Values Union: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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== History ==

The Values Union was founded in 2017 and mostly included the CDU members seeking to reestablish their party's conservative roots.{{sfn | Grotz | Schroeder | 2023 | p=192}} 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]]).<ref>{{cite book | last=Schweppenhäuser | first=Gerhard | title=Angst und Aufklärung | chapter=Die Wende: eine Abwendung. Über ‚feindliche Gefühle gegen die Autoritäten‘ in Deutschland | publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg | publication-place=Berlin, Heidelberg | date=2024 | isbn=978-3-662-67909-8 | doi=10.1007/978-3-662-67910-4_3 | language=de | page=23–40}}</ref>

The CDU's executive committee did not recognize the Values Union as a party subdivision. The critics accused the Values Union toof bebeing close to the [[Alternative for Germany]] (AfD).{{sfn | Grotz | Schroeder | 2023 | p=192}} QuiteThe group, which was quite small at the time group, argued against [[Angela Merkel]]'s approaches to the {{ill|Euro-Rettungsschirm|de|lt=euroEuro rescue}} 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 complicitybeing 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.{{sfn | Oppelland | 2020 | pp=60-61}}

The Values Union has been described as Germany's [[Tea Party movement|Tea Party]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Schaer|first=Cathrin|date=2021-06-13|title=Germany's Tea Party seeks to move country to the right|url=https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news-europe-news-the-german-tea-party-movement-8025042/|access-date=2022-01-27|website=The New European|language=en-GB}}</ref> The Values Union has no official party affiliation and its role within the CDU/CSU is highly controversial.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Werteunion - Max Otte, die CDU und die AfD|url=https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/otte-cdu-werteunion-afd-100.html|access-date=2022-01-27|website=Deutschlandfunk|language=de}}</ref> It has around 4,000 official members.<ref name=":0" /> In the 2018 leadership election the Values Union supported [[Friedrich Merz]].<ref>[https://www.zeit.de/news/2018-10/31/chef-der-werteunion-bevorzugt-merz-als-neuen-cdu-chef-181031-99-602003 Chef der Werteunion bevorzugt Merz als neuen CDU-Chef]</ref>

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== Forming a new party ==

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.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Geuther |first1=Gudula |title=Hans-Georg Maaßen will Werteunion zur Partei machen |url=https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/maassen-werteunion-soll-ueber-partegruendung-entscheiden-dlf-a591182e-100.html |access-date=6 January 2024 |publisher=[[Deutschlandfunk]] |date=5 January 2024 |language=de}}</ref> At a general meeting of the Values Union on January 20, 2024 in Erfurt, its members decidedvoted to form a new party with a plan to participate in the upcoming September 2024 pollsregional elections in [[Thuringia]], [[Saxony]], and [[Brandenburg]].<ref name=DW2024>{{cite web |title=Germany: Right-wing group to form a new conservative party |url=https://www.dw.com/en/germany-right-wing-group-to-form-a-new-conservative-party/a-68043732 |website=dw.com |publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]] |access-date=21 January 2024}}</ref>

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.” <ref>{{Cite web |title=Maaßen will mit Werteunion eigene Partei gründen |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/maassen-werteunion-parteigruendung-100.html |access-date=2024-01-19 |website=tagesschau.de |language=de}}</ref>