Angela Merkel blasts own party amid uproar over vote with far right
The move has plunged Germany even deeper into political turmoil, just weeks before national elections.
In a statement released by her office, Merkel - who led Germany between 2005 and 2021 - slammed the decision "to enable a majority with the votes of the AfD for the first time in a vote in the German Bundestag," the country's lower house of parliament.
After the breakdown of centre-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-party coalition in November, CDU leader Friedrich Merz made a commitment to avoid passing measures with the help of the AfD, Merkel recalled.
"This proposal and the attitude associated with it were an expression of great national political responsibility, which I fully support," the former chancellor said.
Taboo broken
Migration has become the dominant theme in the German election campaign ahead of the vote on February 23 after a string of attacks attributed to suspects with migrant backgrounds.
On Wednesday, the CDU relied on support from the AfD to narrowly pass its non-binding five-point plan for a tougher migration policy through the Bundestag.
The move was extremely controversial, marking the first time the AfD have been relied upon to form a majority for a vote in the lower house.
Another vote on a CDU-backed package of migration policies is expected in parliament on Friday with concrete measures aimed at cracking down on asylum seekers entering the country.
The AfD and two minor opposition parties have signalled they will support the bill.
Vote stirs outrage
Wednesday's vote was widely seen as a major crack in the firewall mainstream German parties have maintained against the AfD, and was met with protests and sharp criticism from many.
A survivor of the Nazi's Auschwitz extermination camp, Eva Umlauf, penned an open letter to Merz that was published by the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in which she implored the conservative leader to reverse course.
"Don't underestimate the right-wing extremists. Turn back on the path you took on Wednesday. Approach the other democratic parties, find compromises," wrote the 82-year-old Umlauf.
Another German Holocaust survivor, 99-year-old Albrecht Weinberg, vowed on Thursday to return the Federal Order of Merit medal he'd been awarded out of disgust.
Hundreds of German celebrities and film stars signed another open letter published in the German edition of Vogue magazine denouncing the vote as a "historic breach of a taboo."
"You are threatening to undermine fundamental rights with the help of right-wing extremists and are thus helping the AfD to gain influence and power," said the letter, which was addressed to the CDU and other mainstream parties that backed the motion.
Hungary's right-wing populist leader, Viktor Orbán, expressed his pleasure at the vote in a post on X. Orbán's government has faced repeated criticism over its harsh treatment of migrants.
"Good morning, Germany," Orbán wrote in German. He added in English, "Welcome to the club!"
Political showdown looms on Friday
Merz has so far vowed to put a package of asylum and migration legislation to a vote on Friday, and appears set to again pass the measures thanks to support from the AfD.
Scholz, whose key rival in the upcoming election is Merz, complained on ARD television that the CDU/CSU had broken with the consensus "that there is no cooperation between the democratic parties and the extreme right."
Merz has denied that the vote amounted to cooperation, and his party has repeatedly demanded that Scholz's centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) or the Greens, who are currently in a minority government, back their measures as well so that the votes of AfD lawmakers aren't decisive.
Merz told the Bild tabloid that he hopes "that the Greens and SPD will return to their senses" and support his hard-line migration proposals on Friday.
However, there were also louder warnings within the CDU not to accept the AfD's approval once again. Berlin Mayor Kai Wegener, for example, announced that Berlin would never support any law passed thanks to AfD votes with the city's seat on the Bundesrat, as the upper chamber of parliament is known.
Merkel rebuke a setback in campaign
The CDU's Merkel is sometimes viewed as a controversial figure within her own party, with many more conservative members staunch opponents of the open-door migration policy Merkel embraced in 2015.
But Merkel nonetheless remains the party's best-known figure, and during her career proved highly adept as winning over centrist and even left-leaning voters.
Merkel and Merz have long been rivals, and Merz withdrew from politics after Merkel pushed him aside from party leadership posts in the early 2000s. He returned to politics in 2018 and only claimed party leadership after Merkel's retirement in 2021.
The CDU's General Secretary Carsten Linnemann told the Rheinische Post newspaper that the party "values Angela Merkel and know her views on migration policy."
However, those who are in charge today must also react to the security situation and the "terrible events in Magdeburg and Aschaffenburg," referring to recent deadly attacks in which migrants are the suspected culprits.
Jubilant AfD expect 'newage' in Germany politics
The sour mood in the CDU stood in sharp contrast on Thursday to the AfD, whose co-leader said the motion could bring a "new age" in German politics.
Tino Chrupalla told the rbb radio station that Germany expects a "shift in politics and migration," pointing to polls placing the AfD in second place on more than 20% of the vote.
He said 250,000 people are obliged to leave the country and should be taken into "protective custody," a Nazi-era term for rounding up political opponents without trial, before being deported.
Alice Weidel, the AfD's top candidate for the upcoming election, told dpa on Thursday that she was not surprised Merkel "is taking a swipe at her successor," and once again attacked Merkel's record on asylum and immigration.
Merkel had "initiated the loss of control at the borders in 2015 and wants nothing to change in this situation," Weidel said, accusing Merkel of making further contributions to "the dissolution of the once-proud conservative people's party."
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