Free Trial

Major row emerging in Merkel's Christian....>

GERMANY
GERMANY: Major row emerging in Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) over
cordon sanitaire around right-wing nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD).
- A joint letter from 17 conservative CDU politicians calling for readiness for
talks with "all democratically elected parties" was seen as an implicit call to
negotiate a gov't in the eastern state of Thuringia with the AfD. 
- Previously the CDU have operated a policy of absolute non-interaction with the
AfD. In response to the letter, CDU secretary Paul Ziemiak called the head of
the Thuringian AfD "a Nazi" and said that any attempt by CDU politicians to work
with the AfD would tear the party apart.
- Merkel's party has struggled to retain support in several state elections in
2019, with many votes shifting towards the AfD. While working with the AfD would
provide the CDU with an additional potential coalition partner in certain
states, it would almost certainly drive away moderate supporters.
- This argument comes at a vulnerable time for the governing federal coalition,
with the Social Democrats in the process of electing a new leader who could
bring the gov't down. 

To read the full story

Close

Why MNI

MNI is the leading provider

of intelligence and analysis on the Global Fixed Income, Foreign Exchange and Energy markets. We use an innovative combination of real-time analysis, deep fundamental research and journalism to provide unique and actionable insights for traders and investors. Our "All signal, no noise" approach drives an intelligence service that is succinct and timely, which is highly regarded by our time constrained client base.

Our Head Office is in London with offices in Chicago, Washington and Beijing, as well as an on the ground presence in other major financial centres across the world.