Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), strongly rejected any cooperation with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in an interview with public broadcaster ARD on Friday night .
“Let me repeat it here for the record. There will be no cooperation with the CDU in Germany under my leadership,” said Merz.
The reasons are clear and obvious, he said. “We will not work with a party that is xenophobic, that is anti-Semitic, that has extremists in its ranks, that has criminals in its ranks, a party that courting Russia and wanting to leave NATO and the European Union. .”
Germany's domestic intelligence service, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, monitors the AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist group.
Merz's reference to criminals could be aimed at the party's leader in the state of Thuringia, Björn Höcke, a far-right firebrand known in the country for controversial views.
He was convicted twice in court for using banned Nazi slogans in speeches.
Merz said of any move to work with the AfD, “If we were to do that, we would sell the CDU's soul.”
When asked if he could keep this promise, Merz replied: “Yes, I will keep it. I am linking my destiny as chairman of the CDU party to this answer.”
Friedrich Merz is the frontrunner to replace German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the national elections on February 23, following the collapse of Scholz's three-party coalition.
Friedrich Merz, candidate for German Chancellor and party chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), arrives at the winter retreat of the CDU's federal executive at the Hamburg Hammerbrook planning offices. The two-day meeting will focus on economic policy, the main theme of the election campaign for Merz. The leadership of the CDU has adopted a paper “Agenda 2030” dealing with tax reform, a more flexible labor market, and lower energy prices. A new Bundestag will be elected on February 23. Marcus Brandt/dpa
