Values Union (original) (raw)

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Political organisation in Germany

Values Union WerteUnion
Abbreviation WU
Chairperson Hans-Georg Maaßen
Spokesperson Martin Lohmann
Deputy chairs Alexander Mitsch, Kay-Achim Schönbach, Albert Weiler
Founder Alexander Mitsch
Founded 24 March 2017 (2017-03-24) (association)17 February 2024 (2024-02-17) (party)
Split from CDU
Headquarters Berlin
Youth wing Junge Werteunion (until 2024)
Ideology Economic liberalism[1][2]Right-wing populism[3]
Political position Right-wing
Colours Navy blue Orange
Bundestag 0 / 736
Bundesrat 0 / 69
State Parliaments 1 / 1,898
European Parliament 0 / 96
Heads of State Governments 0 / 16
Website
partei-werteunion.de Edit this at Wikidata
Politics of GermanyPolitical partiesElections

The Values Union (German: WerteUnion, WU) is a German party founded on 17 February 2024 by transforming a seven-year-old registered association with the same name.[4] According to its own information, the Values Union had around 4,000 members in 2022; with about 3,000 also being the members of the CDU.[5]

The Values Union was founded in 2017 and mostly included the CDU members seeking to reestablish their party's conservative roots.[6] The formation was motivated by the same shift to the right in the CDU that eventually forced Merkel out of the leadership, due to her flirting with Keynesianism and social democracy to the detriment of the "tough market radicalism of the CDU/CSU" and associated electorate losses to the right-wing, but socially acceptable, "professors' party" (Alternative for Germany).[7]

The CDU's executive committee did not recognize the Values Union as a party subdivision. The critics accused the Values Union of being close to the Alternative for Germany (AfD).[6] The group, which was quite small at the time, argued against Angela Merkel's approaches to the Euro rescue [de] and the 2015 European migrant crisis. One of the founders, Hans-Georg Maaßen, refused to rule out potential coalitions with AfD in the medium-term. The 2019 resolution of the presidium and executive committee of the CDU related to the murder of Walter Lübcke indirectly accused Maaßen and the Values Union of being complicit: "Anyone who supports the AfD must know that they are poisoning the social climate and brutalizing the political discourse". At the time statements by the CDU leadership could have been interpreted as supporting expulsion of Maaßen from the party.[8]

The Values Union has been described as Germany's Tea Party.[9] Prior to turning into a party, the Values Union had no official party affiliation and its role within the CDU/CSU was highly controversial.[10][11] It has around 4,000 official members.[11] In the 2018 leadership election the Values Union supported Friedrich Merz.[12]

The federal leadership of the CDU initiated expulsion of Maaßen in February of 2023.[13]

The deputy federal chairwoman and North Rhine-Westphalia state leader of the Values Union, Simone Baum, took part in a secret networking meeting between the AfD and other right-wing extremists.[14] At the meeting, the right-wing extremist participants discussed how an expulsion or "remigration" of migrants and people who think differently politically in Germany would be possible.[15] The CDU initiated party expulsion proceedings against Baum and the city of Cologne terminated her employment with immediate effect, likewise due to her participation at the secret meeting.[16]

Forming a new party

[edit]

In the beginning of 2024, Maaßen announced a vote among the association members in order to turn the Values Union into a political party that will take an anti-immigration course.[17] At a general meeting of the Values Union on 20 January 2024 in Erfurt, its members voted to form a new party with a plan to participate in the upcoming September 2024 regional elections in Thuringia, Saxony, and Brandenburg.[18]

Maaßen had said earlier that the new party will cooperate with all parties that support its program and "are ready for a change in policy in Germany."[19]

The Values Union got 0.28% of the vote in 2024 Saxony state election, 0.56% in 2024 Thuringian state election and 0.26% in 2024 Brandenburg state election.

State Year Votes % Seats ± Government
Saxony 2024 6,474 0.28 (#14) 0 / 120 N/A Extra-parliamentary
Thuringia 2024 6,780 0.56 (#10) 0 / 88 N/A Extra-parliamentary
Brandenburg 2024 3,877 0.26 (#12) 0 / 88 N/A Extra-parliamentary

The "figurehead" and party chairman is the former head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Hans-Georg Maaßen. Maaßen, since January 2024, has been monitored by his former colleagues.[20]

Shortly after the party was founded, the dispute over direction and power struggles began. Maaßen said that he would ideally like to form a coalition with the CDU, which he called the "premium partner" for the Values Union. Maaßen also said he was happy about the possible demise of the AfD. This caused discord within the party. The prominent entrepreneur Markus Krall and ex-AfD Max Otte were involved in founding the party. After less than a month they announced their resignation. Both criticized the party's unclear program and political direction and its protagonists' overconfidence.[21] The two complained that the party's distance to the AfD was too great.[22][23][24]

Politically, observers place the party between the CDU and the AfD. The WU consciously avoids refusing to cooperate with the AfD.[22]

Federal presidency:

Former members:

  1. ^ ""Werteunion" in der Krise – DW – 11.07.2021". dw.com (in German). Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  2. ^ Schultz, Tanjev (3 February 2021). Auf dem rechten Auge blind?: Rechtsextremismus in Deutschland (in German). Kohlhammer Verlag. ISBN 978-3-17-040065-8.
  3. ^ Götze, Susanne; Joeres, Annika (25 January 2020). "Koalition der Klimawandelleugner". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  4. ^ Unzufriedene CDU-Konservative: Was die Werteunion ist und was sie will, ZDF
  5. ^ deutschlandfunk.de. "Werteunion - Max Otte, die CDU und die AfD". Deutschlandfunk (in German). Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  6. ^ a b Grotz & Schroeder 2023, p. 192.
  7. ^ Schweppenhäuser, Gerhard (2024). "Die Wende: eine Abwendung. Über 'feindliche Gefühle gegen die Autoritäten' in Deutschland". Angst und Aufklärung. Studien zur Kritischen Theorie (in German). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 23–40. doi:10.1007/978-3-662-67910-4_3. ISBN 978-3-662-67909-8.
  8. ^ Oppelland 2020, pp. 60–61.
  9. ^ Schaer, Cathrin (13 June 2021). "Germany's Tea Party seeks to move country to the right". The New European. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  10. ^ tagesschau.de. "Kritik an Werteunion: CDU-Politiker fordern Auflösung". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  11. ^ a b "Werteunion - Max Otte, die CDU und die AfD". Deutschlandfunk (in German). Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  12. ^ Chef der Werteunion bevorzugt Merz als neuen CDU-Chef
  13. ^ tagesschau.de. "CDU-Vorstand beschließt Ausschlussverfahren gegen Maaßen" (in German). Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  14. ^ Daniel, Isabelle; dpa (12 January 2024). "Geheimtreffen in Potsdam: CDU leitet Parteiausschlussverfahren gegen ein Mitglied ein". Die Zeit (in German). ISSN 0044-2070. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Correctiv-Recherche: Zwei Oberbergerinnen bei Geheimtreffen zur Vertreibung von Migranten". Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (in German). 13 January 2024. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Stadt Köln entlässt CDU-Politikerin nach Geheimtreffen radikaler Rechter" [The city of Cologne sacks CDU politician after the secret meeting of radical right]. RND (in German). 31 January 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  17. ^ Geuther, Gudula (5 January 2024). "Hans-Georg Maaßen will Werteunion zur Partei machen" (in German). Deutschlandfunk. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  18. ^ "Germany: Right-wing group to form a new conservative party". dw.com. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  19. ^ "Maaßen will mit Werteunion eigene Partei gründen". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  20. ^ Escritt, Thomas (31 January 2024). "Germany's former top neo-Nazi hunter now being monitored as extremist". Reuters. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  21. ^ Riechelmann, Alexander (24 February 2024). "WerteUnion: Ex-Mitglieder packen über Partei-Austritt aus – "Anfall von Größenwahn"". DerWesten.de (in German). Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  22. ^ a b Joswig, Gareth (21 February 2024). "Abgänge aus Maaßen-Partei Werteunion: Splittern am rechten Rand". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  23. ^ Zeitung, Süddeutsche (21 February 2024). "Werteunion verliert Mitglieder: Markus Krall und Max Otte verlassen die Partei". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  24. ^ Huesmann, Felix (22 February 2024). "Werteunion verliert nach Parteigründung prominente Mitglieder". www.rnd.de (in German). Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  25. ^ WELT (13 October 2019). "Alexander Mitsch: Vorsitzender der Werteunion verliert CDU-Posten". DIE WELT (in German). Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  26. ^ "Werteunion - Max Otte, die CDU und die AfD". Deutschlandfunk (in German). Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  27. ^ a b "Max Otte als AfD-Kandidat – Zerbröselt die Werteunion?". www.rnd.de (in German). 26 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  28. ^ "Ex-Vorsitzender Alexander Mitsch verlässt die Werte-Union". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). 5 July 2021. ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  29. ^ "Ex-Werteunion-Chef Mitsch: Werteunion sollte sich auflösen". www.rnd.de (in German). 26 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.