Key facts
- Altmärkische Höhe Mayor Bernd Prange donated €10,000 to the AfD.
- Prange stated he wants the AfD to win the Saxony-Anhalt election and govern alone.
- He criticized CDU leader Friedrich Merz for abandoning the party's conservative core.
- Saxony-Anhalt CDU Premier Sven Schulze called Prange's approach "wrong" but deferred action until after the election.
- The AfD is leading in polls in Saxony-Anhalt, potentially enabling them to govern alone.
A €10,000 donation by Bernd Prange, a conservative mayor in Saxony-Anhalt, to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has put his own party, the Christian Democrats (CDU), in a difficult position ahead of state elections.
Prange, the mayor of Altmärkische Höhe, stated in an open letter that he intends to vote for the AfD in the September 6 election, expressing a desire for the party to become strong enough to govern alone. He also called for his own party to "wake up" and abandon its perceived shift to the left.
His actions have drawn criticism from within the CDU. Sven Schulze, the CDU Premier of Saxony-Anhalt, called Prange's approach "wrong" but indicated that the party would address the issue after the election, citing the ongoing campaign period. Schulze also dismissed speculation about potential defections from the CDU to the AfD.
Prange has also voiced criticism of CDU leader Friedrich Merz, accusing him of leading a party that is "giving up the conservative core of the Union." This episode occurs at a critical juncture for Merz, who is attempting to maintain a "firewall" against cooperation with the far-right amid rising AfD support in eastern Germany.
The AfD is currently polling between 41 and 43 percent in Saxony-Anhalt, significantly ahead of the CDU's 22 to 24 percent. This strong polling places the AfD close to achieving a majority on its own. Merz has consistently ruled out cooperation with the AfD, but the upcoming elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Berlin, and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are expected to intensify pressure on this stance.