Overview
- Addressing the CDU congress, Friedrich Merz said he would not allow the AfD to "ruin" Germany, as delegates welcomed Angela Merkel on her first visit since 2021.
- He outlined plans to cut bureaucracy, lower energy costs and spur investment, framing economic strength as essential to national security.
- He promised further welfare changes and said new pension proposals are coming after pushback from younger CDU members last year.
- He acknowledged that delivery of campaign reforms has been slower than initially communicated.
- Regional elections begin next month in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, with Saxony-Anhalt later in the year where the AfD hopes for a first state-level win.