternative, according to Ernst, would be to deposit the operation plan in the Ministry of Defense. “Then people or institutions could only view it with prior approval,” he said. “In the event of war, different rules would apply anyway,” explained Ernst. “The federal government would then have increasing access to the states and thus also to Saxony-Anhalt.”

Did the elected AfD MP Koch violate the gun law?

The Halle public prosecutor's office is now also investigating state parliament member Sebastian Koch (AfD) on suspicion of violating the weapons law. During a search at the end of August in connection with a banned right-wing extremist organization, weapons were found on the politician, said a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office. It was a chance find. The MDR had previously reported.

When asked, Koch's lawyer explained that the weapons found were two air rifles and a blank gun in a locked compartment, which his client immediately handed over at the request of the police officers, the MDR continued. Criminal allegations are rejected.

At the end of August, suspected members of the banned right-wing extremist organization “Artgemeinschaft” were searched in several federal states. They are accused of having continued the “species community” despite a nationwide ban. Two AfD politicians were also affected by the searches: Simon Lansmann and Sebastian Koch. They each denied the allegations through their lawyer. Lansmann and Koch won direct mandates in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt last Sunday.

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Anna Schimpp

AfD leading candidate Siegmund causes outrage

Saxony-Anhalt's AfD leading candidate Ulrich Siegmund has linked the production of military equipment to the intended deportation offensive - and thus triggered sharp criticism. “Ulrich Siegmund’s statements mark a new quality,” said the leader of the SPD parliamentary group, Katja Pähle. She further said:

“Anyone who brings military equipment into play in the announced mass expulsion of people from Saxony-Anhalt is talking about violence as a political tool.”

Katja Pähle (SPD)

The BSW, which had previously stated that it could imagine working with the AfD, also made sharp comments. The AfD supports increased armament and “justifies the establishment of the Israeli arms company Elbit with the use of arms technology for ‘remigration’,” wrote co-federal chairman Fabio De Masi. “That shows they don’t want to govern at all and are desperately looking for a way out through provocation.”

After the AfD's constitutive parliamentary group meeting in the Magdeburg state parliament, Siegmund responded on Thursday to a journalist's question about the planned settlement of an Israeli arms company: "We are not demonizing the production of armaments across the board, because we of course also need appropriate aids in (the) later remigration and deportation offensive. Of course also in the sense of internal security, our own stability and also national defense." It has to be weighed up on a case-by-case basis, Siegmund continued. "We want to take a close look at what is being produced there, under what conditions and do we run the risk of becoming involved in foreign conflicts? Then we see this as more than critical."

When asked, Siegmund said on Friday: "Armament production is a broad field. This includes not only weapons, but also equipment, vehicles, protective technology and other aids on which the Bundeswehr, police and security authorities depend." This is exactly what needs to be strengthened, Siegmund told the German Press Agency (dpa), “also in order to enforce the law, carry out deportations consistently and enable a real remigration offensive.” This is not a scandal, but rather a political duty.

The deputy parliamentary group leader of the BSW in the state parliament, Claudia Wittig, also commented on this to the dpa: “Deportations are not a military task”. Military armaments could not be used. “Ulrich Siegmund obviously didn’t think that through.” The statement seems more like a provocation and may show insufficient knowledge of the legal situation.

AfD parliamentary group in Saxony-Anhalt has re-elected the parliamentary group leader without a dissenting vote

After the state elections, Ulrich Siegmund and Oliver Kirchner continue to lead the AfD state parliamentary group together. The dual leadership was unanimously confirmed, as a parliamentary group spokesman in Magdeburg said. Siegmund and Kirchner have led the AfD parliamentary group as dual leaders since August 2022. Tobias Rausch remains Parliamentary Managing Director. The deputy group leaders are still Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, Gordon Köhler and Matthias Büttner.

Protests against AfD planned in more than 20 cities this weekend

After the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, civil society organizations such as the “Time for Action” alliance and Campact are calling for protests nationwide. At a press conference on Thursday, they called for the firewall against the AfD to be maintained and for AfD ban proceedings to be initiated. People with a migration background in particular also experienced fears and worries, which increased after the AfD victory in Saxony-Anhalt, said Undra Dreßler, managing director of the state network of migrant organizations in Saxony-Anhalt (Lamsa). They now need the solidarity of churches, trade unions and civil society nationwide.

"Anyone who is heralding the farewell to the firewall these days is acting irresponsibly. The election results in Saxony-Anhalt show: the firewall has not had its day, it is more important than ever," said Campact's managing director, Christoph Bautz. Democrats in parliament and on the streets should now stand together in their protest. "Because enemies of the constitution must never govern. We stand together against the right-wing extremists."

Matthias Lüth from the “Time for Action” alliance spoke of protests in at least 20 cities over the weekend. On Saturday in particular, tens of thousands of demonstrators would support the protests, for example in Berlin, Schwerin, Potsdam, Erfurt or Magdeburg but also in Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg or Hanover. "Democracy does not defend itself. It is not enough to hope for it"