Friedrich Merz has a problem: There is unrest in the CDU in East Germany

The CDU is struggling in the eastern German states. Fewer and fewer people there believe that Merz represents their interests.

Friedrich Merz: He now wants to pursue a major foreign policy, but that won't be well received in the East. IMAGO/Wiktor Dabkowski

There's unrest in the CDU in eastern Germany. Friedrich Merz and his closest advisors have placed too few, and in some cases, unsuitable, people in positions of responsibility in the new federal government. What exactly happened, and what is the current mood in the eastern Union?

According to a survey of the eastern state associations of the Berliner Zeitung, the CDU's situation is tense. Three state elections are coming up in 2026: in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, and Berlin. In Magdeburg, a CDU government under Minister-President Reiner Haselhoff has governed since 2011, initially with the SPD, from 2016 with the SPD and the Greens, and since 2021 with the comrades and the Liberals. But never has a potential electoral victory been as endangered as it is today. The CDU and AfD are neck and neck, with all other parties far behind, making it very difficult to form a government beyond the "Blue" party.

Friedrich Merz no longer has the support he once had

In Schwerin, the AfD is far ahead, with State Premier Manuela Schwesig (SPD) trailing far behind, and the CDU currently polling a meager 17 percent. The proud Baltic Sea state was once governed by the CDU, but that was so long ago, 27 years ago, that no CDU politician in the area wants to remember.

And if one wants to count Berlin at least partially among the eastern states, Governing Mayor Kai Wegner of the CDU/CSU is also worried about his re-election. Reason enough, then, for the new CDU-led federal government to pay particular attention to the eastern states in terms of personnel policy and to enhance their standing in order to gain more weight and arguments locally. For gone are the days when Friedrich Merz, a brilliant orator outside of political responsibility, attacked Angela Merkel's policies and enjoyed widespread support in the new states. Back then, the striking Sauerland native was the great political hope here – between Rügen and Zwickau. Now, it is said in the eastern Union that he has lost his sense of the East.

Eastern issues are neglected

Not only did the new Chancellor, who was elected with difficulty, refuse to allow any major interviews in East Germany, but the pressing issues in the East were also left out of his election campaign. In retrospect, it was, it must be said, a clear Western election campaign. It almost seems as if the CDU/CSU had politically abandoned the East. Yet three East CDU leaders govern in Magdeburg, Erfurt, and Dresden, all in difficult three-party coalitions. The three Minister-Presidents of Saxony, Thuringia, and Saxony-Anhalt have repeatedly addressed urgent issues, which are also emphasized by Brandenburg Minister-President Dietmar Woidke (SPD) and Manuela Schwesig from Schwerin (SPD): They recently issued an urgent appeal to the federal government with the attitude "No more modesty," visibly demanding more competence in the East. This urgent request is meant in terms of personnel policy and issues. Too few CDU members who are eligible to hold ministerial posts in the new federal states have recently been promoted to top positions in the federal government, according to the interpretation.

The new Chancellor has responded by appointing Katharina Reiche from Luckenwalde to the slightly reduced Ministry of Economic Affairs, an East German. However, if you ask around in the East German state associations, you'll find that this appointment is met with little enthusiasm. "She's no longer one of us," they say, noting that the arch-conservative had just made a West German career, first at the Association of Municipal Enterprises (VKU) and then as CEO of the EON subsidiary Westenergie GmbH. The question many are asking is: Does she still understand the concerns of the East? Or is she more concerned with her public reputation? Business circles say that the parent company EON has been running its subsidiary Westenergie with a tight leash. The EON Group has twice refused to appoint Reiche to the board of the energy giant. This was what the ambitious woman had hoped for. It was therefore only logical that the ambitious entrepreneur and politician would shop around and, when Merz called, jump at the chance. Nevertheless, the East German CDU hopes that the new minister will take care of the neglected economy.

The new Eastern Commissioner Elisabeth Kaiser from Gera comes from the SPD

From the CDU/CSU perspective, two particularly interesting personalities have been appointed to new positions of responsibility. Philip Amthor from Torgelow, with his colorful past, is not without controversy, but he is a loyal and articulate puppet master for the new chancellor. He will become state secretary in the newly created Digital Ministry. Philip Schrot, a 34-year-old young politician from Brandenburg/Havel, will take on a key role as Merz's new office manager. As a teenager, he won the ZDF political casting "I Can Be Chancellor" in 2009. Both Amthor and Schrot are expected to have promising careers internally. The new Commissioner for Eastern Europe, Elisabeth Kaiser from Gera, comes from the SPD; the CDU would have loved to see one of its own installed here. However, the eastern state associations are also saying: "Why do we even need a commissioner for the East? The West doesn't need a state assessor either." What was and is well-intentioned politically may not necessarily be well received locally.

The East no longer wants to be the workshop of the West

The state premiers are not only criticizing the lack of personnel from their ranks in Berlin. Rather, they have rightly drawn attention to substantive issues that have been neglected at the federal level for years. For example, the new federal states are operating with innovative companies, but this positive development is not receiving sufficient attention or support. A great deal of expertise has been incorporated in the fields of renewable energies, particularly hydrogen, without the federal government investing heavily in this area.

And so it's no surprise that at the last Ministerial Conference for Eastern Germany, there was a joint call for an investment offensive in the East. The additional 500 billion euros planned by the federal government should be disbursed quickly and easily. Energy prices must be reduced, and approval procedures, innovation, and infrastructure projects must finally be accelerated. The state premiers also find the trade tax breakdown unfair.

The message is clear: The East no longer wants to be the West's extended workbench. Many branches in the East make substantial profits, which then benefit the parent company in the West. Instead, the demand is that the profits should also flow to the eastern municipalities. But the CDU's core power has always been in the West, especially in North Rhine-Westphalia. It's hard to imagine, then, that Friedrich Merz would accommodate East German demands here. And so it's understandable what a CDU state parliament member from Saxony is saying in the background: "The East is being politically forgotten."

Self-esteem of the Union – once big, now small

Despite all these demands, one important aspect must not be ignored, especially today: the self-esteem of the CDU/CSU in the East has changed dramatically since reunification. Kurt Biedenkopf, known as "King Kurt," in Saxony, and Bernhard Vogel in Thuringia were not only successful state premiers, but also "fathers of the state." They, who came from North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, understood the life and powerlessness felt by many Easterners and brought economic courage and prosperity. The CDU was the dominant popular party in Saxony and Thuringia, and in the 1990s and 2000s, there was no way to imagine that this political and social self-confidence would ever change.

Today, however, one experiences genuine fears for political survival, and out of sheer anxiety, even a rapprochement with the AfD, which is prohibited by the headquarters in Berlin. Few CDU members here believe in the so-called firewall, since – purely pragmatically – they often vote with the "Blue" party at the local and regional levels. Nevertheless, this situation is unsatisfactory, just as it is in many villages and small towns, where the mainstream parties have almost completely withdrawn in favor of the AfD.

And so the East German CDU is currently caught in a vicious cycle: It cannot raise its profile because it receives little attention at the very top, in the federal government. As a result, it has few convincing arguments locally for a resurgence of its once-proud party. Therefore, the recipe of Saxony's Minister-President Michael Kretschmer is probably wise and correct: to focus entirely on regional issues while also continually staying close to the people. This allows one to emancipate oneself from the federal government. But one remains financially dependent on Berlin.

It remains to be seen, and exciting, whether the eastern CDU can regain its former strength in the current situation. And whether it will successfully work to gain new strength through regional conviction and a clear identity.

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