German chancellor frontrunner Merz warns US administration against election interference
BERLIN
Leading German chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz on Sunday strongly criticized US Vice President JD Vance for expressing support for the far-right AfD party ahead of the Feb. 23 parliamentary elections.
During a heated chancellor candidates’ debate on TV, opposition leader Friedrich Merz reiterated that his Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) will not cooperate or enter into coalition talks with the AfD after the elections.
“I will not let US Vice President tell me who I have to talk to here in Germany. I accepted the results of the US elections held on Nov. 8 last year, and I expect the American government to do the same in return,” he said.
US Vice President JD Vance sparked controversy on Friday when, in a speech at the Munich Security Conference, he criticized European governments and political parties for taking a stance against right-wing populist parties, excluding them from political processes.
Following his speech, Vance met with AfD (Alternative for Germany) Co-Chair Alice Weidel in Munich, indicating support just a week before Germany’s parliamentary elections on Feb. 23, in a breach of diplomatic norms.
Conference organizers did not invite Weidel due to her party’s anti-democratic positions.
Recent polls show Merz’s center-right CDU/CSU alliance leading with 30%, though unable to secure an outright majority in parliament. Analysts expect him to seek a coalition with either the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) or the Greens to form a government.
Chancellor Scholz’s SPD currently stands at 16%, with the Greens at 14%. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is positioned to become parliament’s second-largest party at 20%. However, the AfD appears unlikely to be part of any coalition government, as all other parties have rejected working with the far-right group.
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