The Greens are the CDU's main opponents? Green Party leader Kretschmann believes Merz has now moved away from this theory. From 2025 there will probably be a black-green government.
Stuttgart/Berlin – A coalition with the Greens under Chancellor Friedrich Merz? Excluded – that’s how it sounded just over six months ago. The CDU leader proclaimed the Greens as the Union's main opponents, similar to CSU leader Markus Söder. The Green bashing sometimes went too far even for Union politicians, as there are some black-green coalitions at the state level that work with each other without major disagreements.
One of them is Winfried Kretschmann (Greens), who has led a green-black coalition as Prime Minister in Baden-Württemberg for eight years. Kretschmann said in an interview that he believes Merz has now backed away from his thesis that the Greens are the main opponent. He “doesn’t have the impression that he continues to support this thesis,” said Kretschmann in an interview with web.de.
According to Kretschmann, Merz's Green Party bashing was “out of gut instinct” – “We're the bad guys at the moment”
According to Kretschmann, Merz's statement that the Greens were the main opponent came “from the gut”. Because Merz's statement was “short-sighted”: “Yes, who does he want to form a coalition with if he wins the elections?” said the Green politician. Kretschmann criticizes: “At the moment we are somehow the bad guys. Anything that doesn't work is dumped on us. It makes it a bit very easy for yourself.”
In fact, Merz seems to be backpedaling again when it comes to Green bashing: In his weekly newsletter two days ago he wrote that he was also open to a coalition with the Greens. His main goal: a change in policy in Germany; coalitions with the SPD, the FDP or even the Greens are possible.
The party leader emphasized that the Union does not want to commit to a coalition partner. The only thing that is absolutely out of the question is a coalition with the AfD, as it stands “as a right-wing radical party outside of every conceivable spectrum for us”.
Merz would prefer a coalition of CDU/CSU and FDP – but Lindner's party is fighting
However, Merz definitely has a preference for a possible coalition after the 2025 federal election, as he indicated in his newsletter: the FDP. With it “a civil coalition could most easily be realized,” he wrote. However, according to Merz, it is questionable “whether it will survive as a party.”
In fact, according to a recent survey, the Liberals would be kicked out of the Bundestag because of the five percent hurdle if there were federal elections now. The Union is currently at 30 percent, the Greens at 12.5 percent and the SPD at 15 percent. According to these figures, only a grand coalition would be possible; it would not be enough for the black-green coalition.
Nevertheless: Kretschmann believes the chances of a black-green government in 2025 are “very high”: “We need this connection between ecology and economy. That’s why I’m a convinced supporter of this constellation.” (smu/dpa)
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