German CDU leader Friedrich Merz has rejected claims from his own ranks after his controversial remarks on dealing with the AfD. “I have nothing to take away from what I said last night,” Merz told the German Press Agency in Berlin today.
“I simply described the reality that in Saxony-Anhalt a mayor and in Thuringia a district administrator was elected by the majority of the population. And that all parties in this city and this district now have to deal with this election result”, emphasized Merz.
“To deduce from this that I would have paved the way for cooperation with the AfD at the municipal level is really completely absurd.”
“Ensure the AfD gets smaller again”
When asked whether he would repeat his statements from the interview, Merz replied, “At best, I would emphasize even more strongly that this is not a task for the CDU alone, but a task for all democratic center parties in the respective city councils and district councils.” This is not just a Union problem.”
Merz had triggered strong reactions of detachment from his own ranks yesterday with remarks about the AfD in the ZDF summer interview. In the interview, he confirmed that the Union would not cooperate with the AfD. However, he limited this to “legislative bodies”, for example at the European, federal or state level.
If a district administrator in Thuringia and a mayor in Saxony-Anhalt were elected by the AfD, then these were democratic elections, Merz said. “We have to accept that. And, of course, local parliaments must look for ways to shape the city or district together.”