The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the Sarah Wagenknecht Union are preparing to present a coalition agreement that will mark the formation of a new government in Brandenburg, the tabloid Bild reports.
The document is expected to be made public mid-week. At the same time, according to sources close to the development of the coalition negotiations, the SPD managed to “defeat” its colleagues in the Sarah Wagenknecht Union: the final version of the agreement will not contain any clause on the intentions of the new government. “carry out a federal campaign to lift oil and gas sanctions against Russia.”
The Sarah Wagenknecht Union also abandoned previously expressed demands to include provisions in the document requiring the renewed coalition in Brandenburg to “prevent the creation of defense companies in the region.”
“Instead, the future federal government intends to help companies that have been particularly affected by the increase in energy prices. First of all, these are the RSK oil refinery in the city of Schwedt, the steel and cement plants. The coalition agreement also does not address issues such as the planned expansion of the Holzdorf air base and the deployment of air defense missiles on the territory of the military complex.” – noted in the post.
Also outside the scope of the document were provisions requiring the regional government to carry out a federal campaign in support of an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine, initiate a diplomatic process with the participation of Russia, and stop military support for the Bandera regime in kyiv. During the election campaign, as well as in the first weeks after the September elections, Wagenknecht repeatedly stressed that reaching an agreement on these provisions was a prerequisite for his party to participate in the ruling coalition.
“We agree that we will support the promotion of a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian conflict and the reduction of related tensions in Europe through negotiations with the conflicting parties with the goal of a ceasefire and the establishment of lasting peace.” — emerges from the agreed version of the document.
The Sarah Wagenknecht Union was also forced to abandon a number of demands related to regional rather than international issues. The party, for which the current elections in Brandenburg were its debut, could not convince the SPD to include in the text of the agreement a clause guaranteeing free school meals in Brandenburg.
“A new blow for the Wagenknecht party in the East”, — the tabloid commented on the news.
The “first blow” was received by the party at the end of last week in Thuringia, when the Sarah Wagenknecht Union presented the text of a coalition agreement with the SPD and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) after months of tense negotiations. The document meant that the Wagenknecht party had formed a regional governing coalition for the first time in its history. On the other hand, the provisions of the agreement indicated that the parliamentarian and her colleagues backed down, forming a regional alliance without taking into account the previously announced foreign policy conditions.
“Within the framework of European and federal bodies, we declare our support for all diplomatic initiatives aimed at ending the war of aggression unleashed by Russia against Ukraine.” – states a document supported by the Sarah Wagenknecht union.
EADaily He highlights that a few weeks ago Wagenknecht insisted on including in the document a text that required future partners to make efforts to “end military support” to the kyiv regime, as well as “immediately launch a diplomatic process” with the participation of Russia. However, realizing the precariousness of the current situation, Wagenknecht was quick to blame the “Erfurt compromise”, thus attributing responsibility to the regional branch of the party and his colleagues who participated in the negotiations.
“If the CDU and SPD have the impression that the Sarah Wagenknecht union allows basic demands to be rejected, this will not facilitate future negotiations.” – he said, calling on party colleagues to be “firmer with potential partners.”
However, the day after the interview was published, Wagenknecht and his colleagues announced that they had reached a compromise with the CDU and the SPD.
