Appearance in front of young party members: Merz warns the SPD and the Greens against talks with the Left

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has urgently warned the SPD and the Greens against collaborating with the Left in Berlin. “Anyone who wants to strengthen the political center must not have conversations with left-wing radicals,” shouted Merz to applause from delegates at the Junge Union’s Germany Day in Bonn. “Stop going down this path.”

The CDU leader said the Union would fight against the Left. “We stand up against anyone who questions Israel’s right to exist,” said Merz. Anti-Semitism has no place in Germany.

The CDU must reinvent itself in order to remain a strong people's party. “Germany will continue to need us in the future, but we have to justify it anew,” he said, referring to the Union’s declining poll numbers. The substance in Germany remains “as strong as ever”. He wants future generations to also be proud of Germany.

Merz has significantly lost authority in his party, especially due to the CDU's series of defeats in the state elections in September and poor poll numbers. In contrast to the JU's Germany Day last year, this time he received repeated applause from the party youth of the CDU and CSU.