Following the election results in Saxony-Anhalt, CDU State Premier Boris Rhein has publicly argued for abandoning the concept of the “firewall” when referring to the AfD party. He stated that this particular terminology is “not Christian democratic.” Rhein suggested that many AfD voters are simply insecure, suffering from fears of economic decline, which could even be exacerbated by an excessively rapid pace of reform. Therefore, he argued, the party might even need to “slow down the pace” and focus initially only on the most critical reform elements.
Speaking to the German publication “Welt”, Rhein called the outcome of the Saxony-Anhalt election “the last warning shot.” His firm belief is that the party must adopt a stance of open dialogue, addressing all issues and building “bridges to the center” instead of pushing people behind “firewalls,” which he deemed “the wrong path.” While the “firewall” has traditionally served as a way for the CDU to delineate that it would not form a coalition with the AfD-since no “decent Christian democrat” would do so due to concerns over Russia, Europe, and other matters-Rhein acknowledged that the AfD’s voters have experienced a loss of trust and confidence. These voters, he noted, also harbor fears of social decline, which require adequate attention. He stressed that this attention cannot be achieved by rolling out reforms one after another, making the public feel threatened by the changes.
Rhein believes the party must now work to regain the trust of AfD voters-a trust he feels was carelessly squandered. He regretted that they had given up too early on engaging certain individuals, even when those individuals might present “sometimes strange views.” He insists they must listen to everything and debate all topics thoroughly, adding that it might even be true that someone with an “odd opinion might be right,” and that the party could learn from such insights.
He criticized the use of the “firewall” metaphor, saying, “What kind of attitude is it to leave people behind a fire wall? Well, it’s burning-and we don’t bring the people out from behind the fire wall? That is not Christian democratic.” For him, the Christian democratic approach is to pull these individuals out and build bridges toward the center.
According to Rhein, to successfully win people back and avoid further overloading them, there must be a focused effort on the truly essential reforms. While he acknowledges that there are numerous issues on the table-such as the statutory health insurance, elderly care, and pensions-he thinks the party has “too many balls in the air.” While reforming is necessary, he cautioned that reforms should not be an end in themselves, stating, “We might have to slow down.” He prioritized policies that foster growth, insisting that the focus must be on lowering taxes, reducing bureaucracy, and making energy more affordable.
Rhein has confidence that Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) can moderate these efforts. Although he conceded that Merz shares some blame for the negative reaction in Saxony-Anhalt, he emphasized that a personnel debate is unnecessary right now. He argued that they should not be debating organizational structure; there is a Chancellor who was elected for four years and a Bundestag elected for four years. The current priority must be to debate the party’s core themes, figure out how to attract people back, build “bridges to the center,” and inspire the middle ground, as staffing issues are not the decisive concerns at this moment.
