Union parliamentary group leader Thorsten Frei warns against the Left's participation in government in Berlin

Union faction leader Thorsten Frei warns the Greens and the SPD against government cooperation with the Left in Berlin. “The Berlin Left Party maintains disturbingly close contact with Jew-haters and people from the orbit of organized crime,” the CDU politician told the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”. “The SPD and the Greens must influence their regional associations so that they do not fall for lure offers.”

Berlin, as the capital and showcase of Germany around the world, must not “fall into the hands of the Left Party, which represents a blatant threat to our security,” argued Frei.

In the election for the Berlin House of Representatives last Sunday, the Left was by far the strongest force. She now wants to forge a red-green-red alliance and, with her top candidate Elif Eralp, become the governing mayor for the first time. On Friday evening, a Left state party conference decided to invite the Greens and the SPD to exploratory discussions - these are scheduled to begin next week.

The Left defends itself against allegations

At its party conference, the Berlin Left resolutely defended itself against accusations of anti-Semitism, but was also self-critical. “These allegations are not nuanced criticism, but have reached a destructive dimension,” said Eralp. At the same time, she affirmed that she would “strengthen diverse Jewish life and fight anti-Semitism.”

The Left state chairwoman Kerstin Wolter was self-critical: “In our party, too, mistakes were made, boundaries were crossed, sentences were spoken that frightened Jews,” she said. Both possible coalition partners had called on the Left to clarify that it stands against anti-Semitism.

Parts of the Berlin Left have long been criticized for their positions on the Middle East conflict and anti-Semitism. An election party organized by the Neukölln Left district association caused a great stir, at which a well-known clan figure and a controversial pro-Palestinian activist were present on Sunday evening. He is said to be close to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU.

In addition, Ferat Koçak, a member of the Bundestag from Neukölln, came under pressure because he was in chat contact with a son of an extended family associated with the clan milieu. Koçak described this as a mistake and withdrew from the public and the Bundestag's Interior Committee for the time being.