Dutch expert on far-right extremism, Cas Mudde, has issued a warning that Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s (CDU) political approach risks empowering the AfD. Speaking to the “Tagesspiegel”, Mudde stated that Merz strengthens the party at the federal level by partially adopting its themes and arguments.
The Dutch academic identified three specific consequences of this strategy. Firstly, the Chancellor thereby validates the AfD’s theses. Secondly, he raises the profile of their core issues. Thirdly, he makes it easier for voters to support the AfD because its demands no longer appear overtly extreme but instead seem “entirely normal”.
Mudde also believes that the strategy of the “firewall” is “doomed to failure” unless it forms part of a broader approach. According to the native Dutch professor who teaches at the University of Georgia in the US, extreme right-wing politics is a symptom, not the cause, of the democratic crisis. While efforts can be made to exclude the right-wing parties that are gaining strength when a large part of the population is unhappy with the political system, “if you remove the public’s outlet, you don’t change their dissatisfaction”.
When addressing the suggestion made by former SPD Minister-President Torsten Albig that his party should collaborate with the AfD, Mudde offered a nuanced evaluation. He argued that democratic parties should not restrict themselves to a “black-and-white solution: complete exclusion or full normalization”. Instead, they must consider under what conditions they could cooperate with the AfD. According to Mudde, any such cooperation “must always happen on their own terms-based on liberal democracy”.
