A top official in Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has sparked fresh debate within the party, urging a major rethink on how it handles its right-wing rival, the Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Mathias Middelberg, deputy head of the CDU’s parliamentary group, has called for a more practical, less combative approach toward the AfD—a party long ostracized by the political mainstream. Speaking out this week, Middelberg argued that isolating the AfD by blocking it from roles such as parliamentary committee chairs only strengthens its narrative of victimhood.
“Denying the AfD committee posts won’t make them disappear,” Middelberg said. “It only fuels their outsider image.” Instead, he suggested, the CDU should compete by offering stronger, clearer policies—particularly on issues like asylum and social benefits—where the AfD has been gaining traction.
For years, Germany’s mainstream parties maintained a so-called “firewall” to keep the AfD out of power. But that barrier is now showing serious cracks. Rising tensions within the CDU, defections to the AfD, and a base growing frustrated with the party leadership are forcing a reckoning.
Nowhere is this clearer than in Saxony-Anhalt. In the Harz region, a CDU district branch recently went rogue, rejecting the firewall altogether. Their resolution, blunt in tone, claimed the party had “clearly lost the election in the East” and must come to grips with the reasons why.
The Harz group also called for a reckoning with the Merkel era. “The mistakes and omissions during Angela Merkel’s chancellorship need to be acknowledged and addressed,” the statement read.
With the AfD surging in popularity, especially in former East Germany, pressure is mounting on the CDU to reconnect with its conservative grassroots—or risk being left behind. As the Harz resolution warned, “There is massive discontent at the CDU base.”
Analysts say that unless the CDU adapts to the shifting political winds, it risks losing its grip as Germany’s traditional center-right powerhouse—leaving the door wide open for the AfD to take its place.
