The Greens and the Left Party have strongly criticized the statements made by Saxon Minister-President Michael Kretschmer regarding how to deal with the AfD party.
Irene Mihalic, one of the Green party’s first Parliamentary Secretaries, told the news portal T-Online that Kretschmer was demonstrating a lack of awareness regarding the times when he commented on the “brand wall” (the policy of keeping distance from extremists). She criticized Kretschmer for suggesting that people who intend to harm the country should not be spoken to. However, Mihalic clarified that the issue of the brand wall is not about preventing polite exchanges; rather, it is about clearly opposing any form of collaboration with the AfD. According to Mihalic, the AfD aims for a fundamentally different state, society, and constitutional order-one that she represents as moving toward autocracy, disregarding human rights, persecuting political opponents, and maintaining vassal-like proximity to the Putin regime.
Kretschmer had argued that given the political majority composition in Eastern Germany, there was a willingness to engage in conversations even with the AfD. He told the Handelsblatt: “Whoever is still talking about brand walls has not recognized the signs of the times. We must talk to everyone who wants to talk.”
The Left Party also reacted vehemently. Luigi Pantisano, the co-chairman, told T-Online that the CDU’s strategy to weaken the AfD through rapprochement had failed dramatically. Instead, he argued that every small concession the CDU made to the AfD only brought it additional votes. He accused Merz of wanting to halve the AfD but instead doubling it, adding that the CDU’s austerity policies harming working people further contributed to the public becoming completely fed up.
Pantisano continued by stating, “The CDU is heading toward the abyss, and Kretschmer is accelerating that slide.” He stressed that allowing the AfD proximity to the levers of power is profoundly irresponsible. The party would utilize every ounce of influence to oppose everyone who dislikes them. He added a crucial warning often overlooked: “The AfD is the sharpest enemy of working people. The AfD rejects minimum wage, the right to strike, and workplace co-determination. When the AfD speaks of freedom, it means the big corporations, not the working majority.”
