Merz behaved rather calmly and showed openness towards his coalition partner, but also towards the Greens. The chancellor did not go along with the “systematic Green bashing” that Markus Söder is known for. As various examples at the state level have shown, a Black-Green government is a viable alternative to the current coalition with the SPD.
Merz and Söder played on two complementary narratives, which enabled them to represent a broad spectrum of opinion, according to Prof. Dr. Volker Kronenberg. However, Markus Söder's participation in government has now removed a popular topic of controversy.
In the rest of the interview, Prof. Dr. Volker Kronenberg looked at the other parties.