Kretschmer: 'Whoever still talks about firewalls has not recognized the signs of the times'

A direct challenge to the firewall

Saxony's Minister-President Michael Kretschmer has openly questioned the CDU's long-standing "Brandmauer" policy of refusing cooperation with the AfD and the Left Party. In an interview with Handelsblatt published on 22 July 2026, the deputy federal CDU chairman said the political arithmetic in eastern Germany made such firewalls obsolete. "Whoever still talks about firewalls has not recognized the signs of the times. We must talk to everyone who wants to talk," Kretschmer said. His remarks come just weeks before state elections in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where polls suggest that forming a stable government without the Left Party may be impossible if the AfD is excluded.

Whoever still talks about firewalls has not recognized the signs of the times. We must talk to everyone who wants to talk.

Merz holds the line

Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who also leads the CDU, reiterated the party's official stance at his summer press conference in mid-July. "We have clear party conference resolutions, and I have no reason to doubt that we will adhere to them," Merz said, referring to the firewall against both the AfD and the Left. However, when asked what would happen if a majority beyond the AfD could not be assembled without the Left, Merz declined to answer. That scenario is now considered very likely in both Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where voters go to the polls in September 2026.

We have clear party conference resolutions, and I have no reason to doubt that we will adhere to them.

The eastern arithmetic

Kretschmer's intervention is rooted in his own experience governing Saxony with a minority cabinet. Together with Thuringia's CDU Minister-President Mario Voigt, he operates without a formal coalition majority. In Dresden, Kretschmer has established a "consultation mechanism" open to all parliamentary factions. Almost all factions want to participate, he observed, but the AfD opts out and acts as a destructive permanent performer. "The AfD is the only faction that said from the outset: we will not participate," he noted. "A party like the AfD harms the country." The AfD, he argued, is betting on the government's failure rather than engaging constructively.

A party like the AfD harms the country.

Criticism of Berlin's economic course

Beyond the firewall debate, Kretschmer delivered a sharp critique of the federal government's economic policy. He described the country's trajectory as "catastrophic" and said the reform package of the black-red coalition was good but insufficient. The package, he suggested, relies too heavily on cuts, bureaucracy, and what he called passive consolidation, which looks more like administrative routine in idle than a growth boost. "Cutting social spending will not put Germany on a growth path," he said. "Passive consolidation does not lead to growth." Kretschmer called for less regulation, warning that tradespeople and the self-employed are "incredibly frustrated because bureaucracy and levies are crushing them." He urged the federal government to accelerate reforms: "The federal government must finally pick up speed. Otherwise I see black for the next federal election." The interview was conducted before Jens Spahn resigned as Union parliamentary group leader; Kretschmer declined to comment on that development afterwards.

The federal government must finally pick up speed. Otherwise I see black for the next federal election.