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1/ In Germany, a state-level government crisis in Saxony-Anhalt was narrowly averted this morning. The reason for the controversy? 86 cents. https://www.mdr.de/sachsen-anhalt/landespolitik/haseloff-zieht-medienstaatsvertrag-rundfunkstaatsvertrag-zurueck-100.html
2/ Some of the parties included in Saxony-Anhalt's coalition government had proposed raising the Rundfunkbeitrag — a mandatory monthly fee that goes toward German public broadcasters and media — by 86 cents, from the current €17,50, as of January 1.
3/ The far-right AfD, which has railed against such fees across the country, opposed the fee raise. So did many in the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU), the regional level of Angela Merkel's party.
4/ It's worth noting that Saxony-Anhalt has state elections coming up next summer, and Germany has federal elections next fall; the AfD is relatively strong in Saxony-Anhalt, so so the CDU is under pressure to protect its right flank there.
5/ This CDU internal battle over the fee raise led to the firing of the state interior minister, also head of the state-level party, who suggested the possibility of breaking with their coalition partners on the issue and forming a minority government.
6/ Why does it matter? If the CDU had voted to oppose the fee hike, they'd have done so along with votes from the AfD - cooperating or collaborating with the far right, even unofficially remains a major taboo in German politics.
7/ Back in February — ancient history in 2020, I know! — a similar unofficial cooperation between the AfD, CDU and the liberal FDP in the state of Thuringia led to a massive scandal, the resignation of Angela Merkel's anointed successor and a lot of national soul-searching.
8/ As @derspiegel and others have written, such collaborations happen on the local level fairly frequently but go under the radar - chipping away slowly at this long-standing taboo https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/afd-wo-andere-parteien-mit-der-afd-kooperieren-a-00000000-0002-0001-0000-000174316772
9/ Today, the state governor (from the CDU) announced the vote won't take place, meaning the fee will stay at its current level for the time being and the government coalition is saved from collapsing.
10/ Like in February, my main takeaway is that such situations ultimately give the AfD exactly what they want: Attention, and the ability to sway political and policy debates. (I wrote something along those lines in February for @CNNOpinion: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/21/opinions/germany-political-chaos-schultheis/index.html)
