Recently, opposition leader Friedrich Merz stressed that the Greens would also be considered for a joint coalition after the federal elections. But the CDU leader now sounds different.
These are actually bad days for the German Social Democrats. They suffered a historic defeat in the European elections. General Secretary Kevin Kühnert embarrassed himself by blaming the result on the “disgrace of contact” resulting from the coalition with the FDP and the Greens. On Sunday, the party presidium will meet for an emergency meeting. But perhaps the signals currently coming from the Union will be encouraging for the SPD leadership.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz writes in his weekly newsletter: “We expressly offer the Social Democrats the opportunity to participate in the necessary decisions and to look for solutions together.” He also appeals to the SPD not to rely on the “personal denigration of political opponents” again in the next federal election campaign. The message seems to be: Dear Social Democrats, the offer stands.
Majority of Union voters reject black-green coalition
This “explicit” offer is also remarkable because Merz caused a stir just a few months ago when he more or less openly considered a coalition with the Greens in the same newsletter.
Not only parts of the Union parties are skeptical about a coalition between the Christian Democrats and the Greens, but also the majority of their voters. An Insa survey from February showed that 54 percent of CDU and CSU supporters are against a black-green coalition – only 34 percent are in favor.
Which coalition would the supporters like best? A black-red coalition, also known as a “grand coalition”. 60 percent of those surveyed are in favor of this. So far, however, there have been hardly any voices within the SPD who would like to see this constellation back.
CSU politician Huber: “Black-Green is not an option”
The Merz email does not seem to be a coincidence in terms of communication. When asked who the Union should govern with at the federal level after the federal elections, the Secretary General of the CSU, Martin Huber, said in an interview with the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland: “Black-Green is not an option.” The SPD must first find its way, but many issues are easier to answer with it, said Huber.
On the other hand, a change in policy with the Greens is “definitely not” achievable because they have “no answers to the pressing questions of our time.” “The Greens are the party that shatters dreams: of owning your own car, of owning your own home, of building prosperity.”
The considerations could be fuelled by the international downward trend of green politics. As bad as the Social Democrats’ result in the European elections may be, the Greens have lost significantly more percentage points since 2019.