Red-green-red coalition talks start in Berlin

The Left, the Greens and the SPD in Berlin begin negotiations about a possible joint government. A coalition agreement could be in place by December - but that is not certain.

Red-green-red coalition talks started in Berlin after election to the House of Representatives As of: November 2nd, 2026 • 12:47 p.m

The Left, the Greens and the SPD have begun negotiations on a joint government in Berlin. A coalition agreement could be in place by December - but that is not certain. Several SPD politicians speak out against a coalition.

In Berlin, the Left, the Greens and the SPD have started coalition negotiations to form a joint state government. "Over the last few weeks, Berliners have asked us again and again: 'When does it start?' And now it's starting," said Left Party leader Elif Eralp at the start of the talks in the Berlin House of Representatives.

“We have already agreed on many things and have already agreed on a lot on rent issues, socialization, economic and climate issues,” continued Eralp. "But now we're going to go deeper into these issues and the many, many other issues that concern people in our city."

The formation of a government in Berlin is once again overshadowed by a debate about the Left Party. more

SPD state chairwoman Bettina König added that the three parties had discussed the exploratory paper comprehensively from start to finish over the past two weeks. The SPD will now intensively enter into the issue negotiations.

Green Party state leader Nina Stahr said that the explorations had already been very intensive and characterized by constructive exchange. “But the truth is that we will only really deepen some issues in the coalition negotiations.”

Stahr also addressed the skepticism towards the red-green-red coalition, which has been loudly expressed again and again by various sides: "We are also aware of that, people sometimes still look at this government with question marks," she said. "But I am very optimistic that we will be able to sort all this out, that we will be able to show in the coming weeks that this government can be a departure."

The Berlin Left will decide today whether to start coalition negotiations with the SPD and the Greens. more

The talks between the three parties so far have been made more difficult by discussions about the right way to deal with anti-Semitism. The reason was several incidents in the ranks of the left. This is one of the reasons why the announcement of the coalition negotiations provoked nationwide criticism. But there have also been discussions about red-green-red within the parties involved - especially the SPD and the Left.

Almost 1,000 Social Democrats have signed an open letter expressing doubts about the Left's ability to govern in Berlin. One of the signatories is Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. He said on ZDF: "A coalition with the left in Berlin is not what the SPD should support." This particularly affects the regional association in Berlin. Pistorius attested, among other things, that the left in the capital had a “completely disturbed relationship with the security authorities.” He announced talks with his comrades in Berlin.

There are also reservations in the Berlin SPD itself. Economics Senator Franziska Giffey, who also signed the open letter, explained her rejection in the ARD morning magazine. Giffey particularly mentioned the Berlin Left's handling of the issues of anti-Semitism and organized crime.

“Black-green-red must at least find discussion,” Franziska Giffey, SPD, Berlin Senator for Economic Affairs, on the Berlin coalition Morning magazine, Das Erste, November 2nd, 2026 • 7:00 a.m. Coalition agreement by December? The three-way negotiations are expected to last a few weeks; there is no exact timetable. The basis is an exploratory paper drawn up between the three parties, which, among other things, envisages the socialization of the housing stock of large real estate groups in Berlin.

The talks are being conducted by an umbrella working group made up of top politicians from the three parties. There are also around a dozen specialist working groups.

A coalition agreement could be in place by December, but that is not certain. In the end, the party members of the Left Party and SPD decide on the government program. The Greens want to obtain a so-called digital opinion from their members; a party conference has the final say.