In an open letter, Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) has urged the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Greens to resist any form of co-operation with the hard-right Alternative for German (AfD) party as parliament prepared for pivotal votes on border control and migration laws.
“Use your influence to ensure that the consensus among democrats is maintained,” the SPD leaders wrote on January 27, cautioning that any collaboration, direct or indirect, with “forces hostile to the Constitution” would break Germany’s “democratic firewall”.
For the SPD, allowing the CDU to join forces with the AfD and other parties such as the hard-left BSW, would mark a shift in German politics.
“The firewall between democratic and undemocratic parties must not be allowed to waver,” the letter stressed.
The SPD’s heads of government of Lower Saxony, Hamburg, Bremen, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland pointed out that cracks in the firewall had already appeared at the municipal level. They called on federal leaders to avoid “normalising” this trend at a national level.
Referencing recent alleged migrant-lead crimes in Magdeburg and Aschaffenburg, they claimed that such incidents had created a fertile ground for “radical narratives”.
The SPD also singled out as a pressing concern what it called the AfD’s radicalisation, which it said was observed during that party’s recent election campaigning.
“This fundamental consensus is more important now than ever. Those in positions of responsibility must leave no doubt about their stance against radicals,” the letter read.
At the heart of the controversy were two votes scheduled to be held in the Bundestag, the German parliament.
The first was due to be a border control proposal and the second the “Law to Limit the Illegal Influx of Third-Country Nationals,” introduced by the CDU/CSU in September 2024.
Reports have suggested that. with support from the AfD, BSW, and FDP, the CDU could see both laws passed — marking the first time these factions have aligned on such a scale.
Successful votes would mark a breach of the cordon sanitaire that has long kept the AfD relatively isolated in German politics.
The SPD’s appeal to the CDU and Greens seemed clear: Reject any co–operation with the AfD, no matter what the cost.
“Our colleagues from eastern Germany have demonstrated the importance of this stance in recent months,” it wrote.
With Germany’s upcoming election on February 23, the CDU party announced tougher immigration policies for the country, seemingly aligning itself with the AfD.
Germany’s Conservative CDU party has announced it was taking a tougher course on illegal immigration into the country. https://t.co/ArLCanx5F2
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 24, 2025
