Germany news: Merz stresses CDU's rejection of far-right AfD

Deutsche Welle (DW)CenterEN 10 min read 100% complete by Timothy Jones dpa, AFP, Reuters, AP, epd, KNAOctober 25, 2025 at 04:26 PM

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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has reiterated that his conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) will distance itself from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) ahead of five state elections in 2026. Merz stated that the CDU's "firewall" against the AfD, which prevents cooperation with the party, will remain intact. He described the AfD as an "enemy of the system" and said it wants to destroy the CDU. The AfD has been polling strongly in some states, receiving 20.8% of the vote at February's general elections. State elections will be held in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Baden-Württtemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Berlin in 2026. Merz's comments echo those made by Markus Söder, leader of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), who also rejected any cooperation with the AfD.

Key Topics & Entities

Friedrich Merz ×5100% CDU/CSU ×4100% AfD ×6100% Germany ×4100%

Keywords

afd 80% far-right 80% cdu 70% germany 60% coalition 50% elections 50% extremist 40% coalition government 40% conservative 40% democracy 40%

Sentiment Analysis

Very Negative

Score: -0.60

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Source

Deutsche Welle (DW)

Political Lean

Center (-0.10)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

Germany

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

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afd far-right cdu germany coalition elections extremist coalition government conservative democracy

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