"It is true for the party that I belong to but also for the other parties in the coalition that we do not work with the AfD. This is the result of our consideration of the party’s agenda", she said.
Merkel, who spoke to reporters alongside Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin in Berlin, dodged a question about whether she saw a threat to European democracy in Finland’s centre-right coalition.
The row over the extent to which the anti-immigrant AfD can participate in German politics erupted after it sided with Merkel’s CDU branch in the eastern state of Thuringia to vote in a Liberal premier.
The chancellor called the result of the vote inexcusable, adding to the public pressure on the elected head of state, Thomas Kemmerich, to step down. Thuringia is heading for a new regional election.
