Manfred Weber, president of the European People’s Party (EPP), has said he is open to forming a government coalition with the Greens in Germany.
The MEP, who is a member of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU), appeared to contradict his party colleagues with his statement on October 8. Many senior politicians in the party have repeatedly lashed out at their rival Greens over their stances on migration and energy.
Speaking to the German media, Weber by contrast said that Germany’s EPP-aligned parties should remain open to working with the Greens, adding that a coalition with the party could be possible following the 2025 federal election.
“Democrats must always be able to talk to each other and try to find ways of working together,” he said.
Weber added that he was interested in working with members of the climate-activist party who have a reasonable view of German politics, suggesting that some Green politicians do have “realistic” views on topics like migration.
“There are Greens who find it difficult to recognize the realities of migration. And there are Greens like Winfried Kretschmann in Baden-Württemberg who want a realistic migration policy,” he said.
The Austrian Freedom Party has filed a civil suit for defamation against Manfred Weber after the president of the European People’s Party alleged the party was "financed out of Russia". https://t.co/sWt9ta8I4x
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 24, 2024
Weber’s statements appear to be in line with rumours that many members of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) are interested in ruling with the Greens in 2025, with there being suggestions that the party’s parliamentary boss, Friedrich Merz, has been quietly meeting with senior Greens to hash out the details of the deal.
Weber however appears to be at odds with those within his own Christian Social Union (CSU) — the CDU’s Bavaria-based partners — who have repeatedly belittled the idea over the Greens’ record in the current government.
“In economic policy, we have found that there is no competence in Berlin,” Markus Söder, senior CSU politician and Prime Minister of Bavaria, said last month.
“That is why I repeat here, out of deep, deep conviction, that a black-green coalition is out of the question for us under any circumstances.”
Weber, by contrast, spent more time warning that the CSU and CDU — collectively known as the Union parties in Germany — should focus more on making sure they do not drift to far to the Right on migration.
“Above all, the right balance is needed when the Union talks about migration policy,” he said.
“If on the one hand we make it clear that we want to consistently reject illegal migrants, on the other hand the Union must make it clear that we stand by the principles of asylum law and the principle of the Geneva Refugee Convention.”
“The Union must not abandon this healthy middle path. Neither the Left’s ‘everyone can come in’ approach nor the right-wing radicals’ ‘all doors closed’ approach provide a real answer,” he added.
Ireland’s former European People’s Party (EPP) prime minister, Leo Varadkar, is reportedly palling about with ex-US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. https://t.co/45KFJ2RTuy
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) August 23, 2024
