There's controversy in Germany over a photograph of a leading conservative politician apparently sharing a microphone with an opponent from the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD).
With just three months to go before elections are held in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt the image of CDU parliamentary group leader Guido Heuer has sparked debate on social media.
The picture was taken during a panel discussion in the town of Halberstadt and shows the CDU politician leaning on the shoulder of the AfD's lead candidate, Ulrich Siegmund. Both men are smiling, and have their hands on the same microphone.
Speaking on the sidelines of the CDU state party conference in the town of Dessau-Rosslau, Heuer dismissed the impression of familiarity that had arisen . "That was more of a confrontation, not fraternization," he told dpa on Saturday.
He said that there had only been two microphones for several panellists. In that situation, he had reached for the microphone because Siegmund had spoken "untruths."
The state election in Saxony-Anhalt is scheduled for September 6. In recent opinion polls, the AfD was polling at around 40%, well ahead of the conservative CDU, at around 25%.
There is repeated speculation whether the two parties might cooperate after the election. State Premier Sven Schulze from the CDU has ruled this out on several occasions.
Commenting on the image, the head of the state government told dpa that "one shouldn’t read too much into the photo." Guido Heuer had merely reached for a microphone, according to Schulze.
Siegmund is banking on an AfD-led single-party government in any case, and repeatedly takes a hard line against the CDU.
