CDU debates abandoning far-right firewall after AfDs Saxony-Anhalt landslide victory

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6 days · 5 summary articles
Chancellor Friedrich Merz faced mounting pressure within his Christian Democratic Union on Sunday as party members debated whether to abandon the long-standing policy of refusing engagement with the far-right Alternative for Germany following its landslide victory in Saxony-Anhalt.
Clara von Nathusius, federal treasurer of the CDU’s youth wing, publicly called for dialogue with the AfD, declaring the party’s “firewall” strategy a “failed project.” “If we are invited, we should first speak with everyone,” she said on ARD’s *Bericht aus Berlin*, adding that the CDU had spent years defining itself by opposition rather than its own principles. Von Nathusius also criticized Merz directly, stating, “With this chancellor, unfortunately, no elections can be won anymore” .
CSU leader Markus Söder echoed the call to rethink the firewall, arguing the current approach had “failed” because it avoided substantive debate. Söder warned that a collapse of Merz’s coalition government would hand the AfD an “open-goal penalty,” urging faster reforms and improved communication to counter the party’s rise .
The AfD secured 43.8% in Saxony-Anhalt’s Sept. 6 election, while the CDU’s vote share plummeted to 17.2%, a near-20-point drop. Political scientist Julia Reuschenbach dismissed speculation about Merz’s resignation but called engaging with the AfD a “strategic mistake,” asserting the party’s goal was to “destroy the CDU” .
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