CDU Mayor Faces Expulsion for Donation to AfD

Bernd Prange, a local mayor and member of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), donated a total of €10,000 ($11,700) to the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and called on voters to support the party in September’s state election in Saxony-Anhalt. The CDU has threatened to expel him from the party over the move.

Prange, a member of the Stendal district council and mayor of Altmärkische Höhe, made two donations of €5,000 ($5,850) each to the AfD. He said the donations reflected his dissatisfaction with the CDU’s political direction, arguing that the party was moving to the left and increasingly failing to represent conservative values.

In an open letter, Prange also announced that he would vote for the AfD on 6 September and expressed hope that the party would win an absolute majority. He called on the CDU to end its refusal to cooperate with the AfD and demanded the removal of Chancellor Friedrich Merz from office.

The CDU leadership in Saxony-Anhalt said that if the reports about the donation were confirmed, the case would constitute a very serious breach of party rules. State CDU Secretary General Mario Karschunke said the matter would be discussed by the CDU’s Stendal district leadership, which would be responsible for possible proceedings to expel Prange.

(nius, lud)