Some CDU members can imagine a cooperation with the AfD – party leader Merz warns against this in sharp words. He does not rule out cooperation with the BSW, but is critical.
Before the state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg, CDU leader Friedrich Merz has once again ruled out cooperation with the AfD. “That would kill the CDU,” Merz told the editorial network Germany. The AfD’s goal is also to destroy the CDU. “We must not extend a hand to those who want to eliminate us politically.”
Merz stressed that the clear majority of CDU members are against cooperation with the AfD, while a small number are in favor. “We will therefore have to continue to explain that there are limits to what we call conservative. These limits are exceeded when it becomes right-wing extremist, right-wing radical, anti-democratic, anti-Semitic and xenophobic,” said the CDU chairman.
Merz: Voter deception and abuse of state elections
Regarding a possible coalition with the Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) alliance – which the CDU does not rule out in principle – Merz said that what happens after the elections is open and in the hands of the regional associations. He also warned against interference. “I advise all of us in the West German comfort zone to hold back on public advice. That certainly won’t help the regional associations that are campaigning under the most difficult conditions.”
At the same time, Merz sharply criticized the BSW chairwoman Sahra Wagenknecht. “Ms. Wagenknecht acts as if the state elections are deciding on war and peace. This is not only complete nonsense, it is almost an attempt to deceive voters and abuse state elections when the so-called BSW creates the impression that such questions can be voted on at the state political level.” Neither the decision on leaving NATO will be made in Dresden nor the decision on the stationing of American medium-range missiles in Erfurt, said the CDU chairman.
Wagenknecht had stated that an end to arms deliveries to Ukraine and more diplomatic initiatives by the federal government were prerequisites for the BSW to participate in the government in Thuringia. The stationing of US missiles should also not happen.
Source: Stern
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