State elections: CDU leadership would not tolerate AfD cooperation in the east
Will the firewall hold if the CDU in Saxony-Anhalt could govern with the AfD after the election? Group leader Frei makes it clear that the federal party would not accept such cooperation.
Berlin. After the state election in Saxony-Anhalt, the CDU leadership in Berlin would not allow its state association to decide freely on a coalition with the AfD. "Normally, the federal party stays out of the formation of government in the states. But on this fundamental question, the whole party is affected," said CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader Thorsten Frei to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
Frei was asked whether the CDU in Saxony-Anhalt would remain steadfast if it could govern together with the AfD after the election. He emphasized: "The ban on cooperation with the AfD is a basic decision in the CDU. It cannot be answered differently depending on the federal state." The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt as a reliably right-wing extremist endeavor.
The party is far ahead of the CDU in opinion polls, which currently provides the Prime Minister with Sven Schulze and governs together with the SPD and FDP.
Apart from Saxony-Anhalt, new state parliaments will also be elected in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin in September. These elections would "certainly not be a disaster," said Frei. However, they would in any case have an impact on the government's work in Berlin. "But that affects us all." There will be no change of Chancellor, according to Frei. "Friedrich Merz is the elected Chancellor. He will remain in office for the entire legislative period."
Translated by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's report; automated translation may contain errors. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
