Kretschmer rules out cooperation with Werteunion

Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer has ruled out working with the Werteunion. When asked on the ARD program "Bericht aus Berlin" on Sunday evening whether he would rule out cooperation with the Werteunion if it were to enter parliament after being founded, as in the case of the AfD, the CDU politician said: "Yes, the same applies. We can see what kind of people they are. They have such hatred not only for the CDU and the CSU, but also for what we call common sense: Live and let live."

The CDU wants an open society. "What's going on here right now? From the left, from the right - people everywhere are being told how they should behave, how they should live." That is not the freedom of the Federal Republic of Germany. "We are a party that takes people as they are and makes policy based on these needs. We are not educators of the people. That is the difference to these populists."

At the weekend, the conservative Werteunion cleared the way for the party foundation planned by its leader Hans-Georg Maaßen. According to its spokesperson in Erfurt on Saturday, a majority of the members of the association, which previously claimed to be close to the CDU, voted in favor of transferring the right to use the name Werteunion to the planned party. Maaßen had been given the mandate to "initiate the founding of a conservative-liberal party under this name", explained the Werteunion.

The Werteunion stated that the party would be founded in such a timely manner that participation in the state elections in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg in September would be guaranteed. The CDU has been conducting expulsion proceedings against former head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution Maaßen since last year.