New proposals for a peace preamble in a possible coalition agreement between the CDU, BSW and SPD in Thuringia kept coming to the table. Now failure can no longer be ruled out.
The search for a compromise on the peace policy demands of BSW boss Sahra Wagenknecht has so far been unsuccessful – now the blackberry coalition project in Thuringia is in jeopardy. The leaders of the CDU, BSW and SPD in Thuringia actually gave themselves until Monday to think about it, according to negotiating circles. However, the party leaders may hold a round of talks beforehand to once again explore the chances of agreement. “The chances are 50:50,” said one of the negotiators to the German Press Agency. And: “The door isn’t closed.”
The Thuringian co-chairman of the Wagenknecht party, Steffen Schütz, told the dpa, “Of course it is difficult, but it is about Thuringia. I am confident that we will find a solution.” The Thuringian BSW board and especially Wagenknecht had made agreement on a peace formula a condition for the start of coalition negotiations in Erfurt.
SPD leader Georg Maier was quoted on the website of the newspaper “Freie Wort” (Suhl) on Saturday as saying, “I have little hope that anything will happen.” BSW federal chairwoman Wagenknecht has been torpedoing the negotiations on the preamble for days, said Maier. The BSW state chief rejected the accusation. “It’s about what we stand for in our word to our voters. We don’t want to enforce anything with brute force. Ultimately, there has to be a compromise that enables a stable government. That is our goal,” said Schütz.
According to him, there are two draft texts for the peace passage in the preamble, one by him and one by CDU leader Marion Voigt. “There’s a lot in there that unites.” There is still no agreement on some passages. “But I didn’t notice that anyone broke off the negotiations.” CDU and SPD circles said that the crux of the matter was Berlin’s maximum foreign policy demands on the issues of missile stationing and arms deliveries, which should, if possible, be included in a federal state’s coalition agreement.
The only alternative to a coalition of the CDU, BSW and SPD – for which there have already been successful exploratory talks – is a minority government of the CDU, possibly with the SPD. However, together they would only have 29 of 88 seats in parliament. She would have to work in some way not only with the Wagenknecht party, but also with the Left in order to get a majority for decisions in parliament. The AfD is the strongest faction in the Thuringian state parliament – for the first time nationwide.
“In essence, all options are already on the table,” said one of the participants in the negotiations to the dpa. In Thuringia there is actually an understanding despite the problems of reconciling the positions of the three different parties.
According to the Editorial Network Germany (RND), there is a compromise on foreign policy issues that takes up the positions of the CDU and SPD on the one hand and the BSW on the other. It was approved by both the CDU presidium and the SPD’s executive state executive committee, writes the RND.
Wagenknecht, but also the Thuringian BSW board, are, among other things, calling for more diplomacy to end the war in Ukraine instead of arms deliveries. In Saxony and Brandenburg, the CDU and SPD are also negotiating with the BSW about government options.