Linken-Chef Jan van Aken has warned of a potential future cooperation between the CDU and CSU with the AfD. “I trust the Merz Union to agree on a case-by-case basis with the AfD” he told the Welt (Thursday edition). “This potential for blackmail is unfortunately now in the air.”
The Union had recently submitted several Bundestag motions on migration policy and accepted the AfD’s support, despite the constitutional protection agency’s classification of the AfD as a right-wing extremist party. This came despite the CDU’s chancellor candidate, Friedrich Merz, having ruled out a coalition with the AfD in November. Merz later disavowed the idea of a coalition with the AfD.
“In the first moment, I thought Merz had lost his grip. But it appears that there are conservatives in the CDU who want to push through a conservative renewal of Germany, even with the AfD” van Aken said. “It’s certainly not going to be a coalition after the election. But the example of Austria shows how it could go: There, the first government head from the FPÖ is still a threat.”
The government formation in Austria, which involved the FPÖ and ÖVP, collapsed on Wednesday afternoon and it is unclear how a government will be formed.
The current discussions on migration, van Aken believes, are a “diversion debate”. The real issues, he says, are a lack of housing and social infrastructure. “Ask what someone with a small wallet or a non-German name experiences when looking for an apartment. It’s a constant humiliation” van Aken said. “Instead, we hear: If the state has no money, the recipient of basic income is to blame and if there are no dentist appointments, then the migrants are to blame.”
The Left politician called for more investments in the municipalities and the healthcare system, blaming privatization and austerity for the current state of affairs. “The debate in Germany is completely off track” van Aken said.