The Federal Executive Board of the CDU of Germany today unanimously supported the decision of the Presidium meeting last Friday on the situation in Thuringia.

And with it my own very clear position: no rapprochement and no cooperation with the AfD and the left. The AfD stands against everything that makes us as the CDU. Any rapprochement with the AfD weakens the CDU. I stand for a CDU that clearly rejects any form of direct and indirect cooperation with the AfD – and the Federal Executive Board has impressively underlined this today. The history and programmatics of the party "Die Linke" are also absolutely incompatible with core points of the principles of the CDU of Germany. There can be no cooperation between the CDU and the left. We are currently feeling strong centrifugal forces in our society and in our Cdu People's Party. And we feel it depends on us. We have to be strong. Be stronger than today. It is a task for all of us to ensure a strong CDU. With the abandonment of the party chairmanship by Angela Merkel and the separation of the chancellorship and the party chairmanship, we have abandoned a practice practiced in the CDU. It has become apparent until the last few days that this is an unresolved leadership question – namely the question of the chancellor's candidacy. This question has not come to rest despite two party congresses. And, according to the will of some, it seems that they should not rest for the future. The separation of the chancellorship and the party chairmanship and the open question of the chancellor's candidacy weaken the CDU at a time when Germany is dependent on a strong CDU. Almost exactly two years ago, the party congress of the CDU of Germany elected me as general secretary. At that time, I gave up my hard-won state office as Prime Minister of Saarland in order to serve the party. That was then and is still my maxim today. Because, like many others, I owe a great deal to our CDU. I knew then that it was going to be a difficult time. And the last two years have confirmed that. For all these reasons and with the will to strengthen the CDU, I have therefore, after careful consideration, today informed the Bureau and the Federal Executive Board the following decision: I will not apply for the chancellor candidacy of the Union. As I have announced, I am leading the process from the front, with which we come to a candidate for chancellor or a candidate for chancellor. We have agreed that at a party congress we want to clarify a corresponding programmatic platform, an organizational platform and the content and personnel question. This objective remains in place. By renouncing my own candidacy, I can make this process better, because no one can insinuate that I am doing so in my own interest. In the end, however, the party chairmanship and the chancellor's candidacy must be in one hand. That is why I will remain party leader until the decision on the chancellor's candidacy has been taken and then the party office is handed over. I care deeply about the soldiers and we have done a lot of good things in recent months. I am therefore grateful for the support for continuing to hold the office of Federal Minister of Defence for our country. Annegret Kramp-KarrenbauerChairwom of the CDU GermanyVideo of video_statement_von_annegret_kramp-karrenbauer