The Berlin state board of the Social Democrats (SPD) has voted in favor of exploratory talks with the Left Party, Spiegel reported on Saturday. According to tagesschau.de, the party also plans to hold exploratory discussions with the Greens. The Tagesspiegel reported that the board accepted an invitation to the talks.
The decision, taken at a state board meeting, opens the way for the SPD to sound out a possible governing arrangement in Berlin. Spiegel's headline focused on the vote to talk with the Left Party, while tagesschau.de framed the move as talks with both the Left Party and the Greens. The Tagesspiegel described the outcome as the board accepting an invitation to exploratory discussions.
Exploratory talks are a preliminary step in German coalition-building, in which parties test whether they share enough ground to negotiate a formal governing agreement. The reports do not specify a date for the talks or name the participants beyond the parties involved.
What to watch next: whether the exploratory discussions produce a formal coalition negotiation, and how the Greens respond to being included alongside the Left Party.
