Thuringian Fall-Out

The continuing self-destruction of the major parties in Germany has been accelerated by the shenanigans in Thuringia.

There are many who blame the collapse of the CDU on Merkel's migration policy in 2015 although her decision to let over a million refugees in had been long in coming. For years the EU had hidden behind a ruling holding the country in which a refugee arrived responsible for the refugee. This meant that Greece and Italy in the main received the majority of refugees despite the fact that they were least prepared financially to manage the influx, and that was before the civil war in Syria really took off.

The Greeks and Italians generally had to deal with refugees risking crossing the Mediterranean. The hostilities in Syria opened a new avenue through Turkey into the Balkans creating a land route directly into the center of Europe. By the time the EU, primarily through the Germans, had negotiated a pact with the Turks whereby the Turks were paid to house the Syrians, it was too late.

The fear of immigrants, initially racially motivated as most of the economic migrants risking the sea route were Africans, was then exacerbated by the arrival of Muslim Syrians crating the perfect breeding ground for anti-muslim/anti-immigrant parties to prosper reaching their apex with the victory of the Brexit Party in the EU referendum of 2016 and the rise of openly right-wing authoritarian parties of Eastern Europe.

Despite the fact that Merkel's opening the door to the refugees was justifiable on many levels, she somehow didn't understand the need to explain her actions in a coherent fashion, leaving a vacuum for the right-wing to fill.

The AfD, was waning in 2015, only to be reinvigorated to the point that they are now the 3rd largest party in the Bundestag and have created the mess in Thuringia. Today, the chairperson of the CDU, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (AKK) announced her resignation as Party Chair and that she will not stand as Chancellor candidate in the next national election.

This has thrown all of Merkel's plans out the window. Her vision of the CDU as a solid party of the "middle" is now unclear. The right wing of the CDU might not be as adverse to working with the AfD.

This would not be the first time a Party of the Middle thinks its salvation lies to the Right. It would not be the first time a Party of the Middle thinks it can absorb a party from the Right without giving up its soul.

The next steps will be incredibly important.