Kretschmer Reiterates: No Cooperation with the AfD

Following criticism of his remarks on the fire wall, Minister President Michael Kretschmer has reaffirmed his fundamental opposition to the AfD. “There will not and cannot be any coalition or cooperation with the AfD, which is a confirmed far-right party,” the CDU politician told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland. “But of course, AfD lawmakers have parliamentary rights.” They can submit motions, and some chair committees in the state parliament. “We talk and debate with them every day.”

Kretschmer recently sparked a debate with a comment he made in an interview with 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,” he told the newspaper. The term “firewall” refers to the stance of not cooperating with the AfD.

Kretschmer: “We Must Fight the Fire and Its Causes”

The term benefits the AfD more than it harms it, Saxony’s premier now affirmed. “That’s what I wanted to make clear with that statement.” He criticized that there is far more discussion about how to deal with the AfD than about why it is being elected. “I sense a naive hope that this trend will simply disappear on its own,” said Kretschmer. “Especially in the western German states, many believe this isn’t their problem. But the reality has long since reached those places as well.” He added that a shared understanding of the reasons behind this frustration is needed.