“Then the survival of the Union would be in question” – CDU veteran Lammert confirms firewall

Long-time CDU politician and former Bundestag President Norbert Lammert warns against shaking up the CDU's incompatibility decision with the Left Party and the AfD. This has “increased rather than decreased in relevance in the past few months,” said Lammert in an interview with “Zeit”.

“What happens if the CDU gives up a principle that it considers necessary in the matter, but no longer wants to adhere to for the sake of being able to gain a majority?” Lammert asked – and replied: “Then the survival of the Union would be in question.”

“At almost any other time in recent years it was more conceivable to give it up than now,” argued the CDU man. “Because the AfD has become more and more radical, and on the other side, on the left, in the capital Berlin of all places, there is a growing impression that abandoning the decision would be just as unconvincing.”

Votes for CDU proposals from the AfD or the Left Party do not yet constitute cooperation. However, he described the initiative by the then CDU top candidate Friedrich Merz before the federal election as an “ill-thought-out initiative because it was unnecessary and likely to cause irritation”.

In the past, the political system domesticated new parties, such as the Greens. However, the opposite can be observed with the AfD - instead it is becoming more and more radical and therefore more successful. But: “The fundamental willingness of the parties in the democratic center to form a coalition has never been as pronounced as it is now,” he said, referring to black-red and black-green state governments.

He does not see any means of exerting pressure through a red-red-green coalition option at the federal level in the left-wing party spectrum. This is a “ghost debate” because such an alliance could only come about under complicated conditions and possible demonstrative party departures.