Prominent SPD lawmakers reject coalition talks with Berlin Left over antisemitism and crime links

A group of roughly twenty SPD Bundestag members, among them former interior minister Nancy Faeser and internal affairs spokesperson Sebastian Fiedler, issued a joint statement rejecting any coalition talks with the Berlin branch of the Left party. They cite recurring antisemitism disputes and alleged connections to the Remmo criminal milieu as reasons to doubt the Left’s reliability. The lawmakers also object to the Left’s plan to substitute police officers with social workers and to abolish the state’s domestic intelligence agency, calling for continued backing of police and security forces.

Signatories feature interior policy figures, digital policy spokesperson Johannes Schätzl, and Seeheimer Circle members Esra-Leon Limbacher and Claudia Moll, as well as Daniel Baldy, Helge Lindh and Ingo Vogel. Their objection follows the recent termination of exploratory talks between SPD, Greens and the Left, which had intended to nominate Elif Eralp as Berlin’s governing mayor. The SPD members stress that protecting Jewish life and maintaining security are non-negotiable principles.