The chancellor justified his rejection in the show broadcast on Thursday with the AfD’s close contacts to Russia. The party “comes and goes” in the Russian embassy in Berlin and maintains excellent relations with President Vladimir Putin, Merz said. Cooperation with such a party is impossible for the CDU.
The AfD wants to destroy the CDU and dismantle the system in Germany, Merz continued. He cited the demands “out of the euro, out of Schengen, out of the single market” as examples. The differences are so fundamental that no compromises are possible: “I cannot half-leave the European Union, I cannot half-leave NATO, I cannot half-destroy the CDU.”
Regarding government formation in Saxony-Anhalt after the election on September 6, Merz did not comment specifically. He pointed to Thuringia and Saxony, where the AfD became the strongest force but could not govern. Tolerated minority governments are possible.
On the drone incident at Leipzig Airport, the chancellor announced that the federal government would soon name those responsible. “We will determine this conclusively in the coming days, and then there will be a corresponding reaction very soon,” he said. The situation is “very serious,” involving hybrid warfare also in Germany. On August 4, a drone loaded with explosives was discovered there; the Federal Prosecutor’s Office spoke of a “serious attack on transport and logistics infrastructure in Germany.”
Source: www.welt.de
