As Germany readies itself for five separate state elections early next year, chancellor Friedrich Merz's centre-right Christian Democrats faces a dilemma over how to handle the surging influence and popularity of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
In the run-up to the CDU party convention last weekend, voices within the party calling for collaboration with the extremists gained traction — raising concerns over the party’s shift to the right and normalisation of extremism in Germany.
Merz himself rejected such a scenario at a press conference on Monday (20 October).
“We will distance ourselves very clearly and distinctly from them [the AfD]. And above all, it is important that we counter this with successful government work,” he told reporters, calling the AfD the “main opponent” of the CDU and stated that “this party [the AfD] has declared its intention to destroy the CDU.”
And yet, leading figures from the CDU in Germany's former communist east, such as in the state of Thüringen (where the AfD came top in elections in 2024), have called for exploring collaboration with the far-right.
Former CDU politician Peter Tauber has argued that the CDU should "reconsider its red lines to allow decisions that the AfD supports," German media reported.
Otherwise, the biggest economy of the European Union could be facing a "parliamentary deadlock," he warned.
Andreas Rödder, another former CDU politician, has called for "willingness to engage” while “maintaining the Brandmauer [firewall]".
In German politics, the 'firewall' refers to an unofficial agreement among mainstream parties to refuse to form coalitions or cooperate with the far-right AfD.
However, Rödder, a German historian at the University of Mainz, said it would be worth attempting dialogue if "the AfD respects red lines” and “clearly distances itself from far-right extremist positions and figures."
The CDU agreed internally not to collaborate with the AfD as well as the leftwing party Die Linke in 2018.
Spring elections will be held in two western federal states, Rheinland-Pfalz and Baden-Wüttemberg, where the CDU is comfortably in the lead — with the AfD in the second (Baden-Wüttemberg) or third (Rheinland-Pfalz) place.
In the eastern federal states, regional elections are planned for September.
The AfD leads polls in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Sachsen-Anhalt, with 38 and 40 percent respectively.
In Berlin, the capital and its own city-state, the CDU leads opinion polls with 25 percent and the AfD and Die Linke tied in second place has 16 percent.
The CDU faced a backlash in January when it voted alongside the AfD on migration legislation, sparking nationwide protests. Critics accuse Merz of embracing far-right positions and eroding the firewall.
Last week, chancellor Friedrich Merz sparked controversy by suggesting German cities' appearance ("Stadtbild") had deteriorated due to migration.
He doubled down on this narrative this week, telling journalists on Monday to ask their daughters about safety concerns.
Curd Benjamin Knüpfer, a German political communication specialist from the University of Southern Denmark, told EUobserver: “These are [framing devices] we first saw in 2019, initially among rightwing extremist groups, who wanted to use the 'Me-Too' movement for rightwing ideology, to claim that [German] women are primarily threatened by foreign men.”
Knüpfer also told EUobserver that the CDU has shifted dramatically from Angela Merkel's 2015 "Wir Schaffen Das" ("we can do it") approach to migration.
Under Merz's leadership, the CDU narratives involve “an adoption of the problem definitions and their implied solutions from the far right," he said.
The controversy highlights a broader dilemma for centre-right parties across Europe.
The Konrad-Adenauer Foundation, a think tank closely tied to the CDU, published a study in September finding that working with far-right parties weakens centre-right parties. According to the study, a successful centre-right strategy includes clearly distancing from anti-system parties.
“In notable instances, efforts to moderate rightwing populist or even far-right parties through collaboration have backfired, actually weakening EPP member parties,” the researchers said.
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Hannah Kriwak is a junior reporter from Austria at EUobserver, covering European politics.
Hannah Kriwak is a junior reporter from Austria at EUobserver, covering European politics.