Germany’s right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has thrown down the gauntlet, signaling it’s open to working with the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) amid growing internal rumblings from CDU ranks.
The AfD’s message? Drop the political cold shoulder and start treating us like a legitimate opposition party.
This overture follows recent comments from several CDU figures suggesting it might be time to revisit the party’s blanket refusal to cooperate with the AfD—a policy that’s been in place for years, mirroring the stance of leftist parties. Instead, the CDU has long opted to join forces with the Social Democrats to build fragile governing coalitions—often at the cost of alienating its conservative base.
Now, as voter confidence wanes and cracks form in the CDU’s leadership strategy, the AfD sees an opportunity.
“The exclusion of the AfD harms democracy—it doesn’t strengthen it,” the party wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on April 17, arguing that its continued isolation from mainstream politics undermines fair democratic representation. “More and more leading Christian Democrats are calling for what should be a given in any healthy democracy: treating us like any other opposition party.”
Positioning itself as a ready and willing partner, the AfD claimed that many of the CDU’s own campaign promises are dead in the water unless the party is willing to cross the aisle. “Anyone refusing to work with us is not just ignoring their own voters—they’re tossing away a real chance at meaningful change,” the statement added.
As Germany’s political center continues to wobble under the weight of voter discontent and rising populism, the once-taboo idea of AfD cooperation may soon be less unthinkable than it once was.
