Overview

• Former CDU/CSU figures Peter Tauber, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and Andreas Rödder call for replacing the absolute ‘Brandmauer’ with a conditional approach that permits votes aligned with AfD support under strict red lines.
• CDU leaders Daniel Günther and deputy party chief Karin Prien reject any loosening, calling the AfD increasingly right-wing and insisting there are no so‑called bourgeois majorities with the party.
• CSU general secretary Martin Huber categorically rules out cooperation, warning it would harm Germany and “destroy” the Union and describing the AfD as a danger to the country.
• SPD officials, including secretary-general Tim Klüssendorf, denounce the proposed shift as a fatal signal, while AfD co-chair Alice Weidel predicts the Union will eventually cooperate with her party.
• The debate intensifies against polling that puts the AfD level with or ahead of the Union, and CDU leader Friedrich Merz and secretary-general Carsten Linnemann have convened a presidium session to discuss the strategy.