Overview
- Representatives of the newly formed BSW attended a dinner at the opening of the Compact TV studio in Magdeburg where AfD leaders and right‑wing figures were present, and photos of BSW and AfD politicians toasting circulated on social media.
- The dinner came days after BSW voted to back AfD candidate Tobias Rausch for Landtag president, a sequence that has raised questions about whether tactical cooperation is crossing the party's ethical boundaries.
- Party founder Sahra Wagenknecht and federal leader Fabio De Masi publicly condemned the joint meal, with De Masi warning that any impression of a privileged partnership with the AfD must be avoided.
- Claudia Wittig, who initially defended the encounter, later apologized and said staying for the dinner was a mistake, while veteran board member Klaus Ernst has signaled he may leave the party over the episode.
- The incident highlights a deeper split in BSW over cooperation with the AfD and contact with the radical‑right Compact outlet, and it increases the chance of further defections, legal and political scrutiny of Landtag dealings, and broader reputational damage.