Merkel, Musk and the far -right: What will happen in German elections?

Former German leader Angela Merkel has revealed a deep rift in the country’s conservative movement, downplaying her party executives for how they are facing her rise. far -right. The anti -immigration party alternative to Germany (AfD) at the same time earns terrain to polls In recent months and is now in second place in the elections on 23 February.

This raises large questions for the dominant parties, especially for Merkel’s Center -Right Democratic Union (CDU), which is currently the first party in polls.

As Politico reports, for decades, Germany’s history has led the mainstream politicians to support a so -called protection wall to keep the far -right away from power. But this wall seems to be is in danger of collapsing And the future of Europe’s largest economy, which has been a long -standing stronghold of stability and sad policy, suddenly seems less clear.

What is going on in Germany?

CDU leader Friedrich Mertz, who will probably be the next German Chancellor, was based on the votes of the AfD MPs to pass his anti -immigration proposal to the German parliament.

This is a proposal concerning the dramatic restriction of immigration – a topic bearing the signature of the AfD and which Mertz decided to embrace wholeheartedly amid rising concerns of voters.

The proposal was passed on Wednesday from the German Parliament and the far -right passed for the first time from the protection wall that kept it isolated from the basic parliamentary work.

The Social Democrat’s opponent of Mertz, today’s Chancellor Altf Saltzhe did not waste time to attack him, however, the criticism within the CDU was sluggish.

Until Merkel made a loud intervention. “I think it is wrong to abandon this commitment and consciously allow the majority with AfD votes in Bundestag for the first time.”he said.

Her intervention is explosiveprecisely because it was reluctant to comment on contemporary political issues in the 3 years since its departure from the Chancellor. The fact that he chose to speak against the leader of her party himself, Just three weeks before the election, it is very important.

How did Germany get to this point?

AfD lost ground in the first half of last year but has since noted rise to polls and now he has about 21% Popular support across the country, rising three points from November.

On the contrary, Merz’s conservative alliance (CDU/CSU) lost three units in this time and now is to 30% In Politico’s polls.

A key factor in climate change is a series of shocking murders committed by immigrants, including an attack on a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg in December that left six dead.

Subsequently, on January 22, an Afghan attacked a group of preschool children, killing two people, including a 2 -year -old boy. The knife attack in the park of the central city of Asafenburg caused the outcry of public opinion and political leaders.

Indeed, Salts himself significantly scalled his rhetoric against the perpetrators who came to Germany “seeking protection”, stating that he was ending tolerance.

Mertz took a step further, proposing rigorous border controls.

“On the first day of my term as Chancellor, I will order the Ministry of the Interior to impose permanent border controls with all our neighbors and to refuse any attempt to enter,” He stressed. Then, this week, he promoted his proposal to Bundestag with the help of AfD.

At the same time billionaire iva maska close associate of Donald Trump, has put his weight on the AfD, recently interviewing Weidel on X. This move caused rage because he said Germany should have to overcome her guilt for her Nazi past. This week, he also celebrated parliamentary moves to tighten the country’s borders and Mertz’s decision to use the AfD support.

What is at stake?

Until now, Mertz’s CDU has had a steady lead over AfD. But the events of recent days could change everything.

Will the CDU’s decision to work with AFD will make it easier for more voters to think about doing the same? Could Mertz’s decision to defend an anti -immigration agenda to turn him into boomerang, just legalizing the AfD’s motion mission in the eyes of the electorate? Will voters choose to support AfD on the grounds that they prefer the original to an imitation?

And there is Merkel’s intervention, which is in conflict with Mertz at least since 2002, when he essentially ruled him out of the CDU leadership. Since he returned in 2022, he moved the party to the right, undermining large parts of the former Chancellor’s heritage, especially to immigration.

Will her reappear – and the obvious division on the CDU – more voters in the lap of AfD and his candidate Chancellor, Alice Weidel? Or will more central voters abandon the CDU and support the SOLD or Greens SPD, who remain decisively opposed to working with AfD?

Can AfD take power?

For the time being, it seems unlikely that the AFD will be part of any coalition government, even if it has further rose to the polls on February 23.

There is still a clear majority of pro-European and anti-accent parties in Germany that they would not want to work with the AfD and would need a monumental change to change that.

But what is happening in Germany has an inevitable impact on other countries in Europe and beyond.

THE Victor Orban Hungary has already celebrated the prevalence of AfD in the vote on immigration and other radical nationalists will also be encouraged.

From the economic point of view, the risk for Europe is whether these elections will bring a period of instability. The EU economy is already facing challenges due to the aggressive commercial prospects of US President Donald Trump as well as competition from China.

What follows?

On Friday, Parliament voted for the so -called “law on limiting migratory flows”.

It would be the first binding legislation based on the far -right votes, but on a blow to Mertz’s strategy and in the midst of chaotic scenes, Parliament voted against it.

All eyes are now on the CDU conference on Monday, where observers and journalists will measure the climate between representatives on their support in Martz’s recent decisions, as well as the level of unity between party members after two hectic weeks .

Mertz wants to take advantage of the conference to move away from the focus on the immigration issue (and therefore to the discussion on the wall of protection) and to focuses on German financial problemssaid party officials.

Its aim is to present a 15-point plan for financial measures and to devote 80-90% of his speech to this issue, the same executives added. If the party’s conference is Mertz’s first test, the next beam of polls will be the second.

The rationale for CDU officials was that the hard treatment of immigration, while also showing voters that they are ready to do things differently – even if it included AfD support – it would gave them a push.

Conservatives had stuck around 30% from mid -December and polls in the following days and weeks will show If Mertz’s bet took place.