Germany’s far right cordon sanitaire collapses. CDU and AfD align against migrants

Brussels – Three weeks before a crucial election extending well beyond Germany’s borders, Merkel’s famous  “never with the AfD” stance crumbled. As has already been seen in the European Parliament and the French National Assembly, the cordon sanitaire against the far right is no longer an imperative in the heart of Europe. Thus, yesterday (Jan. 29), the CDU of Friedrich Merz – a likely future German chancellor – cashed in on the votes of the neo-Nazi-inspired far right to pass a very tough motion on immigration in parliament.

The fact is that the campaign toward the Feb. 23 elections is gradually shifting – with the help of some recent violent incidents committed by migrants – to the favored terrain of the ultra-right party led by Alice Weidel, which has always been deeply anti-immigrant. In recent months, in a bid to regain support, Germany’s two primary political families – the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Social Democrats (SPD) – have increasingly hardened their tones and shifted an increasingly aggressive narrative against migrants, gradually reducing the difference in views with the AfD.

The point of no return occurred yesterday in the Bundestag in Berlin when Merz managed to push through with a handful of votes – those of AfD and the liberals – a motion to strengthen border controls and grant more powers to the police. The leader of the CDU called for declaring a state of emergency and enforcing permanent rejections and border controls in open violation of Schengen area rules. The motion will become a bill as early as tomorrow. If the “Merz package” passes, “the largest country in Europe would violate European law. So far only Viktor Orbán (Hungarian premier, Ed.) dares such a thing,” said the chancellor and leader of the SPD, Olaf Scholz.

However, the outgoing chancellor is in obvious trouble, and in an attempt to keep up with the right, he also changed his rhetoric on immigration. In particular, after an Afghan asylum seeker in Aschaffenburg, Bavaria, stabbed a man and a child on Jan. 22,  Scholz said he was “disturbed by these violent crimes every few weeks, perpetrated by people who come to us seeking protection.”

His party, however, is in free fall: according to data compiled by YouGov, between January 24 and 27, the SPD has gone from 19 to 15 percent in just a few days, far behind both Merz’s Christian Democrats, at 29 percent, and Weidel’s far-right, which – a week before the congress attended by her supporter Elon Musk – jumped for the first time in its history at 23 percent in the polls. The allies of the resigned traffic-light coalition are all further behind: the Greens – who have Economy Minister Robert Habeck as their candidate – at 13 percent. The Liberals have all but disappeared, at 3 percent. Sarah Wagenknecht’s red-brown group hovers around 6 percent, and the left-wing Die Linke at 5 percent.

AfD leader and chancellor candidate, Alice Weidel (credits: Michele Tantussi / Afp)

In light of these power relations – and Merz’s rift on immigration – the doubt arises that the leader of the party founded by Konrad Adenauer may be forging a historic alliance with the AfD. In recent days, Merz denied that he wants to bring the far right back to power for the first time since the horrors of the Nazi regime. However, regarding yesterday’s motion, he said: “A right decision does not become wrong if the wrong people vote for it. It remains right.” However, Merz’s reassurances were not enough to prevent hundreds of people from gathering in front of the Berlin headquarters of Angela Merkel’s former party, where they shouted: “Ban the CDU” and “Merz go away.”

The German leader of the European Green group, Terry Reintke, called yesterday’s event “a dark page for German democracy.” The Christian-Liberal universe also criticized the event.  Austrian chancellor Alexander Schallenberg rejected Merz’s proposed border measures: “If everyone pulls up his drawbridge, we all end up poorer, and no one is safer.”

 In the run-up to the elections, Merz reiterated that he does not aspire to “any majorities other than the centrist and democratic ones,” simultaneously passing the buck to the other parties. The risk, however, is that trust among Germany’s historic democratic families is already compromised. Scholz spoke of “an unforgivable mistake.” Or a conscious and calculated coming out of the closet.