EThese were the nuances that made the CDU chairman's appearance interesting. Friedrich Merz stood at the microphone with his general secretary Carsten Linnemann for more than three quarters of an hour on Saturday afternoon at the end of the party's board meeting in Heidelberg and answered questions.
The fact that he considers the AfD to be dangerous but wants to fight it with political arguments instead of a ban procedure was just as well known as the basic program adopted by the board in Heidelberg and the strong criticism of the traffic light coalition. However, how Merz found the tone to put the party on a course that emphasizes its original, traditional ideas of freedom, individual responsibility and cultural self-confidence, without putting the successful period for the CDU under Chancellor Angela Merkel in a bad light , that was new. It's the difficult balance between Merz and Merkel's CDU.
It started with what mistakes the chairman didn't make. Not so long ago, Merz couldn't hide his fury when North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister and CDU leader Hendrik Wüst spoke in favor of Merkel and her successes. Merz senses Wüst's ambition, who repeatedly emphasizes that the candidacy for chancellor will not be decided without the state associations, which sounds like his own ambitions.
“Intensive” discussion about migration policy
On Saturday, Merz did it differently and included Wüst positively in his story. He reported – something politicians rarely do at such appearances – about a controversy that had arisen during the board's discussion. Just when the members were talking about migration policy, an area in which differences of opinion are particularly reluctant to be discussed. There was an “intensive” discussion.
It was about the wording in the draft of the basic program, which reads: “Muslims who share our values belong to Germany.” Merz reported that Wüst raised concerns that even the wording “belongs to Germany” would lead to “difficulties “could lead. Others would have seen it that way too. He, Merz, “absolutely shared that”. The wording remains in the draft of the basic program, but a better one will be sought before the decision is made at the party conference in May. However, the basic orientation will not be changed.
Merz: Germany has been a country of immigration for decades
Germany has been a country of immigration for decades, said Merz, also pointing to the economic successes and saying it should stay that way. However, one should not close one's eyes to the fact that there is a “massive integration problem” with some groups of migrants. These are often, although not exclusively, groups “from the Islamic faith”. The problem must be “addressed”. Anyone who comes to Germany must be prepared to fit in “with our system of values”.
The effort to put the Merkel years behind them without openly putting her in a bad light became even clearer when Merz spoke about the terrain to the right of the CDU. The tough political fight against the AfD is one thing. In addition, it is currently about how to deal with the Union of Values, whose members often have a CDU party membership and also like to give the impression that they belong to the CDU, even though it is not a recognized division of the CDU.
Now Hans-Georg Maaßen, the chairman of the Union of Values, wants to turn it into a party. Merz reiterated that all CDU members who belonged to the new party would lose their CDU membership. The fact that members of the Values Union and the CDU also took part in the recently public meeting between right-wingers and AfD politicians, which is said to have been about the expulsion of millions of people from Germany, makes the demarcation even more urgent for the Christian Democrats. With regard to the basic program, Merz said: “If there was ever a reason to found such a union of values, then it no longer exists today.”
On Saturday, however, Merz also recalled the early days of the AfD and the background against which it was founded in 2013. “The truth and the whole picture are that this AfD was founded during our time in government,” he said. However, this happened with a “completely different motive”; it was primarily about saving the euro, “which led to such a party being founded by very honorable people in our country.”
The AfD has now taken a completely different path and the founding members are no longer there. “There are now people who are openly right-wing extremist.” The AfD was founded at the height of Chancellor Angela Merkel's power. Merz didn't mention their names once in the press conference that lasted more than three quarters of an hour.