Berlin election campaign: SPD candidate Krach targets Russian House for expropriation

Berlin's political landscape is heating up as SPD Spitzenkandidat Steffen Krach targets the Russian House, a cultural and economic center, for potential expropriation. Krach, photographed with a sign reading "We can expropriate here, dear Left! Are you in?", aims to pressure the Left party, whose leader Ines Schwerdtner made real estate expropriation a condition for governing Berlin.

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Here we can expropriate, dear Left! Are you in?

Krach, who posted his provocative message on Instagram and X, believes the Left party should govern alone if they insist on such policies. He sharply criticized the Russian House itself, calling it a propaganda tool with no value for cultural exchange and urging the federal government to consider measures against it. This stance aligns with ongoing calls for the center's closure due to potential sanctions violations and its alleged role in promoting Russian state propaganda.

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This facility is primarily used for propaganda, without any added value for free cultural and scientific exchange and should be boycotted.

The CDU also views the Russian House critically. Spitzenkandidat Stefan Evers told Der Tagesspiegel it's "unbearable" for a center to operate in Berlin from which Russian institutions can conduct state propaganda, especially given the war in Ukraine and hybrid activities against Germany. However, both SPD and CDU acknowledge the complexity: closing the center would require terminating a German-Russian agreement that permits its operation, a move that is not easily undertaken.

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We are in an election campaign and it is legitimate for everyone to present their positions, this is not yet discord.