section_path: Analysis and aftermath/CDU/CSU
section_name: CSU
paragraph_text: CSU
  
  The evening following the election, CDU leader Friedrich Merz stated that he and his party were fundamentally opposed to partnering with the AfD to form a government, saying: "We have fundamentally different views, for example on foreign policy, on security policy, in many other areas, regarding Europe, the euro, NATO.... You want the opposite of what we want, so there will be no cooperation." However, in January 2025, Merz and the CDU had looked for active support from the AfD on several proposals about immigration policies, leading some to speculate that the "firewall" excluding the far-right from governing had fallen, or was no longer a major factor in the party's political strategy.
  
  Merz said that the CDU/CSU alliance had already started negotiations with the SPD to form a coalition government by April of the same year; although the same coalition had already supported governments led by Chancellor Angela Merkel for 12 years, some commentators noted how Merz's political background – being a representative of the CDU's most conservative wing – and his previous criticism of left-wing parties, including the SPD itself and The Greens, faced criticism by progressive politicians. Further political divergences and issues between the CDU and the SPD, including immigration policies, support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion, public expense, and fiscal policy, were also cited as key factors that could influence the stability of the government, as well as the relations between Merz and Markus Söder, the leader of the CSU – the Bavarian counterpart of the CDU.