Did the CDU just work with the AfD?

An anti-AfD demo in Thuringia. Photo by Tobias on Unsplash

The Story

Something pretty fascinating happened in a remote corner of Germany last week that went almost unnoticed by the outside world.

In the state parliament in Thuringia, the CDU worked with the far-right AfD to pass a motion ‘banning’ gender sensitive language in public institutions. As far as I can gather it is the first time that the CDU have cooperated with the AfD in a German parliament.

The vote itself was pretty inconsequential. The CDU are not part of the state government in Thuringia meaning the motion, titled “Gendering: no thanks!” doesn’t have the force of law. But it sits within a broader pattern that explains both the rise of the AfD and the way far-right extremism has been normalised in parts of German politics.

And it shows what the parties right of the centre can do when they team up. That’s because the CDU and AfD (plus a small right-wing splinter party called the Citizens of Thuringia) actually have more se…