"A political opponent must not be viewed as an enemy if they do not resort to violence. This also means that all democratically elected parliament members must talk to all other democratically elected parliament members," an open letter signed by the former secretary general of the CDU branch in Saxony, Frank Kupfer, former Justice Minister of Saxony Manfred Kolbe and four other party members said.
Amid the current economic and migration crisis, Germany needs a new political culture of cooperation, the CDU politicians said.
"Thirty percent of Saxony residents voted for the AfD, and our respect for those voters requires that we also talk to their elected representatives," the letter read.
In 2023, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the German domestic security agency, labeled AfD branches in the states of Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt as right-wing extremists.
Despite this, the AfD came second in the European Parliament polls in Germany in June 2024, overtaking Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left Social Democrats. The AfD stands for tougher migration controls and a negotiated solution to the conflict in Ukraine.