Following the success of the Hamburg municipal election, the current mayor of the Hanseatic city, Peter Tschentscher of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), has mentioned the Greens as his preferred coalition partner. “Our top priority is the continuation of our red-green coalition” he stated at a press conference in the Willy-Brandt-House on Monday morning. He believes the stable government work has been a key factor in the election victory.
Tschentscher expressed his relief that “we have two options” in reference to the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which, like the Greens, received 20.0% of the votes in Hamburg. He acknowledged that running parallel campaigns for the state and federal elections was challenging, but it was possible to avoid being “overtaken from the left and right.”
SPD leader Lars Klingbeil attributed the election result to “the fact that you have been stably governing in Hamburg” in reference to Tschentscher. Regarding the exploratory talks with the CDU at the federal level, Klingbeil showed cautious optimism, stating, “It’s about making sure that families and people who work hard are seen.” He emphasized that the issue of financing also needs to be clarified. The recent dispute between Trump and Selenskyj on Friday, however, has also highlighted the importance of the defense theme.
SPD leader Saskia Esken said, “a either-or approach only leads to division.” She emphasized the importance of clarifying in the exploratory talks whether a trust-based foundation for cooperation exists, including the question of financing infrastructure, also in the social sector. She mentioned that the SPD has learned from the “birth defect” of the Grand Coalition, where they “had their hands tied behind their backs.