Germany: Right-wing group to form a new conservative party

There looks to be another choice on the right side of the political spectrum after members of the highly conservative Werteunion, or Values Union, decided on Saturday at a meeting in Erfurt to establish themselves as a new party.

Hans-Georg Maassen, a former head of the German domestic intelligence agency (the BfV) who was driven out of the position after appearing to play down violence against migrants, was tapped to lead the Werteunion in efforts to establish itself as a new political party.

A new 'conservative-liberal' party

Maassen's task will be to "initiate the foundation of a conservative-liberal party under this name," the group said.

Maassen — a longtime member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), though the party has started formalities to expel him — labeled the Werteunion "Union 1.0," the CDU and its Bavarian sister-party the CSU are collectively referred to as the "Union."

Maassen said it would counter the CDU's slip into what he described as a "left-green position" under leader Friedrich Merz.

The Werteunion was started in 2017 as a highly conservative wing of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Members claimed to represent the "core essence" of the CDU, charging then-Chancellor Angela Merkel with abandoning her party's conservative values by allowing over a million people, largely fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa, into Germany.

The group has over 4,000 members and is approaching 6,000, Der Spiegel newsmagazine reported its federal deputy leader Hans Pistner as saying. A Werteunion spokesperson said several hundred members attended Saturday's meeting, which was not open to the public.

Maassen, 61, was forced out of public office in 2018, after six years as head of the BfV, under a cloud of accusations of providing information to the AfD and questioning well-documented reports of far-right violence against foreigners.

Germany's 2nd new party of 2024

The Werteunion would be the second new party founded in Germany in 2024.

Former Left Party politician Sahra Wagenknecht also started a new "left-wing conservative" party this month.

Maassen and Wagenknecht are both aiming to have their parties set up in time for a trio of state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg this September — all states in the former east where traditional centrist parties are struggling more than they are on the national level.

"The party could already run in the state elections in eastern Germany and would work with all parties ... that are ready for a political change in Germany," said Maassen, not ruling out cooperation with the far-right populist Alternative for Germany party.

The anti-immigration AfD leads opinion polls in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg ahead of autumn's state-wide votes there. Nationally the AfD is polling as the second largest party at about 23% support, behind only the CDU.

Members at meeting calling for massive deportations

The Werteunion was pulled into the public eye in recent weeks after some of its members were reported to have attended a meeting of far-right extremists who discussed plans to deport millions of immigrants in Germany and even some naturalized German citizens.

The Werteunion confirmed that two members were at the meeting, but contended they were there "as private guests and not as representatives of the Werteunion."

sms/msh (dpa, Reuters, AFP, AP)            

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