Mario Voigt is the leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the eastern German state of Thuringia, and the party’s candidate for prime minister at the state elections to be held this autumn. CDU led Thuringia from the start of Germany’s reunification until 2014, but parties to the left and right of mainstream political forces have increasingly strengthened in the eastern states in the last decade, leading to hard-left Die Linke leading the previous and current government in Thuringia, and opposition right-wing AfD becoming the most popular party, according to the latest polls.
The recent debacle surrounding the federal budget and the farmers’ protests are the latest signs of growing frustration with the left-liberal federal government’s policies. The so-called traffic light coalition (named after the colours of the parties involved, the social democrats, the greens, and the liberal FDP) has failed to address the cost-of-living crisis and the migration crisis while delivering an unpopular green agenda and forcing through its gender ideology laws. All these issues have seeped through to the state level, and locals in Thuringia recently talked to us about their frustrations.
CDU also took a big hit in federal elections in 2021 after sixteen years of a government led by Angela Merkel but is currently riding high in nationwide polls, due to the blunders of the current government. However, in autumn’s state elections (Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia) they will have to contend with a rapidly rising AfD. We talked to Mario Voigt about all these issues.
The farmers’ protests have dominated the headlines in Germany in recent days. Around 70% of the population sympathises with them. As Handelsblatt writes in an opinion article: “The pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the energy crisis have brought citizens to the brink of their resilience. Everyone is united by the feeling of helplessness, which has long since turned into anger about the situation in the country.” Why has it gone so wrong for the left-liberal government?
The traffic light coalition is the best campaigner for frustration and anger in this country. It is a government that has polarised society and lost considerable trust. A government should lead a country and bring people together, not divide them. The current government wants to tell people what to eat, how to heat, how to live their lives. I see it in Berlin as well as in Erfurt: the left-wingers and the Greens are politicians who believe they know everything better than ordinary citizens. I think it’s good that we, the CDU, are standing with the farmers, actively participating in the demonstrations, and citizens feel that there are people in politics who understand the common man.
What are the topics that are the main reasons of concern to the Germans? The energy crisis, the green agenda, the migration crisis, gender ideology?
It’s a combination of all of these things. The hard-working people of this country feel that the traffic light coalition is constantly reaching into their pockets through higher burdens, raising the cost of living, more bureaucracy, high numbers of illegal migrants, absurd laws, e.g. the heating law, or the Bürgergeld [citizens’ money—a new unemployment benefit]. We are a social country; that means people who cannot work should receive full support. But those who can work should work. It is especially true here in the eastern part of the country, that many people earn just above the minimum wage. When the federal government sends out a signal that it doesn’t matter whether you work or not, then there is a massive potential for frustration. I think this is the revolt of the hard-working and decent people.
What will the farmers’ protest lead to? What could happen in the next days or weeks?
The farmers started a very peaceful and powerful protest, which I fully support. They have clear, objective goals. The fact that on the day of the largest protest, the government announced it would go ahead with cuts to farmers’ subsidies shows how disrespectful the coalition is, how insensitive they are to the concerns of the people. Their reaction shows that they have no grasp of the situation at all. I think we will see the largest demonstration in decades in Berlin this week. And rightly so.
The government has steered itself into a very difficult situation: it failed to understand how the Schuldenbremse, the so-called debt brake works, and was forced to implement budget cuts after a constitutional court ruling last year. Has this three-party government failed in its economic policies?
People have lost their faith in the government. If they were brave enough, they would call for new elections to see whether the population still trusts them or not. I believe Olaf Scholz, Robert Habeck, and Christian Lindner [the chancellor, the vice-chancellor, and the finance minister] should resign because they lack the competency and courage to lead this country in this difficult economic crisis and will only make things worse with every decision they make. Those who work 60-70 hours a week have the impression that while more benefits are being handed out, their own burden and the cost of living is increasing. This tension can only be resolved through better politics.
Do you believe it is a likely scenario that the government will collapse before the next elections are due in the autumn of 2025?
The government has already collapsed but is hanging on to its fading power. I think they are wary of new elections and will try to drag things out until 2025. It’s not good for the country. Germany’s economy has not returned to pre-COVID levels. We have no growth, jobs are at risk, the cost of living is massive. Many people feel that their wallets have become lighter. Yet, the Greens will carry on pursuing their ideology. If we look at nuclear power for example: all countries affected by the energy crisis asked themselves what approach would work best. Climate change has to be approached with care and consideration, and Germany has always supported the use of renewable energy sources, but they will only work if we can permanently produce safe baseload energy through nuclear power plants. That’s why I think that what is happening now is irresponsible—it’s costing people money; it’s costing our economy jobs.
Has the German energy transition, the green agenda, and the phasing out of nuclear energy been implemented too quickly and too early?
The Greens have failed with their ideology, they should definitely not be in government. That is one of the lessons we have learned from what we are experiencing right now. Olaf Scholz is the chancellor in a crisis, but he offers no explanation as to what his plan is for Europe’s largest economy. We are being left behind economically at a record pace. These days when you talk to industries, startups, and investors, they say Germany is not the place to be. It was different when CDU led the German government. We may have made mistakes, but we positioned Germany as a booming modern country in Europe. All of that has now been lost, and that will harm us in the long run.
Aside from the energy and economic crisis, Germany is also facing a migration crisis. 350,000 migrants applied for asylum in Germany last year, an increase of 44% compared to 2022. What should the government do to solve this migration crisis?
Migration is the most important topic in our globalised world. There are 90 million refugees on the move worldwide. Countries that have a liberal asylum law, low return rates, and high social standards are attractive. That is what defines Germany, that is why we are attractive, and the traffic light coalition has made a fatal mistake with its so-called Opportunity Residence Act. The core message of the act is: no matter how you came to Germany, legally or illegally, if you are here, you can stay here. That is the wrong approach. Although Germany is a very cosmopolitan country, we shouldn’t unhook our doors. We have to decide on our own who can come here and how many. This is something that we need to address clearly politically, otherwise, people will feel like foreigners in their own country. The issue of migration will determine how strong populists and extremists become in Germany. That’s why we, the CDU, propose to introduce border controls as long as these migration waves last, to carry out asylum procedures in reception centres outside the European Union, and to return to a European redistribution system. The decisive number is the 350,000 asylum seekers in 2023. Asylum applications tripled in 2023 compared to 2020, the last full year of the CDU-led government. We have to limit illegal immigration; this is a political issue that cannot be ignored in Germany in 2024.
The migration crisis started in 2015. Angela Merkel, who was German chancellor at that time, was heavily criticised for letting in hundreds of thousands of mostly Syrian migrants to Germany, thereby encouraging many others to make the perilous journey to Europe. How has CDU’s stance since then changed, under the leadership of Friedrich Merz?
As a Christian, my belief is that we have to help people in need. For a limited time. Our hearts are big, but our resources are limited. We should support people in need, but after a while, if they fled a war, they should go back home to rebuild their country. After 2015, the CDU tightened the asylum law, which led to a decrease in the number of migrants. We have to admit that we made mistakes, but we learnt from them. I believe that the CDU has the most credible migration policy in Germany at the moment: we want to limit the number of people who come illegally and find a quick recognition process for those who want to come as skilled workers and those who we actually need.
Migration is a hot topic in your state, Thuringia, too, and the anti-immigration party AfD is visibly benefiting from the failed migration policies of the federal government. According to a poll by INSA, AfD would get 34% of the votes in the September state elections in Thuringia, followed by CDU at 22% and Die Linke at 20%. Why is the popularity of mainstream parties, including the CDU, waning in East Germany?
We have a left-wing [Die Linke] prime minister here, a minority government, so in this respect Thuringia, I think, has the most complicated political situation you can imagine in Germany. If things stay the same, the Thuringia elections will be about people wanting a change in politics, a desire to have stability and order in the country once again. The question is, who can guarantee a change, which brings order and decency? The fight will be between CDU and AfD. Many European countries are experiencing the same phenomenon: Christian Democratic civic parties having to contend with anti-migration populists. That is something we can also see in Thuringia, in Saxony, and in Brandenburg, and the traffic light coalition is, in a way, fuelling that kind of anger and frustration.
AfD is increasing its popularity nationwide, but its rise is especially visible in the eastern states of Germany. Why is that?
People here have more to lose. They feel that the small amount of wealth they have amassed over thirty years is now in danger because of the politics of the traffic light coalition. They are annoyed and frustrated with the migration crisis, the enormous tax burdens, and East Germans are also much more sensitive to being patronised. They are freedom-loving people, who are angry because they feel they are being led by politicians who want to tell them how to live. Frustration is born out of economic factors, as well as socio-political and cultural aspects. Germany no longer has a government that relies on the values that made this country great: hard work, achievement, respect. If the traffic light coalition doesn’t change its politics, the European Parliament elections will be the first protest election of the year.
What can the CDU do to lure voters away from the AfD?
While I, as a normal citizen, feel the exact same frustration as many of the people who are now on the streets, or who come to talk to me, I also feel that they have no desire to be led by extremists. We have to debate them and make it clear that we have humbly learned from our mistakes. We have renewed ourselves in opposition in Thuringia, and we are now the ones who are actually getting things done with factual arguments. We have passed laws with the votes of the minority government, but other times it was the opposition parties, the FDP and AfD, that voted for our initiatives, for example pushing through a tax cut in Thuringia. My basic belief is that in a parliamentary system, in a democracy, politics thrives if we vote for the right things. I think the CDU has proven that it can lead the country. And in this disorderly situation characterised by crises, war, and inflation, the question must be who will get us out of the mess?
Indeed, CDU was criticised by the Left because last year, it adopted laws with votes from the AfD: tax reduction, banning the use of gender language, and a law making it more difficult to build wind turbines in Thuringia’s forests. There is an unwritten rule in German politics that no party should collaborate on any level with the AfD. Is that rule a thing of the past?
I reject being in a coalition or even cooperating with Björn Höcke [leader of the AfD in Thuringia], but I won’t let a left-wing prime minister or the AfD dictate to me what the CDU, as a self-confident people’s party in a democracy, can or cannot put to vote.
Under Angela Merkel, the CDU was criticised for having veered too much to the left. How is the party under Friedrich Merz now? Has it returned to its conservative values?
The CDU under Friedrich Merz has established a program that fits the changing times we live in. It corresponds with the needs of normal citizens and the majority of society. The world has fallen into disorder, and our proposal of a modern conservatism serves as a compass. We want to benefit those who work, making overtime tax-free. We want to focus on order and limiting migration but helping those who need it. We want to improve the infrastructure and the technology of the country to ensure future prosperity. A promise that the CDU has always made is prosperity, freedom, and security for everyone. We are compassionate conservatives with a plan for Germany.
