Germany: Opposition leader Merz rules out AfD cooperation
Friedrich Merz, leader of the center-right CDU, has told DW that his party will not work with the ascendant far-right Alternative for Germany party. To do so, he said, would mean "selling the party's soul." Friedrich Merz, the leader of Germany's center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) said there is no way his party will work with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party after the populist, anti-immigrant outfit posted large victories in state elections last weekend. Merz made the assertion in an interview with DW's chief political editor, Michaela Küfner. "The CDU would be selling its soul if it were to cooperate with a right-wing extremist party in Germany," said Merz. There has been much speculation as to whether any of Germany's mainstream parties would be willing to ally with the AfD after it posted victories in Thuringia and Saxony over the weekend. The CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, are among those closest to the Af...