BSW proposes public duels and cross-party minister-presidents to AfD

Amira Mohamed Ali justified the strategy on Tuesday evening on the ZDF programme "Markus Lanz" with a combative challenge directed at the AfD. Yet the letter to the party itself was worded in distinctly more conciliatory terms: "Um einen fairen Ablauf zu ermöglichen, werden wir uns auf gemeinsame Spielregeln verständigen," it states. Mohamed Ali said: "Wir fordern die AfD nun zum öffentlichen Duell auf, denn wir wollen, dass sie es sich nicht länger hinter der Brandmauer gemütlich machen können."

Rationale from the BSW leadership

A concrete component of the offer is two joint appearances by Sahra Wagenknecht and Alice Weidel in September, shortly before the state elections, in Magdeburg and Schwerin. The BSW describes the format as a "Debatte" between the two chairs, who are "aus unterschiedlichen Gründen vom Mainstream bekämpft" würden. As of the time of reporting, the AfD had not responded to the proposal.

Fabio De Masi defended the offer on Tuesday evening on the ZDF programme "Markus Lanz" and at the same time pushed back against concerns that the BSW wanted to subordinate itself to the AfD. The letter promised no "Duett" with the AfD but rather a "Duell": "In diesem Brief haben wir nicht ein Duett mit der AfD versprochen, sondern ein Duell. Wir wollen die AfD herausfordern." At the same time, he warned that without a strategic change in Thuringia, the AfD could win an absolute majority in the long term.

De Masi draws red lines

De Masi explained the break with the previous exclusion line as follows: "Die Strategie der völligen Ausgrenzung dieser Partei ist erkennbar gescheitert und führt dazu, dass sie immer stärker wird." He said: "Ich glaube, wir haben die AfD mit dieser Politik der Ausgrenzung stärker gemacht." The BSW had "von Beginn an" criticised the departure from the "Brandmauer" against the AfD. Now, as De Masi added, the party wants to "challenge them on an open stage."

At the same time, De Masi drew clear red lines. "Unter keinen Umständen würde das BSW einen Ministerpräsidenten der CDU oder der AfD wählen," he made clear. The BSW would likewise not elect either an AfD or a CDU candidate as minister-president. However, he signalled openness to supporting cross-party figures who also organise majorities with AfD votes, calling this a realistic option: "Wir würden bereitstehen, wenn es auf unsere Stimmen ankommt."

On the substantive assessment of individual AfD demands, De Masi announced a pragmatic review: "Wir werden Anträge immer in der Sache bewerten." As an example of an absurd demand the BSW would reject, he cited the proposal pushed forward by the AfD in Saxony to abolish compulsory schooling. A conceivable joint issue with the AfD would be the "Rückkehr zu russischem Öl und Gas" – a demand shared by both the BSW and the AfD.

Criticism from the European Parliament

De Masi also pointed to the polarisation in Saxony-Anhalt, where polls put the AfD at around 40 percent. "Wir glauben, man kann eine Partei, die in Sachsen-Anhalt bei 40 % in den Umfragen steht, nicht völlig aus dem parlamentarischen Prozess aussperren," he said. Roughly half the population rejects the CDU candidate Sven Schulze, the other half the AfD candidate Ulrich Siegmund – a cross-party minister-president could, in the BSW's view, offer a way out.

With the rapprochement to the AfD, the BSW is also heading into conflict with parts of its own electorate and the political competition. Katarina Barley accused the BSW, in the same programme, of legitimising the AfD as a whole: "Aber Sie legitimieren sie [die AfD] als Partei. Die ganze Partei, mit allem, was sie ist." The criticism points to the fact that parts of the AfD, such as the Thuringia state association around Björn Höcke, are classified as extremist by the domestic intelligence agency.

The letter also contains sharp criticism of public-service broadcasting. It is "zunehmend zu einem propagandistischen Staatsfunk," the letter states. On the issue of migration, the BSW also formulates positions resembling those of the AfD: "Das BSW will Migration reduzieren und Gewalttäter konsequent abschieben, weil Deutschland überfordert ist". The BSW and the AfD also jointly complain, in the letter, about "immer engeren Meinungskorridore".

Points of agreement and divergence in the letter

At the same time, the letter voices criticism of the AfD. It states that the AfD "hangs on Donald Trump's coat-tails" and favours rearmament. Moreover, the party complains on the one hand of narrow corridors of opinion while on the other wanting to intervene more strongly in universities and schools. These passages appear to be intended to document an attempt to profile the BSW as an independent force vis-à-vis the political centre, without relativising the offer to the AfD.

A sober assessment came from party research. Benjamin Höhne sees similarities between the AfD and the BSW and considers a rapprochement capable of shifting the political balance of power in the state election campaigns. Parties must also offer power options before elections, she said. ZDF correspondent Andrea Maurer, by contrast, assessed the move as a campaign manoeuvre: Wagenknecht's primary concern, she said, was attention during the election campaign.

Situation ahead of the state elections

The background to the debate is the precarious position of the BSW in eastern Germany. Following the 2024 state elections, the BSW quickly entered coalitions in Thuringia and Brandenburg aimed at keeping the AfD from power. De Masi acknowledged that the AfD had grown stronger in the process while the BSW had simultaneously become weaker. With the course change, the party aims to regain lost influence while at the same time preventing the AfD from winning an absolute majority in an eastern German state.

Alongside the move, preparations are under way for the AfD federal party conference on the first July weekend in Erfurt, at which more than 50,000 demonstrators are expected. Police and city authorities are preparing a major deployment; at the same time, a public viewing for the football World Cup is scheduled for the same weekend in Erfurt. The dynamic surrounding the AfD party conference is likely to further fuel public debate over the BSW's manoeuvre.

In conclusion, it should be noted that the BSW is linking its strategic change to the prospect of shifted majorities in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Wagenknecht and De Masi present the letter as an offer of political contest, while critics such as Katarina Barley view it as a legitimisation of the AfD. Whether the AfD accepts the offer and how the electorate responds will become clear in the coming weeks.