Lars Klingbeil, the co-chairman of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and negotiator for the likely new government coalition, has criticised plans from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to be tougher regarding the country’s borders.
Speaking on State broadcaster ARD’s Maischberger show on the evening of March 5, Klingbeil said he rejected “de facto border closures”.
“The SPD will not support de facto border closures. We cannot implement that at a national level. And most importantly, it is unreasonable from a European perspective.
“At a time when the response to [US President] Donald Trump must be a strong Europe, it cannot be that the largest and strongest country in Europe takes the lead in closing its borders. We, as the SPD, will not go along with that,” he said.
Ahead of the parliamentary elections on February 23, CDU leader Friedrich Merz had announced that on the first day of his possible term as chancellor, he would make sure that all attempts at illegal entry would be rejected.
The party pushed through a motion in the Bundestag, or parliament, that provided for the rejection of asylum seekers at Germany’s external borders, accepting the support of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. That was much to the dismay of the united Left, which saw it as a breach of the “firewall” – the pledge not to work with what they called “the extreme Right”.
The SPD opposed the plans for border closures during the campaign, claiming they were illegal. Klingbeil said they were “a red line”, in breach of the Constitution, European treaties and international law.
“We can’t do anything that ultimately leads to Germany effectively closing its borders,” he said in February.
Klingbeil’s latest comments came after the CDU/CSU (Christian Social Union in Bavaria) had agreed to take on almost €1 trillion in new debt, despite campaigning on fiscal responsibility.
While the CDU/CSU backed accruing such enormous debt, the future coalition was not yet a done deal.
“The real negotiations are only just beginning,” the SPD leader said.
Both parties are set to discuss pensions and supporting families on low incomes in the coming days. “There are still some tough challenges ahead,” Klingbeil said.
Parties negotiating the formation of a new German government have agreed to authorise €500 billion in new debt for infrastructure projects. https://t.co/5f9IVQlzRq
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) March 5, 2025
Klingbeil also criticised Markus Söder, leader of the CSU, over his attack on the Greens party.
Söder had stated that a key success of the future German government would be the exclusion of the Greens.
On March 5, regarding outgoing economic minister Robert Habeck, he mockingly said: “Goodbye, have a good trip, never to be seen again.”
Klingbeil stressed that the Greens were needed to approve the constitutional changes for the planned amendments of the debt brake, allowing the new debt to be taken on.
“We need the Greens, I have always dealt fairly with them,” he said.
At the end of February, Green MP Ricarda Lang had stated that the CDU knew it would have to make a complete U-turn on its promises regarding debt.
“Already, a year ago at the Munich Security Conference, a Union colleague said behind closed doors: ‘Of course we know that you can’t govern decently with this debt brake. When it’s our turn, we’ll go there but only then.'”
“That’s why,” Lang continued, “it was absurd of Friedrich Merz to conduct an election campaign where the debt brake is held high in order to change course the day after the election.
“If we want people to trust politics, election campaigns should be moments where politicians get a mandate for political change and their future actions!”
AfD co-leader Alice Weidel lambasted the CDU on March 6 on X for, she said, its breaking of its two key election promises.
“Debt madness and no migration turnaround: The big election loser SPD is now dictating policy in Germany because Merz has walled himself in and wants to become chancellor,” Weidel stated.
“A chancellorship bought with the biggest voter fraud in the history of the Federal Republic. “
Schulden-Irrsinn und keine Migrationswende: Der große Wahlverlierer SPD diktiert nun die Politik in Deutschland, weil Merz sich eingemauert hat & Kanzler werden will. Eine Kanzlerschaft erkauft mit dem größten Wählerbetrug der bundesrepublikanischen Geschichte. pic.twitter.com/rTCXhDYagM
— Alice Weidel (@Alice_Weidel) March 6, 2025
