“The merging of the CDU and AfD marks a turning point”

The Berlin Academy of the Arts has sharply criticized the CDU’s first coordination under Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz with the AfD.

Mying together with a right-wing extremist party mark a turnaround in the time: With the adoption of the migration decision on Wednesday, the Union “through a central line of democratic hygiene: the clear demarcation of extremist parties”, academy president Manos Tsangaris and Vice President Anh-Linh NGO write in a statement published on Friday afternoon.

Anyone who, like the CDU, views the cooperation with right -wing extremists as a legitimate means, “commits a breach of taboo that leads to the creeping erosion of democratic norms and the normalization of right -wing extremist thinking,” it continues.

Tsangaris and NGO explain that political taboos are not formal agreements, but an expression of historical responsibility. They refer to the teaching from German history “that democracies are not threatened by external attacks, but above all by internal hollowing”.

Artists in particular know about the effectiveness of taboo breaks, which are often used in art to postpone debates and challenge conventions. While such crossing border can create knowledge in art, the taboo break in politics “authoritarian forces” open the way.

The two academy bosses described the CDU tactical maneuver as an attack on democracy and worry about what only happens in the government office, “if principles are thrown overboard in the election campaign”.

The Akademie der Künste therefore asked the CDU/CSU parliamentary group not to vote on the so-called “influx limitation law” on Friday, which was available at noon and to seek dialogue with the other democratic parties.