"Speaking at a party event in Sauerland on Saturday, Christian Democrat (CDU) leader Chancellor Friedrich Merz again ruled out any possibility of working with the far-right AfD party in the foreseeable future. "There will be no cooperation with the AfD, at least not under me as party leader of the CDU Germany," Merz said. Other leading CDU politicians also supported Merz on the issue of maintaining the so-called firewall with the AfD. The CDU stands "for decency in political dealings and against hatred and incitement.""
"A 2025 analysis by journalism professor Thomas Hestermann for Mediendienst Integration reveals a stark overrepresentation of foreign suspects in German media coverage of violent crime. The study found that in television reports where the origin of suspects is mentioned, 94.6 percent involve foreigners, despite official police statistics showing that foreigners were suspects in only 34.3 percent of violent crimes. In print media, one-third of violent crime reports name the origins of the suspect or suspects, with 90.8 percent referring to non-German suspects."
Friedrich Merz ruled out any cooperation between the CDU and the far-right AfD while he remains party leader, insisting no collaboration will occur. Leading CDU figures backed maintaining the 2018 firewall, stating the CDU stands for decency and against hatred and incitement. Some politicians have called for revisiting the 2018 resolution because polls indicate the AfD could win in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and perform well elsewhere. A 2025 study by Thomas Hestermann for Mediendienst Integration found a stark overrepresentation of foreign suspects in German media coverage of violent crime, particularly on television and in print.
Read at www.thelocal.de
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