Wüst backs AfD ban review in late shift

Hendrik Wüst, North Rhine-Westphalia's CDU leader, has now called for a federal-state working group on handling the AfD, proposing it after the Saxony-Anhalt election while warning that banning a party must be a last resort. His timing sends signals to Chancellor Merz and others. Wüst is not the first to make this proposal; his deputy Mona Neubaur made a similar call on September 1, before the election, urging that existing evidence be compiled. SPD candidate Jochen Ott, who previously offered Wüst a cross-party alliance for a ban initiative, criticizes his approach as hesitant. Wüst, who once called the AfD a "Nazi party," has long been cautious on this issue. Observers see his move as tactical, positioning himself against Merz, who opposes a ban, while appealing to the CDU's liberal wing and opening to Greens and SPD.