The three Free States among the 16 federal states want to cooperate more closely across borders in future. The heads of government of Bavaria, Thuringia and Saxony will meet on Friday (11.30 am) in Kronach, Bavaria, to discuss details of the cooperation. Markus Söder (Bavaria, CSU), Michael Kretschmer (Saxony, CDU) and Mario Voigt (Thuringia, CDU) are all members of the Union parties. Among other things, the discussion, which is scheduled to last around an hour, will focus on cross-border infrastructure projects, such as rail transport. Most recently, Deutsche Bahn improved its services by setting up the Franconia-Thuringia Express between Nuremberg and Erfurt. In future, however, the Free States also want to act more jointly in federal politics and speak with a common voice on nationwide issues. The federal states of Saxony and Thuringia have recently seen strong election results for the AfD, which has been classified as right-wing extremist by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Copyright 2025, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reserved
