Overview

• Former Union heavyweights Peter Tauber, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and Andreas Rödder argued in Stern for conditional engagement with the AfD, proposing a red-line framework to prevent parliamentary deadlock, especially in eastern states.
• Schleswig-Holstein’s Daniel Günther and CDU vice chair Karin Prien rejected any shift, stressing that the AfD is not a bourgeois partner and is in parts increasingly right-wing extremist.
• Chancellor Friedrich Merz has reiterated that cooperation with the AfD is excluded, and the 2018 CDU resolution banning coalitions or similar cooperation remains in force.
• The CDU presidium is set to discuss its approach to the AfD on Sunday, as polls show the AfD near or level with the Union nationally and stronger in the east.
• AfD co-leader Alice Weidel predicted the Union will eventually work with her party, while Left party chief Ines Schwerdtner invited dialogue with the Union and criticized conservatives for informal contact with AfD figures.