Der Standard alleges “strange contacts” to organised crime; in Welt, a Green says talks with Berlin’s winning Linke are possible within “red lines”
The reports describe Die Linke as the winner in Berlin, and the parties it would need to govern are split on whether to talk to it at all. Six reports discuss the party. None of them quotes it.
The charge. Der Standard puts it in its own headline: “antisemitism and closeness to crime”. Its second piece speaks of “strange contacts with organised crime” and gives no source. Welt calls it a “clan debate”. No report we hold names the people involved or shows evidence.
The split on talks.
| Outlet | Who speaks | Position on talks with Die Linke |
|---|---|---|
| Der Standard | federal SPD, prominent Greens | against, unless it distances itself enough from antisemitism |
| Frankfurter Allgemeine | Michael Müller and Walter Momper, former SPD mayors | signed a party resolution against a coalition |
| Welt | Sergey Lagodinsky, Green MEP | possible, within “red lines” |
| Welt | Andreas Rosenfelder, its chief commentator | the CDU is right to stay out of talks for now |
| Welt | Bob Hanning, handball official | asks whether Elif Eralp “may govern at all” |
The missing voice. All 6 reports discuss Die Linke and none quotes it. The only Linke politician named, Elif Eralp, appears as the target of a critic.
What is not settled. - Who the crime allegations concern, and on what evidence. - Whether the national SPD warned its party, as Der Standard says. No other report we hold carries it. - Whether the SPD resolution the Frankfurter Allgemeine reports has passed, or how many people signed it. - What Eralp did about the Olympic bid. Welt says she “cleared it away” and we hold no detail. - What Die Linke says in reply.
What this is about. Who will govern Berlin after an election the reports describe Die Linke as winning, and whether any party will negotiate with it.
How it got here. Die Linke descends from the party that ruled East Germany. The SED renamed itself the PDS in 1990, and in 2007 the PDS merged with a western left-wing group to form Die Linke. Berlin is a city and a federal state at once. It is where the party has governed longest: with the SPD from 2002 to 2011, then with the SPD and the Greens from 2016 to 2023, under SPD mayors including Michael Müller. After the 2023 repeat election the CDU’s Kai Wegner became mayor, with the SPD as junior partner.
Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023 and the war in Gaza followed. Since then Die Linke has been divided over Israel and over antisemitism. In 2024 several prominent Berlin members left the party over it. In Germany the question carries extra weight: governments since Angela Merkel's have called Israel’s security part of Germany's reason of state.
The actors. The CDU leads the federal government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in coalition with the SPD. A CDU party-congress decision of 2018 rules out working with Die Linke. The SPD and the Greens have governed with Die Linke before, in Berlin and in other states, and must now decide whether to do so again. Walter Momper was Berlin’s SPD mayor when the Wall fell in 1989.
What is at stake. If the SPD and the Greens refuse, the party that won may not govern. If they agree, they take the antisemitism dispute into government, along with crime allegations that the reports we hold do not back up.
Where it stands. Welt reports that the CDU is not available for coalition talks for now. The Frankfurter Allgemeine reports that two former SPD mayors signed a resolution against a coalition. One Green says talks are possible. Die Linke’s own answer is in none of the reports we hold.
What is being argued about
- Whether the SPD and the Greens will negotiate with Die Linke in Berlin
- Antisemitism in Die Linke and the conditions set for talks
- Unsourced allegations of contacts with organised crime
- The CDU staying out of coalition talks
Claims and verdicts
Frankfurter Allgemeine
Frankfurter Allgemeine
🇩🇪DE ·
newspaper · independent
Deutschland-Liveblog: Zwei frühere Berliner SPD-Bürgermeister gegen Koalition mit der Linken
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Read it at Frankfurter Allgemeine →
What we have measured
Actor label The Houthis are called a militia and are cast only as the threat ships need protecting from. ×1With no actor named critics 'After criticism', with no one named as the critic. ×1Anyone hurt counted gives an injury figure, attributed to the ministry, but does not say who was hurt or by whom ×1Asserted flat the report judges the offer vague in its own voice, unattributed ×1
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Antisemitismus und Nähe zu Kriminalität: Der Druck auf die Berliner Linke steigt
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Read it at Der Standard →
What we have measured
Actor named NATO is named as acting; it 'foiled' the manoeuvre ×1Actor named dead uncounted The US is named as the attacker and stated flat, but the dead schoolchildren are neither counted nor named ×1Actors left unnamed the three requesting states are counted, never named ×1Aim attributed and quoted the stated aim is in quotation marks and marked as the service's account ×1
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Welt
Welt
🇩🇪DE ·
newspaper · independent
Auf "Bruder" mit dem Clan
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Read it at Der Standard →
What we have measured
Actor named NATO is named as acting; it 'foiled' the manoeuvre ×1Actor named dead uncounted The US is named as the attacker and stated flat, but the dead schoolchildren are neither counted nor named ×1Actors left unnamed the three requesting states are counted, never named ×1Aim attributed and quoted the stated aim is in quotation marks and marked as the service's account ×1
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Welt
Welt
🇩🇪DE ·
newspaper · independent
Who wrote it
Welt
Coverage, outlet by outlet
Welt
Welt
🇩🇪DE ·
newspaper · independent
Antisemitismus und Nähe zu Kriminalität: Der Druck auf die Berliner Linke steigt
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Read it at Der Standard →
What we have measured
Actor named NATO is named as acting; it 'foiled' the manoeuvre ×1Actor named dead uncounted The US is named as the attacker and stated flat, but the dead schoolchildren are neither counted nor named ×1Actors left unnamed the three requesting states are counted, never named ×1Aim attributed and quoted the stated aim is in quotation marks and marked as the service's account ×1
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— independent
Frankfurter Allgemeine
Frankfurter Allgemeine
🇩🇪DE ·
newspaper · independent
Deutschland-Liveblog: Zwei frühere Berliner SPD-Bürgermeister gegen Koalition mit der Linken
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Read it at Frankfurter Allgemeine →
What we have measured
Actor label The Houthis are called a militia and are cast only as the threat ships need protecting from. ×1With no actor named critics 'After criticism', with no one named as the critic. ×1Anyone hurt counted gives an injury figure, attributed to the ministry, but does not say who was hurt or by whom ×1Asserted flat the report judges the offer vague in its own voice, unattributed ×1
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— independent
Welt
Welt
🇩🇪DE ·
newspaper · independent
Welt
Welt
🇩🇪DE ·
newspaper · independent
Auf "Bruder" mit dem Clan
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Read it at Der Standard →
What we have measured
Actor named NATO is named as acting; it 'foiled' the manoeuvre ×1Actor named dead uncounted The US is named as the attacker and stated flat, but the dead schoolchildren are neither counted nor named ×1Actors left unnamed the three requesting states are counted, never named ×1Aim attributed and quoted the stated aim is in quotation marks and marked as the service's account ×1
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— independent
Deník N
Deník N
🇨🇿CZ ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Actor named The headline names speculators as the actors who evicted a grandmother, stated flat. ×1Asserted, and a government judged A wave of Russian state terrorism is stated as fact and Germany is rated on its response; the piece is labelled a comment ×1Asserted, not attributed Washington's refusal and its reasoning stated flat, with no source ×1Assessment stated flat Says in its own voice, with no source, that Russian air defence worked well. ×1
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El Mundo
El Mundo
🇪🇸ES ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Actor named The dispute is between named Spanish officials over who was warned. There is no figure of Moroccan personnel. ×1Actor named The dispute is between named officials, and the report carries no figure. ×1Asserted, not attributed defiance of a named president is stated flat as what the meeting was ×1Asserted not attributed States Moscow's own reason, retaliation, as fact ×1
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Brussels Signal
Brussels Signal
🇧🇪BE ·
digital · independent
What we have measured
Asserted vs attributed cause and effect on services asserted in the reporter's voice, no figure attached ×1Asserted vs attributed States record diesel prices flat, with no source; another report says there is no shortage ×1Asserted vs attributed The figure of 72 is stated flat, with no named source or document. The report's own inference is 'significant infiltration'. ×1Asserted vs attributed record diesel prices stated flat, with no figure and no source ×1
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Dagens Nyheter
Dagens Nyheter
🇸🇪SE ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Accused label flat accused is labelled far-right without attribution, and not named ×1Affected counted Only report to count the residents affected ×1Asserted or attributed the majority stated flat, with nobody credited for the count ×1Asserted or attributed the demand is written as the report's own flat sentence before it is attributed to anyone ×1
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Efimerida ton Syntakton
Efimerida ton Syntakton
🇬🇷GR ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Adjective without figure Calls the war bloody but gives no count ×1Anyone hurt named the only report we hold that names one of the dead ×1Anyone hurt named the only report we hold that names a person who died ×1Asserted not attributed Calls the move 'unprecedented' in its own voice ×1
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Observador
Observador
🇵🇹PT ·
digital · independent
What we have measured
Accusation attributed The fuel retailers' charge is attributed, 'accuses'. No government response is carried. ×1Affected person unnamed the woman is not named, and no cause of the eviction is given ×1Analyst verdict as headline one commentator's judgement on European mood is the headline ×1Asserted or attributed the charge against two foreign states is carried as the prime minister's view, not the report's ×1
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Telex
Telex
🇭🇺HU ·
digital · independent
What we have measured
Actor framed as giving The headline makes the government the actor, and what it does is support drivers. ×1Actor named NATO is named as acting; it 'chased them off' ×1Adopted term Uses the government's own phrase 'targeted support' without quotation marks ×1Asserted vs attributed 'under cover of night' attributed to Mária Schmidt, with the ministry's 8pm set beside it ×1
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Rzeczpospolita
Rzeczpospolita
🇵🇱PL ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Accountability The only report to say prosecutors are investigating ×1Asserted not attributed Hungary's need for more time is stated as fact, not as the government's claim ×1Claim asserted flat says EU law has never known such an offer, with no lawyer, official or text cited ×1Correction carried the correction is in the lede, attributed to Lithuania ×1
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Le Figaro
Le Figaro
🇫🇷FR ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Asserted, not attributed the capture of the strait and a "lightning offensive" are stated flat, with no source and no date ×1Asserted vs attributed The mayor's account and his opponents' charge are both attributed. ×1Asserted vs attributed The capture of the strait is stated flat, as settled background to a different story, with no source and no date for the claim. ×1Attacker identified by nationality in the headline ×1
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Politico Europe
Politico Europe
🇧🇪BE ·
digital · independent
What we have measured
Actor named vaguely The opponents are 'other capitals', with no country named ×1With no actor named accusation The coup accusation is in the passive; the accuser is not named ×1Asserted vs attributed The contradiction is stated as fact by the report, sourced only to unspecified official notes ×1Asserted vs attributed the stall stated flat in the headline, with Athens named as the actor that rejected ×1
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HotNews.ro
HotNews.ro
🇷🇴RO ·
digital · independent
What we have measured
Accusation unanswered AUR's claim of a plan agreed between the president and PSD runs in the headline and lede. No reply from the president is carried. ×1Actor named Names the blocs that refuse any exemption ×1Anonymous sourcing The jamming device found in his car rests on unnamed judicial sources, relayed through a news agency. ×1Asserted not attributed the outcome is declared settled before voting opens ×1
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NOS
NOS
🇳🇱NL ·
public broadcaster · public-service
What we have measured
Actor label The backers are labelled politically; the opponents, all other major parties, get no label ×1Actor named Names the Supreme Court as the court that withdrew the warrant. ×1Actor named and attributed Construction workers are named as having damaged a cable by accident, and the report attributes this to the aviation regulator. ×1Actor named, in passive Israeli airstrikes are named as what destroyed the building, but the sentence puts the building first ×1
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Svenska Dagbladet
Svenska Dagbladet
🇸🇪SE ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Attributed context The Iran link is hedged and credited to another newspaper ×1Hedged context Base's use for strikes on Iran is hedged and attributed to another paper ×1Hedged or flat a directional claim about the race stated flat, with no poll figure behind it ×1Loss stated flat, size not given a large loss asserted with no figure, and a coalition demand named in the same line ×1
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Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza
🇵🇱PL ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Actor named Russia is named as acting against the bridge, in active voice ×1Asserted cause Voters' reason for backing the AfD is stated flat as a fact about the mainstream parties. ×1Asserted, not attributed the three-year gain is stated as what the deal would have secured, with no source ×1Asserted versus attributed the link between the pardons and the US talks is stated flat in the headline ×1
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ABC
ABC
🇪🇸ES ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Figure chosen 80,000, stated flat and unsourced; every other report we hold says about 70,000 ×1Figure chosen 80,000 crossed, stated flat, no source for the number ×1How hard the claim is stated Calls it an invasion in the outlet's own voice, unattributed, inside a sentence about the judge. ×1Which figure is used same two days, no figure at all: thousands ×1
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Die Presse
Die Presse
🇦🇹AT ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Who is named as acting Calls the party right and its people the far right in the outlet's own voice; three reports use only its name. ×1
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Il Giornale
Il Giornale
🇮🇹IT ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
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Euractiv
Euractiv
🇧🇪BE ·
digital · independent
What we have measured
Measure chosen the only report we hold that breaks the result down by voters' age ×1Measure chosen the only report we hold that publishes how the age groups split ×1Which figure is used about 80,000 stated flat and unsourced — an order of magnitude above every other figure we hold ×1Which figure is used Puts 80,000 across the border in two days with no source for the figure and nobody attributed for it. ×1
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Le Monde
Le Monde
🇫🇷FR ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Anyone hurt named or counted the only death toll we hold; a round number, hedged, nobody named ×1Anyone hurt named or counted the only report we hold that gives a death toll; it counts, does not name ×1Who says the label flat in the headline, no source, no hedge ×1
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El País
El País
🇪🇸ES ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Figure chosen more than 70,000 crossed, the higher figure not mentioned ×1Word for the event invasion, in quote marks and put in a party leader's mouth ×1Word for the event, attributed same word, but in quotation marks and inside a politician's accusation ×1
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la Repubblica
la Repubblica
🇮🇹IT ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Outlet profile in The AI Times →
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Süddeutsche Zeitung
🇩🇪DE ·
newspaper · independent
What we have measured
Hedged or stated states flat that police do not know whether the person seen is the man they want ×1Suspect identified how age and home town only, and the sabotage is what police attribute, not what the report asserts ×1
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