Is there a door in the German “fire wall”?
By Anna-Magdalena Glockzin, 4 minutes.
Since the foundation of the German far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) in 2013, there has been a strong consensus among the democratic parties in the German party landscape to hold a so-called “fire wall” (Brandmauer) against them. The concept “fire wall” originally meant that no one works together with the AfD whatsoever. This agreed course of action is grounded in the fact that the AfD is proven to be anti-democratic and in parts right-wing extremist. However, with the rise of the AfD and the shift to the right of the Christian Democrats (CDU), it does not seem to be so clear anymore what the concept entails. One person responsible for that is Friedrich Merz, the CDU’s chancellor candidate. He proposed a five-point plan on migration policy, which passed the German Bundestag with the help of the AfD on 29th of January, causing a massive backlash and heavy discussions in the parliament as well as throughout Germany. But first things first.
Migration policy under discussion
Following the knife attack in Aschaffenburg one week before, where an Afghan asylum seeker killed a man and a two-year old child, the topic of migration had become even more the centre of attention in election campaigns than it already was. Merz, for example, emphasised the need to limit migration for the sake of the country’s security. His five-point plan is a declaration of intent and aims at tightening Germany’s migration and asylum policy. It states, for example, that border controls should be reintroduced to prevent irregular migration and family reunification should be limited. However, these plans are not in accordance with German or EU law, which does not seem to bother Merz much at the moment. Because it is “only” a declaration of intent, this document is not legally binding. Still, it shows the CDU’s ambitious plans in migration policy, which are dangerously close to some ideas of the AfD.
The vote in the Bundestag
On the 29th of January, the Bundestag voted on Merz’s five-point plan. Before the vote, he advocated for the motion saying that “a correct decision doesn’t lose its validity just because the wrong people support it” and that “it stays correct”. The plan got a narrow majority (348 in favour to 345 against and 10 abstentions), due to the AfD voting in favour of it. A member of the AfD parliamentary group expressed that “these are actually our demands on limiting migration, that is why we are voting in favour”. Therefore, the document got adopted only because of the AfD, with Merz knowingly accepting this. After the vote, he defended himself, stating that he was “not looking for any other majorities in this German Bundestag than those in the democratic centre of parliament” and that if there were any majorities like that, he regretted it.
Reactions to Merz’s behaviour
Merz’s acceptance of the AfD’s votes in order to get a majority sparked heavy criticism from various sides. At the same evening, hundreds gathered in front of the CDU’s party headquarters in Berlin, and in the following days throughout Germany, demonstrating against Merz, the CDU/CSU, the AfD and the stricter migration policy. Former German chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) even commented on these events, which she rarely does since her term of office ended. She called Merz’s behaviour to work with the AfD, thereby breaking a long-held taboo, “wrong”. Current chancellor Olaf Scholz from the Social Democrats (SPD) said that Merz made an “unforgivable mistake” and that his plans would break German and EU law. This would be something “no German chancellor would have ever done”. The chairman of the Greens Felix Banaszak said that now "the AfD can hardly believe their luck” because they have the CDU/CSU exactly where they want them to be. Robert Habeck, who is the Green’s chancellor candidate, expressed his doubts for a future coalition with the CDU. By breaking the firewall to the AfD, it has become “more complicated” to work with Merz.
Demonstration against the far-right on 1st of February 2025 in Aachen
By Grunpfnul - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=158975911
What does this mean for the federal election?
Despite demonstrations across Germany, the polls still show nearly unchanged support for CDU as well as for the AfD, with a slight increase for both of them. A large part of the population seems to consider Merz’s actions as not objectionable. This means that it is highly probable that Merz is going to be the next German chancellor in the upcoming elections in two weeks. However, his potential coalition partners (SPD and the Greens) are not on good terms with him at the moment. He lost their trust and it might become very difficult to form a government after the elections. The question remains whether he has completely misjudged the consequences of his actions and whether this was a one-off. The future will tell.
