CDU's Heuer defends photo with AfD candidate as Saxony-Anhalt election looms

A single snapshot from a pre-election forum in Halberstadt is dominating the start of the Saxony-Anhalt campaign. The photo, first published by the Ostdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, shows CDU parliamentary group leader Guido Heuer leaning towards AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund, both men holding the same microphone and appearing relaxed. The image quickly circulated on social media, prompting questions about the CDU's firewall against the far-right party.

What the picture shows

Taken on Thursday evening at a Wahlforum hosted by the Liberaler Mittelstand, the photograph captures Heuer resting an arm on Siegmund's shoulder as the two share a microphone. Siegmund, 24 years Heuer's junior, is visibly amused. Heuer told the Tagesspiegel that the seat next to Siegmund was the last available one and that he intervened when Siegmund made a false statement, grabbing the microphone. "That was confrontation, not chumminess," Heuer insisted to dpa.

Reactions from the CDU

Heuer repeated his account to several outlets. "We had two microphones and Mr Siegmund was stating false facts," he told the OAZ, calling the exchange "clear confrontation, no fraternisation." He also reiterated his dislike for the term "Brandmauer" (firewall), preferring the older CDU line of "Abgrenzen, aber nicht ausgrenzen" (distance but not ostracise). A coalition with the AfD or the Left Party, he said, remains ruled out.

Saxony-Anhalt's minister president and CDU lead candidate Sven Schulze downplayed the photo. "One shouldn't overrate it," he told dpa on Saturday before the CDU state party conference in Dessau. Heuer had merely reached for a microphone, Schulze said.

Schulze's election warning

Speaking at the Dessau conference, Schulze issued an indirect warning about a possible AfD electoral success in the 6 September poll. "We must remain connectable. I don't want my home, our home, your home to become an island, that nobody wants anything to do with us anymore," he said in a 47-minute speech. The task of the CDU, he argued, was to unite rather than divide, and the state needed to be open to the world while tackling problems together.

The party was expected to adopt its election programme later on Saturday. Schulze advocated for more practical learning days in schools, more business education at Gymnasien, and a leaner, faster public administration.

Polls and post-election scenarios

With the election less than three months away, the AfD holds around 40% in opinion polls, far ahead of the CDU's roughly 25%. The domestic intelligence agency has classed the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt as a "verified right-wing extremist endeavour" since 2023. Speculation about possible cooperation between the two parties after the vote persists, though Schulze has repeatedly ruled it out.

Heuer, while rejecting a coalition with either the AfD or the Left, said a CDU minority government is conceivable. "Everything else will be decided after the election," he told the Tagesspiegel. Siegmund, for his part, continues to attack the CDU and aims for an AfD single-party government. "We can't save our country with those who brought it into this situation," he posted on X.