![]() In March 2021, the AfD was formally placed under surveillance by Germany’s BfV domestic intelligence service on suspicion of trying to undermine Germany’s democratic constitution – making it the first party to be monitored in this way since the Nazi era crumbled in 1945. ![]() There are also clear differences between West and East Germany, with just under half of East Germans – 47% – agreeing with the CDU’s refusal to cooperate with the AfD, compared with 68% of West Germans. Jörg Kühne, an ex-CDU member and current city councillor for the AfD in Leipzig, which is the largest city in Saxony, told CNN: “The CDU, which should have a desire for power, is strongly advised to wake up, especially in the central German states, to act in the interests of the citizens and to sit down at one table with the AfD.”Ī Deutschlandtrend poll conducted by public broadcaster ARD in early August found that the majority of Germans – 64% – continue to support the CDU’s decision to reject cooperation with the AfD, although this opinion has become less popular since March 2020. The new figures have thrown into question how long Saxony’s current state governing coalition of the CDU, SPD, and the Greens can last. There, the AfD is now polling at 35% – a significant 6 percentage points above the CDU at 29%. A poll conducted by INSA (Institute for New Social Answers) and published last Thursday found that the AfD had eclipsed the CDU in popularity in the eastern state of Saxony. The AfD has found particular resonance with voters in Germany’s former communist states. An electoral system established after World War II makes it almost impossible for a single party to win power, meaning multiple parties are expected to band together to form a majority. Unlike many of its Western allies, coalition governments are a natural part of German politics. ![]() Meanwhile, members of the AfD believe that shunning their party will soon be a luxury the CDU can’t afford. “The CDU cannot, does not want to and won’t work with a party whose business model is hatred, division and exclusion.” Max Schwarz/Reutersīerlin’s CDU mayor, Kai Wegner, took to X to write: “What cooperation is there to be had? Still, his comments were enough to spark an outcry – not least from members of his own party – and raise concerns that the party’s resolve could be weakening.Īn election campaign poster shows the AfD's Robert Sesselmann, who won a district election in Sonneberg in the eastern German state of Thuringia. There will be no CDU cooperation on the local level with the AfD.” Merz backpedaled later that month, posting on X, formerly known as Twitter: “To clarify it once again, and I never said it differently: the CDU resolution is valid. In an interview with public broadcaster ZDF, Merz said it was “natural” to look at ways to continue to work cooperatively if an AfD mayor or district administrator was voted in. As a result, CDU leader Friedrich Merz caused shockwaves in July when he left open the possibility of collaboration with the party on the local and municipal level. The CDU has long shunned the AfD because of its anti-democratic stance and fringe ideologies, which include an openly anti-migrant, euroskeptic, Islamophobic and anti-feminist agenda. With polls showing the AfD gaining on the CDU, state elections approaching in the fall and a European Parliament election next year, the party formerly led by ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing a dilemma over how to move forward. It remains the country’s most popular party but now sits in opposition – an unaccustomed position – while the center-left Social Democrats govern in coalition with the Green Party and Free Democrats (FDP). The center-right CDU was in power for much of Germany’s post-war era and oversaw the reunification of East and West Germany. As Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) grows ever popular, the country’s once dominant Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party finds itself at a crossroads.
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