For decades, Germany’s mainstream political parties have placed a firewall around the AfD (Alternative for Germany) and refused to work with or vote alongside the right-wing party.

‘We have a clear resolution in the CDU: no cooperation with the AfD or Die Linke,’ as Franziska Hoppermann, the new secretary general of Germany’s leading party, pointed out this week.

The Merkel-era firewall was supposed to deny the insurgent party legitimacy. Instead, the AfD is now regularly leading in the polls

The Merkel-era firewall was supposed to deny the insurgent party legitimacy. Instead, the AfD is now regularly leading in the polls

Yet with two weeks to go until the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, it seems the firewall has been seriously breached.

On Wednesday, it was revealed that a currently serving CDU official will not only vote for the AfD in the state elections, but has donated €10,000 to the party.

The AfD’s lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Siegmund, had previously said that a CDU official had donated to his election campaign. This week, Bernd Prange, a CDU politician and mayor, outed himself as the anonymous donor.

More damaging for the CDU was the letter Prange wrote explaining his decision. The 59-year-old said his decision to vote against his own party was born of ‘deep concern for our country’. After 35 years in the CDU, he no........

© The Spectator