One day before the Brandenburg election, CDU leader Friedrich Merz once again emphasized the differences between his party and the AfD. “It contradicts everything that makes up the core and soul of our party,” said the designated Union candidate for chancellor at the end of the CDU’s election campaign in Potsdam. “Yes, we want to limit the number of refugees and asylum seekers, but we are not doing this with a xenophobic undertone.” Merz added: “We are and we must remain so: a foreigner-friendly country.”
The CDU is patriotic, but not nationalistic. “The difference between patriots who love their country and nationalists is very simple: We love our country. Nationalists hate everyone else,” said Merz. He does not want a general mood to emerge that rejects and excludes all people with a migration background living in Germany. “We need these people.” They are welcome in Germany – especially if they are integrated here, work and participate.
The election on Sunday is about whether there will be a government in the political center in Brandenburg in the future. Many people shared the impression that there is a chance “to show now that governments can be formed in the democratic center, without those who call themselves AfD or BSW,” said Merz.
In the last polls before the election, the CDU came in at 14 to 16 percent, well behind the AfD and SPD – and just ahead of the Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) coalition. Around 2.1 million Brandenburg residents are called to vote on Sunday.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240921-930-239286/1
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