Friedrich Merz, leader of Germany’s conservative CDU/CSU alliance, has significantly toned down his criticism of the Green Party, signaling a potential shift in coalition strategy ahead of February’s snap election, Bloomberg reports.
Recent opinion polls place the CDU/CSU significantly ahead of the far-right AfD, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD in third and the Greens in fourth.
Merz’s previous pronouncements had painted a starkly negative picture of the Greens, describing them as a party that “triggers such aversion with our voters and our members,” and criticizing their perceived “patronizing,” “wild urge for regulation,” and “hostility to technology.”
However, in an interview with Bild published Tuesday, Merz adopted a considerably more conciliatory tone. He highlighted areas of potential agreement, particularly in foreign and security policy, stating that “there is certainly more common ground with the Greens than with the SPD.”
This softening of his stance reflects the CDU/CSU’s pragmatic approach to coalition building. Having ruled out a partnership with the AfD, a coalition with either the SPD or the Greens, or even a three-way alliance, represents the most realistic path to a parliamentary majority.
Merz’s campaign platform centers on a pro-business agenda emphasizing lower taxes, deregulation, and limited welfare spending. This stands in contrast to the Greens’ vision of a robust state actively supporting households and businesses through increased spending to facilitate the transition to a carbon-neutral economy.
The weekend saw increased political maneuvering. Chancellor Scholz proposed easing Germany’s strict borrowing limits and establishing a €100 billion ($106 billion) investment fund to finance modernization efforts. Meanwhile, Green Party co-leader Franziska Brantner appeared to extend an olive branch to the conservatives, suggesting Merz would be a more reliable partner than Scholz on providing aid to Ukraine as required by Kyiv.
