Parties - Berlin's ex-CDU Senator Kurth will not become an AfD member
Former Berlin CDU Finance Senator Peter Kurth stated to the German Press Agency that he will not be a member of the AfD despite contacts, "I was, am and will not be a member of the AfD", Kurth said. "I have closed my political career plans. I have not had any relevant political functions for many years." Regarding criticism of contacts in partly extremist circles, Kurth said, "I will not as a private person prohibit myself from talking to whom I want. I know where I draw the line."
The former Senator attended the AfD Brandenburg's campaign kickoff in Werder (Havel) on Friday. The AfD Brandenburg is considered a suspected right-wing extremist case by the state's Constitutional Protection. In Kurth's apartment, a meeting of radical right-wingers took place in the summer of the previous year. From 1999 to 2001, he was the Berlin Finance Senator and from 2001 to 2006 a member of the Berlin House of Representatives.
Kurth stated that he left the CDU last year, after which CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann asked him to stay and become a member of the CDU Märkisch-Oderland. In this district, he has a second residence. According to his statements, he received confirmation of the transferred membership and paid the contribution.
Kurth was never accepted as a member by the district executive, said district chairman Kristy Augustin to the dpa. "The transfer was not valid, as it was discovered that he had left the CDU in Berlin." This was revealed through media reports. There is also no application for readmission. "Spiegel" reported in January about the meeting in Kurth's apartment, and in February about the question of his CDU membership.
- Despite attending the AfD Brandenburg's campaign kickoff in Werder (Havel), former Berlin CDU Finance Senator Peter Kurth clarified to the German Press Agency that he will not join the AfD due to his past membership with the CDU in Berlin.
- The German Press Agency reported that Kurth, who was previously the Berlin Finance Senator from 1999 to 2001 and a member of the Berlin House of Representatives from 2001 to 2006, left the CDU last year, but his membership transfer to the CDU Märkisch-Oderland was not valid, as he had already left the party in Berlin.
- The Constitutional Protection of Brandenburg considers the AfD Brandenburg a suspected right-wing extremist case, and this suspicion has caused controversy surrounding Kurth's attendance at the party's campaign kickoff and the allegation of a meeting of radical right-wingers in his apartment in the summer of the previous year.
- The former Senator's CDU membership was questioned in January and February 2023, with "Spiegel" reporting about the meeting in Kurth's apartment and discussing the validity of his CDU membership.
