Voting Events - Traffic light assault and AfD attacks - Merz and Söder campaign for votes
The CDU and CSU have been aggressively campaigning together for voter support leading up to the European election, taking aim at the traffic light coalition and the AfD. During the union's final rally in Munich on Friday night, CDU leader Friedrich Merz and CSU chairman Markus Söder stressed the importance of the upcoming vote. The European People's Party, under von der Leyen's leadership, needs to regain its position as Europe's leading force, Merz emphasized.
Merz portrayed the Berlin traffic light government as a catastrophe for Germany and Europe, nicknaming it a "ghost" that must be laid to rest in the next federal election. Merz also criticized the AfD, stating that it represents a moral and economic downfall for Germany. Söder weighed in as well, urging the traffic light government to step down from power. He even went so far as to label anyone taking foreign money as a traitor to the fatherland. The SPD and Greens were implored to support von der Leyen's candidacy, whom Söder called a matter of "national patriotic duty."
According to polls, the CDU and CSU are poised to win the European election in Germany with a wide margin. Van der Leyen is hoping to secure a second term as EU Commission President, while CSU Vice President Manfred Weber has ambitions to remain the party leader and group leader in the European Parliament.
