Kühnert: CDU in eastern Germany leads to strengthening of the AfD

SPD General Secretary - Kühnert: CDU in eastern Germany leads to strengthening of the AfD

With a view to the upcoming state elections in eastern Germany,SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert has accused the CDU of strengthening the AfD with its course. "I have never understood why the CDU in Thuringia, for example, rules out any cooperation with the left-wing parties just as much as with the far-right and anti-democratic AfD," Kühnert told the Rheinische Post newspaper (Monday). "This means that the state government is barely able to act. The enemies of democracy are having a laugh," said the SPD General Secretary.

"With its strategy to date, the CDU has achieved the opposite of what it claims to want," said Kühnert. "It is paralyzing parliament and providing Höcke with argumentative fodder for his contempt for democracy," he said, referring to the Thuringian state party and parliamentary group leader Björn Höcke. In Thuringia, Minister President Bodo Ramelow (Left Party) is currently leading a minority government of the Left Party, SPD and Greens. The government is opposed by an almost equally strong CDU and AfD parliamentary group. State elections will be held in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg in 2024.

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1. The upcoming state election in Thuringia is a concern for the SPD, as the CDU's rigid stance towards cooperating with left-wing parties is perceived as strengthening the far-right AfD.
2. In an interview with the Rheinische Post, SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert criticized the CDU's approach, stating that it leaves the state government virtually incapable of acting and provides ammunition for AfD leader Björn Höcke's anti-democratic rhetoric.
3. Kühnert argued that the CDU's strategy has had the opposite effect of what they intended, paralyzing parliament and creating a fertile ground for the growth of extremist parties like the AfD in eastern Germany.
4. According to Kühnert, the CDU's refusal to work with the Left Party, SPD, and Greens in Thuringia has resulted in a recurring stalemate, with Minority State President Bodo Ramelow leading a fragile coalition against the near-equal strength of the CDU and AfD parliamentary groups.
5. The situation in Thuringia is reflective of a broader trend in eastern Germany, where the far-right AfD is gaining traction and challenging the traditional center-right parties like the CDU.
6. With state elections coming up in Thuringia, Saxony, and Brandenburg in 2024, the stakes are high for Germany as a whole, as the strengthening of extremist parties could further erode the democratic fabric of the country.

Source: www.stern.de