Despite their long-cherished slogan of "There must be no democratically legitimised party to the right of CDU/CSU",Based on a quote by CSU leader and Bavarian minister-president Franz Josef Strauß, 9 August 1987. Quoted in SWR2 Archivradio , 15 October 2018. the Union has had a serious competitor to its right since 2013. The right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) was founded with the involvement of disgruntled CDU members. It drew on the discontent of some conservatives with the Merkel administration's handling of the European debt crisis (2009–14) and later the 2015 refugee crisis, lamenting a purported loss of sovereignty and control or even "state failure". Nearly 10 percent of early AfD members were defectors from the CDU.
despite their long-cherished slogan of "there must be no democratically legitimised party to the right of cdu/csu"based on a quote by csu leader and bavarian minister-president franz josef strauß 9 august 1987 quoted in swr2 archivradio  15 october 2018 the union has had a serious competitor to its right since 2013 the right-wing populist alternative for germany (afd) was founded with the involvement of disgruntled cdu members it drew on the discontent of some conservatives with the merkel administration's handling of the european debt crisis (2009–14) and later the 2015 refugee crisis lamenting a purported loss of sovereignty and control or even "state failure" nearly 10 percent of early afd members were defectors from the cdu