Germany news: Merz stresses CDU's rejection of far-right AfD

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has once more vowed that his conservative CDU/CSU alliance would distance itself "clearly and explicitly" from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) ahead of five state elections next year.

"We will now also be very clear and very explicit about where the AfD stands in terms of content, and we will distance ourselves from them very clearly and explicitly," he said after a party conference in Berlin.

He also once more stressed that his party would not cooperate with the AfD — under the so-called firewall — despite the far-right party's strong presence in both the federal and some state legislatures, which would facilitate the passing of some bills put forward by mainstream parties.

"This party has declared its intention to destroy the CDU. It wants a different country," Merz said.

"It is not just details that separate us. We are separated from the AfD by fundamental issues and fundamental political convictions," he added.

Referring to the AfD's regular offers to cooperate, Merz said "the hand that the AfD repeatedly extends is in reality a hand that wants to destroy us."

The AfD received a record 20.8% of the vote at February general elections and is polling at around 40% in the two former communist East German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Some of its branches have been declared right-wing extremist by German intelligence services, while a move to reclassify the whole AfD as such is currently on hold pending a court decision on a lawsuit brought by the party. 

State elections will be held in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Baden-Württtemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Berlin in 2026.

The leader of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), Markus Söder, has rejected any form of cooperation with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

In remarks that echo recent comments by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, with whose Christian Democrats (CDU) his party forms a conservative alliance known in Germany as the "Union," Söder said it was "very clear that the AfD is not any old rival but an enemy of the system."

"I do not want the Union to be the stirrup holders for the AfD's climb to power under any circumstances," Söder said after a meeting of his party's executive board in the Bavarian capital, Munich.

He warned that the AfD wanted to take the place of the CDU/CSU bloc.

"Anyone who thinks they can work together with the AfD in any form is mistaken," he said.

Söder went on to days that the conservative bloc was "a bastion to strengthen and save democracy."

His and Merz's remarks come after some conservative politicians called on the CDU/CSU to abandon the so-called firewall against the AfD.

Following a two-day meeting of his Christian Democrats (CDU) to discuss its strategy toward the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Chancellor Friedrich Merz has stressed that the political center as represented by his government is capable of dealing with weighty issues at home and abroad.

When asked by DW's chief political editor Michaela Küfner how he would define his personal role regarding the far-right AfD, he said: "I define my role as I have always said. I am the chancellor of a federal government of the political center, and we will show that this political center can solve problems in Germany and that it also contributes to solving problems together in Europe that concern us in Europe and around the world:"

Mentioning "serious" problems such as American trade policy, the war in Ukraine, and "the authoritarian leadership of the People’s Republic of China," Merz said his government was "determined to resolve these issues in the interests of our country."

You can watch a video of his response here.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has proposed that US President Donald Trump be made an honorary citizen of the Bad Dürkheim district in southwestern Germany, from where his grandparents emigrated to New York in the late 19th century.

"The reason for our motion in the district council is that Donald Trump has brought peace to the Israel-Gaza conflict and ensured the release of the Israeli and eight German hostages," local AfD group leader Thomas Stephan told the DPA news agency.

The district council has confirmed receipt of the proposal, which it will discuss at an October 29 meeting.

However, the district administrator, Hans-Ulrich Ihlenfeld, from Chancellor Merz's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), said he felt it was unlikely that the proposal would gain a majority.

"Regardless of whether one would even want an honorary citizen Donald Trump, the question of honorary citizenship and the possible criteria for it must be discussed thoroughly in the district committees," he told DPA.

Trump's family traces its roots to Kallstadt, a small wine-growing village that is part of Bad Dürkheim in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

 

A controversial remark by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in which he seemed to many to suggest that migrants and refugees had a negative impact on German "cityscapes," has received the backing of his conservative ally, Christian Social Union (CSU) leader Markus Söder.

"Of course Merz is right," Söder said on Monday, saying that despite a drop in asylum applications at Germany's borders, there were "still challenges in our inner cities — at main railway stations, public swimming pools, several marketplaces."

For this reason, Söder said, it was right to have a migration policy that aimed to send people who had no "temporary toleration" status or residency permit back to their home countries.

The comment by Merz last week — that despite the drop in refugee numbers "we still have this problem in the cityscape, and that is why the interior minister is working to carry out large-scale deportations" — drew widespread criticism both from leftist opposition parties and coalition partner the center-left Social Democrats (SPD).
 

The co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) Alice Weidel has voiced her support for an upcoming summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest.

"There is no better place in the world than Budapest to talk about how peace in Europe can be created and a renewed division of our continent can be prevented and overcome," Weidel said in a speech in the Hungarian capital.

If a meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest happens "very soon," this would be "the best proof that Hungary is on the right path," Weidel said.

Unlike the rest of the European Union, Budapest under long-time prime minister Viktor Orban, has maintained cordial ties with Moscow and questioned Western support for Kyiv.

The latest Trump-Putin summit in August in Alaska, held under the slogan "Pursuing Peace" failed to achieve a major breakthrough.

Germany's federal drug commissioner, Hendrik Streeck of the Christian Democrats (CDU), has called for a return to stricter cannabis regulations, warning of abuse and health risks among young people.

To curb misuse, Streeck told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the government should consider allowing medical cannabis only in the form of drops or capsules rather than for smoking. He said the CDU would roll back parts of the cannabis legalization enacted by the current coalition.

"I am quite sure that the CDU will reopen the cannabis law," Streeck said, arguing that the partial legalization ignores evidence that people under 25 can suffer long-term psychological effects.

He also criticized the legal possession limit of 25 grams as far too high, noting it exceeds allowances in other EU countries.

Germany's last "traffic light" coalition government legalized limited possession and home cultivation of cannabis on April 1 last year, with strict restrictions remaining in place.

Rheinmetall, Germany's largest weapons manufacturer, has said it will receive €3 billion ($3.5 billion) as part of a deal concluded with Artec, the company's joint venture with French-German tank maker KNDS.

The order for 222 Jackal wheeled infantry vehicles, destined for the armed forces of Germany and the Netherlands, is worth €3.4 billion, meaning that Rheinmetall will take the lion's share.

The contract includes a logistics package with spare parts, training equipment and special tools. There is also an option for up to 248 additional vehicles. 

An initial 150 units will go to the German armed forces.

Monday's news prompted a sharp rise in the value of Rheinmetall shares.

Europe's defense industry has seen a massive increase in orders against the background of the security threat posed by Russian aggression.

Companies in Germany have hired about 325,000 people over the past three years to cope with growing bureaucratic demands, such as those deriving from the EU's data protection regulations, a study has shown.

The study by the Nuremberg-based Institute for Employment Research (IAB) said that many more companies were rating their administrative burden as "very high" in 2025 than in 2022, with a jump to 14% from 4% three years ago.

The most frequent source of added administrative tasks cited by the nearly 10,000 companies in the study were rules from the EU's General Data Protection Regulation.  
 
Around 30% of large firms with at least 250 employees and 30% of medium-sized companies with 50 to 249 employees said they had taken on more administrative staff since 2022.

Just 16% of smaller firms with 10 to 49 employees and 7% of microenterprises with fewer than 10 workers reported doing so.
 

Germany is relying increasingly on China for its supply of key ingredients used in medications, opening the possibility of disruptions if Beijing moves to exploit the dependency to gain political leverage, a pharma lobby group said in a report issued on Monday.

The report from German generics association Pro Generika warned that China might use its dominant position as a major supplier of raw materials for pharmaceuticals in the same way as it has done with rare earths in trade disputes with the US.

If the delivery of active ingredients for generic medicines were to be interrupted, Germany would suffer major shortages in the drugs sector, the report said.

Antibiotics, diabetes drugs and pain medications would be most affected, according to the group.

Pro Generika managing director Bork Bretthauer urged the government to act to reduce dependency on China.

"Policymakers must not allow us to end up in the same position as we did with Russian gas," he said.

The report was authored by experts from the German Economic Institute (IW) and the EU.

Pro Generika represents the interests of generic drug producers, who make cheaper versions of off-patent medicines.
 

The 83-year-old German film director Werner Herzog has said he would like to travel into space and even make Mars the backdrop for a film, while acknowledging that the Red Planet might be an "uncomfortable" place to work and that his age could be a hindrance.

"A trip to Mars is technically difficult, time-consuming and actually rather pointless," Herzog told DPA, but said "yes" when he was asked if he would still like to do it.

He said, however, that he had twice applied to go on space flights but had been rejected.

"I'm simply too old," he said. "Let's face it."

For his dozens of films, which include many documentaries, he has often traveled to remote locations, such as Antarctica for "Encounters at the End of the World" (2007).

Among his most noted works are "Fitzcarraldo" and "Grizzly Man."

His new film, "Ghost Elephants," follows South African biologist Steve Boyes in a search for a possibly undiscovered species of elephant in Angola.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius plans to order 15 F-35 fighter jets from US manufacturer Lockheed Martin in addition to the 35 that have already been requested, the news magazine Spiegel has reported.

The jets are intended to replace Germany's 85 aging Tornado fighters and like these could carry US nuclear bombs stored in Germany if a conflict broke out.

The additional aircraft are expected to cost some €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion), a source told Reuters news agency, citing confidential documents prepared for parliament's budget committee.

The news comes as Germany significantly expands its defense budget in response to the threat of Russian aggression.

The DW newsroom in Bonn wishes all readers a schönen guten Tag!

In another sign of the changing security situation in Europe against the backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Germany is reportedly planning to order more US-made F-35 fighter jets from its expanded military budget.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has been classified as partly right-wing extremist, has made news with its proposal to make US President Donald Trump an honorary citizen of the district of Bad Dürkheim, the birthplace of his grandparents.

And the leadership of the conservativeChristian Democrats (CDU) of Chancellor Friedrich Merz will wrap up a meeting that centered on the party's approach to the AfD amid calls from some members to drop a ban on cooperating with the populists.

We hope you enjoy reading our summary of the talk of the town in Germany on Monday, October 20.