Roland Koch issues stern warning to CDU Sachsen-Anhalt against partnering with AfD

Former Hessian Minister-President Roland Koch (CDU) sharply warns his party colleagues in Saxony-Anhalt against cooperating with the AfD. "The AfD pursues an isolationist, ultranationalist, and generally ultra-German programmatic agenda, in which there are no overlaps with the CDU," Koch told the newspaper "Die Zeit." Therefore, everyone who speaks of red lines is wrong. The representatives of the AfD lack the minimum level of fidelity to the constitution required for one to even have a conversation with them.

If the state association of Saxony-Anhalt decides at a party convention to enter into cooperation with the AfD, this would be a "life-threatening attack on the existence of the Union," Koch continued. Vladimir Putin would win. He advises them to think carefully about whose hands they are reaching for, Koch said, looking at the planned election of a Minister-President in December. This remains a personal responsibility of every member of parliament. Koch is skeptical about members of parliament making sworn declarations; his view is that the absence of the entire faction is legitimate. Both steps are being considered by the CDU faction leader and Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt, Sven Schulze.

Schulze had stated that the CDU would decide case by case whether it agrees to AfD motions. Koch criticizes this stance: The people are entitled to a reliable line from the CDU. There is no reason for any substantive compromises. Koch, a confidant of Merz, is clearly distancing himself from the statements of the current Hessian Minister-President Boris Rhein, who recently requested a changed approach to the AfD in several contributions.