CDU leader Friedrich Merz warns against the rise of the AfD and presents new basic program

CDU leader Friedrich Merz has warned of a "decline of Germany" due to a further strengthening of the AfD. The party had already become stronger than many had initially believed, said Merz on Thursday evening in Chemnitz. However, he explained at a regional conference on his party's new basic program that the AfD was not an alternative for Germany, but rather meant economic and, above all, moral decline.

Merz also defended concepts such as homeland, guiding culture and patriotism in the new CDU program. He also warned that Germany must remain an industrialized country in order to maintain prosperity. With regard to the war in Ukraine, he warned that Germany's freedom was under threat from outside. It was illusory that a balance could be found with Putin's Russia through diplomacy alone. "If Russia lays down its arms today, the war will be over," said the CDU chairman. "If Ukraine lays down its arms, Ukraine will be over."

Migration policy is an important topic in the basic programme, emphasized Saxony's CDU state leader and Minister President Michael Kretschmer. He referred to the problems in 2015/2016 and spoke of a loss of control at the time. "We have learned from our mistakes," assured Kretschmer on behalf of his party. To this end, it is essential to reduce the number of "irregular migrants". The payment card for refugees is an important instrument.

The CDU's current programme dates back to 2007, which is why the party initiated a renewal of its basic programme after losing power in the 2021 federal elections. The 70-page draft is entitled "Living in freedom. Leading Germany safely into the future". In it, the CDU advocates, among other things, a commitment to a German "Leitkultur", the relocation of asylum procedures and nuclear power as an option in the power supply. A federal party conference is set to adopt the program in May.