Europe · updated 56m ago · 3 min read
Die Linke Wins Berlin Election as Elif Eralp Promises Affordable Housing And Rent Limits
Die Linke led Berlin with 25.7% support, surpassing CDU and SPD. Elif Eralp pledges expropriating large landlords to recover housing for public control.
How central antisemitism accusations are to coalition talks.
6 of 8 outlets skipped it: eralp’s opponents estimate expropriation could cost €20bn.
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The Straits Times
“But both have demanded Eralp address the longstanding accusations over antisemitism”Read the original ↗
UA.NEWS
“More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.”Read the original ↗
The Straits Times emphasises antisemitism demands as a coalition hurdle, while UA.News largely redirects away from that dispute.
Berlin vote and housing
Die Linke won Berlin with 25.7% of the vote, and the party’s candidate Elif Eralp campaigned to set limits on large landlords and recover housing for public control. Elif Eralp’s housing plan targeted a median rent increase in Investitionsbank Berlin data, which said the median price of homes advertised for rent went from 9 euros per square meter in 2016 to 15.78 in 2025. Elif Eralp also proposed freezing rents for public housing companies for one year and then limiting their increases, and she called for strengthening monitoring of illegal prices and socializing about 220,000 homes from large private companies.
The Berlin result gave the left 47 of the 158 seats in the Berlin Parliament, and the provisional outcome meant Die Linke would need partners to bring Eralp to government. The election also came after Die Linke’s split of Sahra Wagenknecht, and the campaign’s participation rose from 62.9% to 74.2%.
Merz veto and coalition math
Chancellor Friedrich Merz launched a frontal veto against Die Linke’s flagship promise, saying, “There will be no expropriations in Germany,” and he pointed to a federal law preparing to prevent them. Merz argued that a Berlin decision would not be limited to the capital and would affect confidence in Germany as an investment destination, while Die Linke made expropriation a condition for negotiating a coalition with the Greens and the SPD. Elif Eralp said, “I have always said that if Die Linke enters the government, there will be socialization,” and she framed the measure as legally possible, fundable, and a tool to keep housing affordable.
The plan revives a 2021 referendum in which 58% of voters supported socializing companies with more than 3,000 dwellings, and the article said the result was not legally binding. The dispute over expropriation left coalition options constrained, with the El Mundo account saying Die Linke, Greens, and SPD would add up to 95 seats on paper, but the conflict over socializing large real estate companies could block a government.
Finance, antisemitism pressure
The Straits Times reported that Eralp said she still stood by expropriating more than 200,000 housing units from corporate landlords, while Social Democrats estimated the move would cost some €20 billion. TVonovia Chief Executive Luka Mucic told the same outlet that “socialisation doesn't create any new housing,” and Merz said the policy would have “devastating effects” on foreign investment if implemented. The Straits Times also said Eralp faced early pressure over accusations of antisemitism in parts of the local party, and it quoted her saying it was her “absolute priority” to ensure that Jewish people in Berlin along with Muslims and all other groups “feel safe and can lead a good life here.”T
The Guardian described the political stakes for Merz as two regional elections with the chancellor’s future hanging in the balance, and it said the outcome could affect his ability to hang on as leader after only 16 months in power. The Guardian further reported that Merz’s personal approval ratings had nosedived to 10%, and it said the incumbent CDU was vying for first place against Die Linke in Berlin where about 85% of Berlin households rent their homes.