Overview
- The pact, signed in late July by CDU, SPD, FDP, Greens, Left, Volt and Die Partei, commits campaigns to avoid blame directed at migrants, with the AfD explicitly excluded.
- AfD district spokesman Christer Cremer said the party would not accept self-censorship and insisted all topics must be addressed openly during the campaign.
- Evangelical and Catholic ombudspeople monitoring the agreement urged clearer wording and greater transparency after reviewing the CDU’s Agnesviertel flyer.
- The CDU’s Serap Güler declined to retract statements and argued a planned accommodation for roughly 500 refugees is unsuitable for the Agnesviertel location.
- Commentary split, with political scientist Werner J. Patzelt warning the CDU made itself vulnerable by signing as other outlets characterized the uproar as exaggerated and the agreement as long-standing, minimal anti-discrimination practice.