German conservatives take step to form new party

 

BERLIN – Yet another new German political party appears to be on the horizon, as the arch-conservative Werteunion cleared the way to establish itself as a party.

At the centre of the group is its leader Hans-Georg Maaßen, the former head of Germany’s domestic intelligence service who lost his job after appearing to downplay violence against migrants.

A majority of the members of the group, which previously claimed to be close to the conservative opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, voted in favour of transferring the right to use the name Werteunion – which translates as Values Union – to the party, a Werteunion spokesman said.

Maaßen had been given the mandate to “initiate the foundation of a conservative-liberal party under this name,” the group said.

A Maaßen party would be the second prominent new party in Germany to be founded in 2024. The former Left Party politician’s Sahra Wagenknecht alliance was founded as a party at the beginning of the year.

Werteunion said it will establish itself as a party in order to participate in the state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg in September.

The CDU has been conducting expulsion proceedings against Maaßen, a party member, since last year.

The Werteunion’s meeting in Erfurt was attended by several hundred members, according to a spokesman. It was not open to the public.

The group made headlines in recent weeks when it was revealed in an investigative report that some of its members participated in a meeting of far-right extremists in November who discussed plans to deport migrants deemed not assimilated enough, including those with German passports.

The Werteunion confirmed that two of its members attended the meeting in Potsdam near Berlin “as private guests and not as representatives of the Werteunion.”