In light of the political balance of power in eastern Germany, Saxony’s Minister President Michael Kretschmer (CDU) is calling for a willingness to engage in dialogue with all other parties. He told the *Handelsblatt*: “Anyone who still talks about ‘firewalls’ has failed to recognize the signs of the times. We must talk to anyone who wants to talk.”
The term “firewall” refers to the parties’ stance of not cooperating with the AfD. A week ago, at his summer press conference, Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) reaffirmed that the CDU would not cooperate with the AfD or the Left Party. “We have clear party convention resolutions on this, and I have no reason to doubt that we will abide by them,” he said. He did not answer the question of what would happen if, without Die Linke, there were not enough votes to secure a majority that excludes the AfD. Such a scenario is highly likely in Saxony-Anhalt and also in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
State elections are scheduled there in September. Kretschmer, who is also deputy federal chairman of the CDU, leads a minority government in Saxony—as does Mario Voigt (CDU) in Thuringia. Kretschmer has established a “consultation mechanism” in the state parliament in Dresden that is open to all parliamentary groups. “The AfD is the only parliamentary group that said from the outset: We will not participate,” he said. It is banking on the government failing. “A party like the AfD harms the state.”
