Overview

• Thuringia’s BSW leader Frank Augsten and AfD state head Björn Höcke held a two-hour meeting on July 2 to discuss a blockade of key judicial committees and agreed to resume talks after the summer recess.
• AfD federal co-chair Tino Chrupalla says discussions with the BSW are already underway beyond Thuringia, including in Saxony and at the national level.
• BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht calls federal-level negotiations a “phantom discussion” but affirms she would meet AfD leaders on concrete occasions.
• SPD vice-chair Dorothea Marx insists her party sees no need for further talks with the AfD, underscoring mainstream parties’ commitment to a firewall policy.
• BSW and AfD MEPs recently joined forces in the European Parliament to support a no-confidence motion against Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.