German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has firmly upheld the CDU's 'firewall' against the far-right AfD, declaring it the party's primary adversary. This comes ahead of a CDU presidium meeting set to discuss the issue. The debate reignited after influential former Union politicians called for a softer approach.
Ahead of the CDU presidium meeting on Sunday and Monday, Friedrich Merz, CDU party leader and chancellor, reaffirmed the firewall against the AfD. In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS), he stated: "We will highlight the differences between us and the AfD much more clearly."
Merz addressed a false public narrative: "They could push everything through with the AfD if they only tore down this firewall. This narrative is false." He emphasized that the AfD questions not just Angela Merkel's policies but the Federal Republic of Germany as shaped since Konrad Adenauer. "The 'extended hand' repeatedly offered by the AfD actually wants to destroy us, as it says itself," Merz explained. Thus, the AfD is the main opponent in upcoming elections: "them or us."
The CDU differs from the AfD in all essential convictions. Merz acknowledged that the Union has left too much space on the right. Decisions in 2015 under Merkel contributed to the AfD entering the Bundestag in 2017, and measures after 2021 under the Ampel coalition led to the AfD doubling its support.
CSU General Secretary Martin Huber warned against cooperation: "Where Christian democrats have cooperated with extreme right-wing parties, the Christian democrats have disappeared in the end. Our position as CSU is clear: No cooperation with the AfD – and that applies at all levels." CDU Vice Chairman Karl-Josef Laumann called the AfD a "Nazi party," incompatible with Christian democratic values. SPD General Secretary Tim Klüssendorf demanded a clear stop sign against any rapprochement, and Greens politician Irene Mihalic urged the CDU to commit to the firewall.
The debate was reignited by calls from Peter Tauber and Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, as well as eastern associations. Since the 2018 incompatibility resolution, the CDU rejects coalitions with the AfD and the Left.