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Only 40% of Germans still oppose the CDU or CSU cooperating in parliament with Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) when both parties share similar policy positions. Meanwhile, 32% are already in favor of allowing such cooperation, and 13% say they are indifferent.
The figures come from a recent survey by the INSA institute and reflect a clear shift in German public opinion. For years, the country’s politics have been dominated by the concept of the Brandmauer, the “firewall” that traditional parties erected to prevent any form of cooperation with AfD.
This cordon sanitaire became one of the pillars of the German political system following the right-wing populist party’s electoral breakthrough. However, the data shows that the social consensus sustaining that wall is beginning to weaken.
The change is particularly visible in the eastern part of the country. In eastern states, 39% of respondents consider it acceptable for the CDU to cooperate with the AfD if there is programmatic alignment, compared with 34% who oppose it. Another 13% say the issue does not matter to them.
In western Germany the situation remains different, although a shift is also noticeable. There, 42% reject any cooperation with AfD, while 31% would be willing to accept it under certain circumstances. Even so, the fact that one in three voters now considers this possibility would have been difficult to imagine just a few years ago.
Differences also appear when analyzing voters’ opinions according to party affiliation. Among AfD supporters, 68% back breaking the cordon sanitaire. But the debate is also present in other electorates.
Among voters of the Liberal Party (FDP), 49% would view allowing parliamentary majorities with AfD favorably if both parties agree on certain policies. Among supporters of the BSW movement, 33% support this possibility compared with 26% who oppose it.The CDU and CSU electorate is also divided on the issue: 35% would accept parliamentary cooperation in certain cases, although 46% still reject it.
The strongest rejection is concentrated among voters of the Greens and the Social Democratic Party, where nearly seven out of ten supporters oppose any form of cooperation.
The idea of any political collaboration with AfD has been presented since the party’s founding as an uncrossable line within the German democratic system.
However, the party’s electoral growth and its consolidation as one of the main political forces in several regions have gradually altered that balance. As the AfD increases its parliamentary representation—especially in the eastern part of the country—the contrast between its electoral weight and its political exclusion becomes increasingly evident —and increasingly difficult for the establishment to sustain.
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