CDU-CSU Could Only Form Coalition with Compromises, Says Former Ambassador

According to Gergely Prőhle, even if the CDU-CSU union parties (Christian Democratic Union of Germany and Christian Social Union in Bavaria) win the German federal elections on Sunday, they can only form a coalition that requires major compromises. The former ambassador to Berlin spoke about this on the program 48 minutes on M1 news channel on Thursday.

Gergely Prőhle, director of the John Lukacs Institute for Programs at the Eötvös József Research Center of the National University of Public Service, said German voters think there should be a CDU-SPD (Christian Democratic Union of Germany and Social Democratic Party of Germany) grand coalition, but preferably with an AfD (Alternative for Germany) program, which is nearly impossible and will not work. He added that

it makes no difference whether the AfD gets 19% or 21%, the other parties will keep it behind a political firewall, hence the intractability of the situation in Germany.

He explained that after World War II, West Germany had been “brainwashed”, justified by Nazi Germany. That this brainwashing was “too successful” was the responsibility of the United States, he added. Thus, the basic question in the German election is ‘are you a Nazi’; if one answers that question correctly, one is OK, if one is unsure, there are problems; hence the firewall about the AfD. Gergely Prőhle explained that American ideological influence has led to lower AfD support in West Germany. In the East, there has been “a different kind of brainwashing,” where it is assumed that nobody is a Nazi, which is why the party is so much more popular in the eastern provinces.

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Fact

Early elections will be held in Germany on February 23. Media outlets are predicting the CDU-CSU to secure first place, with AfD in second place and the SPD third.

On November 6, 2024, Olaf Scholz, the incumbent chancellor of Germany, announced the dismissal of Christian Lindner, the then-finance minister and leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), from his cabinet. This occurred following disputes in the three-party coalition government over the country’s economic policies and ongoing tensions within the coalition. In response, the FDP moved into the opposition, and the governing coalition collapsed, leaving a two-party minority government of SPD and The Greens. On December 16, 2024, Scholz called a vote of confidence in the ruling government, which was lost. After that, early elections were announced.

The secret of the AfD, according to the former ambassador, is that it is quarantined.

They also have an anti-elite element; in the eastern provinces German reunification is perceived as an occupation by the West, and the AfD deliberately plays on this, he emphasized.

He said the AfD’s program is mixed: it was founded by conservative professors to save the German economy, but now it has a more pro-market agenda. They believe that more referendums are needed, which suggests a plebeian policy but is difficult to implement in Germany. They also use the slogan of a Europe of nations and refer to the principle of subsidiarity, which should be better enforced under the Maastricht Treaty. Asked whether Germany had lost its leadership, Gergely Prőhle said “yes, but others have not gained it.”

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