🇩🇪 Germany – Tuesday, 22 September 2026
**CSU crack opens in AfD firewall debate**
CSU deputy leader Manfred Weber broke ranks, arguing Germany should stop treating the firewall as a slogan and start acting on it, a notable split a day after Merz vowed to maintain the line. AfD leader Alice Weidel separately demanded on ZDF that Merz "draw consequences" from Sunday's losses.
Previously:
CDU-Wahlfiasko: Merz stemmt sich gegen Sturz – Kursdebatte spitzt sich zu
CDU-Wahlfiasko: Merz stemmt sich gegen Sturz – Kursdebatte spitzt sich zu
Die CDU ringt nach deutlichen Niederlagen bei mehreren Landtagswahlen im September um ihren Kurs und
🇩🇪 Germany – Monday, 21 September 2026
**Merz survives crisis meeting, vows to press on**
After calling Sunday's results a "disaster" — CDU falling below 5% in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for the first time ever, and trailing Die Linke 25.7% to 18.8% in Berlin — Merz convened the full CDU presidium Sunday evening in Berlin. Most of the roughly 25 members left after two hours largely without comment; Merz secured no explicit ouster but also no strong public reaffirmation, and says he will keep pursuing his reform course while maintaining the firewall against the AfD, which took 38% in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
https://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/deutschland/innenpolitik/id_101444426/neues-wahl-debakel-fuer-die-cdu-kanzler-merz-will-kaempfen.html
Previously: View quoted note →
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