Berlin's Greens and SPD Vote Yes on Coalition Talks with the Left Party

On the evening of 19 October 2026, Berlin moved decisively toward a new Red-Green-Red (Rot-Grün-Rot) government. The SPD state board approved coalition negotiations with Die Linke and the Greens in a digital session, voting 26 to 3. Moments later, Green Party delegates at a small state assembly backed the move even more emphatically, with only 2 of 45 delegates opposed. Die Linke, which won September's election with 25.7% of the vote, will hold its own party congress on 31 October due to Berlin's autumn school holidays; if it too votes yes, formal coalition talks can begin from 2 November. The exploratory paper agreed between the three parties includes plans to socialize large housing companies owning 10,000 or more apartments — affecting roughly 160,000 units from corporations such as Vonovia, Heimstaden and Covivio — with compensation capped at €16 billion. It also proposes a maximum 2% annual rent increase for state-owned housing, a cheaper social transit ticket, renewed cycling-infrastructure investment and a halt to the A100 motorway extension. The potential future governing trio's lead negotiators are Elif Eralp (Linke), Werner Graf (Greens) and Steffen Krach (SPD). The decision was the lead story across Berlin outlets on 20 October and dominated the morning news cycle.