EUROPEAN ELECTIONS: "Merz's announcement means maximum stress in the East!" Expert is surprised

EUROPEAN ELECTIONS: "Merz's announcement means maximum stress in the East!" Plain text? Expert is surprised
CDU leader Friedrich Merz has highlighted the substantive differences between his party and the Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) alliance and sparked a debate about the options for power in the upcoming state elections. He sees "no overlap at all in politics with this group, assuming it becomes relevant at some point," Merz said in Berlin on Tuesday. "We will then have to look at everything else in the light of the election results." Wagenknecht countered similar previous interview statements by Merz with criticism. The CDU in Thuringia signaled openness to talks with the BSW.
Elections are scheduled for September in Thuringia, as well as in Saxony and Brandenburg. Because the AfD was the strongest force in all three states recently, forming a government is expected to be difficult. The BSW achieved double-digit results in all three states in the European elections. If the party, which was only founded in January, can repeat this in the autumn, it could become a force to be reckoned with.
Merz was asked on Monday evening on ARD whether he was prepared to consider a collaboration or coalition with the BSW in order to prevent AfD prime ministers in the east. The CDU leader then said: "That is absolutely clear, we have always said that. We do not work with such right-wing and left-wing extremist parties." Both apply to Wagenknecht: "She is right-wing extremist on some issues, but left-wing extremist on others."
«Political Kindergarten»
Party founder Wagenknecht said on Tuesday: "What Friedrich Merz is doing is political kindergarten and will further weaken the CDU in the east." The BSW chairwoman, for her part, lashed out at Merz: "Olaf Scholz is the worst chancellor in the history of the Federal Republic, but Friedrich Merz would not be an improvement - especially with the Greens as a coalition partner." BSW General Secretary Christian Leye told the "Welt": "It's not as if we are desperately wishing for a government constellation with the CDU." But Merz must also recognize the political realities in East Germany.
Merz said before a parliamentary group meeting in Berlin that he had pointed out "that we really have no agreement with this group on any political issues". Wagenknecht's positions on foreign and economic policy were "really completely incompatible with our positions". He had pointed out that the BSW "obviously stands on the far right on some issues and on the far left on others".
Merz said he had said something about substantive issues "from the perspective of federal politics." "We don't need to concern ourselves with this question any further. We will do that if there are other results." Then, of course, he would also speak to the CDU state chairmen about the question and whether there were other points of view.
CDU state leader Voigt praises BSW state leader Wolf
Thuringian CDU leader Mario Voigt, who wants to become prime minister in the fall and needs coalition partners for this, said: "Friedrich Merz has spoken for the federal level." In the Free State, they want political change and are first looking at which specific issues are of concern to people. "Then we will hold discussions about who we can work with to solve the problems."
Voigt had words of praise for the BSW state chairwoman Katja Wolf in the "Stern" magazine: "I have a reasonable line of communication with Katja Wolf, who I have always seen as a pragmatic local politician." Wolf and the BSW co-chairman Steffen Schütz criticized: "After Friedrich Merz has not kept his promise to significantly weaken the AfD, he is now erecting another firewall." Thuringia does not need advice from Berlin, but sensible and reliable politics.
#merz #europeanelections #bsw #worldnewschannel
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