Video of CDU-AfD exchange emerges in Saxony-Anhalt as row over photo tests firewall taboo
A 27-second clip shows CDU faction leader Guido Heuer and AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund in a jocular exchange at a campaign forum, deepening a dispute that started with a single photograph.
A brief video published on 14 June 2026 has intensified a political row in Saxony-Anhalt, where a photograph of CDU parliamentary leader Guido Heuer and AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund had already triggered national debate about the conservative party's firewall against the far right.
The image and the clip
A photo taken during a campaign forum in Halberstadt showed the two men side by side, both holding a microphone and appearing cheerful. The picture, first published by the Ostdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, was widely seen as evidence of undue closeness between the CDU and a party that other mainstream forces shun.
Days later, YouTuber Kolja Barghoorn released a 27-second video of the moment. In the footage Siegmund places a hand on Heuer's shoulder and quips that one could think the CDU "had never had anything to do with government." Heuer replies "I've never sat in the Bundestag," takes Siegmund's microphone, and the two laugh together. They then joke about an unused "old-party microphone." The clip shows no sign of a heated confrontation.
Heuer's defence
Heuer has insisted the encounter was adversarial. "It was more confrontation, not fraternisation," he told dpa, explaining that he had seized the microphone to correct a false claim by Siegmund. A CDU parliamentary spokeswoman said the whole evening was dominated by substantive debate, though the published footage does not capture such exchanges.
It was more confrontation, not fraternisation.
Reactions from other camps
BSW lead candidate Claudia Wittig criticised the fixation on symbols.
What bothers me about this debate is not the photo, but that we are again arguing about firewalls and political symbolism instead of the problems of our country.
Minister-President Sven Schulze (CDU) downplayed the picture, telling dpa:
He noted that Heuer had merely reached for a microphone.One shouldn't overstate the photo.
Election arithmetic and coalition talk
The state election is set for 6 September 2026. Current polls place the AfD at around 40 percent, well ahead of the CDU at about 25 percent, making a continuation of the existing CDU-SPD-FDP Germany coalition numerically unlikely. Heuer told Magdeburger Volksstimme that a minority government should not be taboo.
AfD candidate Siegmund, who aims for a single-party AfD government, posted on X: "We cannot save our country with those who brought it into this situation."A minority government cannot be a taboo.
- AfD
- 40 %
- CDU
- 25 %
The power of a single frame
The episode echoes past campaigns where a fleeting image reshaped political fortunes. The photo and video have reopened the debate over how strictly the CDU should enforce its refusal to cooperate with the AfD, even as the parties' local representatives interact in parliamentary routines. Heuer himself told regional television that he sees nothing wrong with maintaining normal political dealings: "We are in the political business, and I don't think parliamentary customs should be set aside because of some firewalls."
