Changes in Germany are being closely monitored throughout the European Union: if we don’t catch up, there will be enormous damage

As if to confirm the historian’s view: Former Polish Prime Minister and President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, addressed the new Christian Democratic leader Armin Laschet on Election Day, unequivocally urging him to “defend our common values” and not delay further. the removal of Fidesz from Hungary. of the European Parliament.

Mr. Laschet reacted cautiously. “It will be a difficult issue”, “Hungary and Poland need in the European Union.” I don’t want them to deviate towards right-wing radicalism, “he told the public broadcaster ZDF on Saturday. At the same time, the German politician promised to pressure Viktor Orban to comply with the conditions set by the PPE Group.

But for the moment, the new leader of the Christian Democrats worries about something else: how to quell the negative emotions that swirl at the party base. Friedrich Merz, a longtime political rival to Angela Merkel’s political rival, has been “hailed outside the party” after the defeat of a great candidate backed by the Christian Democrats.

F. Merz’s camp – stable: for him in 2018. The CDU voted 48 percent at the convention, and now 47 percent. delegate party members. The great disappointment and anger was not caused so much by the defeat itself but by the way in which Chancellor Merkel actively lobbied Merz, in part acting on the sidelines.

The Union of Christian Democrats became the dishwasher of the spirit of the age

Offensive and openly hostile media campaign against F. Merz: F. Merz, 65, is portrayed as a “man of the past” who no longer complies with the spirit of the time, repeats that he wants to incline the party from the center the right, forgetting to mention that Merkel 18 years at the head of the Conservative Party has pushed him to the left, “digesting the Social Democrats” and taking on key issues from the Green Party.

Visually, according to historian Rödder, the Christian Democratic Union “has become a dishwasher of the spirit of the age”: it is removing from the table all the issues that the political left, the Social Democrats and especially the Greens served it.

It would be difficult to name the German Christian Democratic Union as a conservative party. Finally, Laschet himself told the FAZ two years ago that “the core of the CDU brand is not conservatism, but the Christian concept of man.”

The “spirit of the time”, constantly formed by the main media of the country, is emphatically progressive. According to polls, left-wing media predominate, even though the vast majority of conservative Die Welt members would elect a red-green government, said Mathias, head of Springer’s media group, which also includes Die Welt. Döpfner. Therefore, it is not surprising that conservatism in the media, like Soviet propaganda, is quick to identify with the backward, outdated, reactionary.

Rely on experience, not ideologies and utopias

However, conservatism in no way adheres to some eternal truth, explains Professor Rödder from the University of Mainz. Conservatism is a responsible political mindset that “is skeptical of supposed beliefs and ideologies, based on experience and pragmatism rather than theories and utopias.”

“Conservatism in politics means shaping change so that it can be tolerated by the people. And conservative thinking means reconfiguring,” says the 43-year-old historian.

Understanding conservatism in this way, it must be recognized that Chancellor Merkel’s crucial political decisions, which significantly affected and will affect the economic, social and cultural life of the country in the future, did not arise from conservative thinking, but rather from progressive ideologies.

Suffice it to mention two examples here: Merkel’s sudden decision to abandon nuclear energy with no technical or economic alternative (2011) and to leave the borders open for half a year to an uncontrolled influx of migrants (2015). The first corresponded to the “green spirit of the time”, the second to the vision of a world without borders and a diverse society cherished by progressive activists.

The president was not chosen by the rank and file of the party, but by its officials.

Most of the ordinary members of the former Conservative Party have long disagreed with this collapse of the former Conservative Party and have put all their hope in its candidate, F. Merz, who is determined to adjust the party’s course. As the pre-election polls showed, Merz outperformed the other two candidates, Norbert Röttgen and especially Laschet.

Merz was endorsed by the youth of the Christian Democrats and the liberal economic wing, in other words, all those who realize that market economy, “said Ulf Poschardt, editor-in-chief of die Welt, after the election.

However, the president was not elected by ordinary members of the party, but by its officials, who, in the very words of U. Poschardt, “A. Merkel’s Machiavellianism has distanced itself from the party base. “

The choice of the CDU president has been evaluated more harshly from above than from below (which should be expected in a democracy) by former member of Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s team and now one of Merkel’s sharpest critics, Roland Tichy. . According to him, Merkel has “a small number of salaried and dependent civil servants”, and ordinary party members with their stubbornness only hinder her. Is it any wonder, then, that the number of CDU members has almost halved since 2000?

The will of a large number of party members was crushed

Many party members no longer want to tolerate the “loyalty of the Nibelungs to an increasingly left-wing chancellor demonstrated by party officials” from a letter from a Christian Democrat justifying his resignation from the CDU after 20 years of membership.

‘A. Merkel and her entourage, which undoubtedly includes the new president of the party, want to get rid not only of conservative and liberal economic views, but also of their heads, ”did not hide the Christian Democrat from North Rhine-Westphalia, who is leaving the match. his bitterness.

Merz’s supporters are by no means a fringe group of the party’s “conservatives” as it is often looked down upon, says Christian Democrat Ch. De Vriesas. “Friedrich Merz shares those hopes with those party members and officials who, in addition to the necessary governmental pragmatism, want less adaptation to the spirit of the times, a more active economy, less redistributive policies and stricter rules on political asylum”, said. . of Vriesas.

“The great paradigm shifts, such as the abolition of conscription, the change in the concept of the family, the withdrawal of nuclear energy and the refugee policy, have simply been brought down from the top of the government,” said Dirk Kalweitis. President of the Essen Conservative Forum.

The disappointment with the election results was not hidden by Simone Baum, the deputy leader of the conservative wing of the Werteunion party: “This was a violation of the will of a large number of members of the CDU. Had the party members been elected, Mr. Merz clearly would have won. Unfortunately, the CDU has become a party for officials, not members. “

Friedrich Merz urges not to leave the party and warns of the threat of neo-socialism

Saxony’s Prime Minister in Anhalt, Rainer Haseloff (CDU), immediately appealed to the new Christian Democratic president to take Merz’s position into account, as the latter’s “economic competition and regulatory approach are at the heart of our Christian Democratic Union, “he told German radio on Monday. Deutschlandfunk.

Feelings of resignation, accompanied by party withdrawals and rebellious declarations calling for the formation of a new party, finally forced the collapse of the “merkelists”. It seems that this time it will no longer be possible to ignore those party members who have tolerated Merkel’s course for a long time by clenching their fists in their pockets.

On Monday night, Merz wrote to his supporters in an open letter in agreement with the new president, Laschet: “Now we must do everything possible to support Armin Laschet in his responsible work.” Beliefs and our country. “If the party does not do so,” Germany runs the risk of falling into right-wing populism or left-wing green neosocialism. That would do great harm to our country. “

Judging by the polls and the determination of the Greens to lead a coalition with the Social Democrats and the left-wing Die Linke party, the threat of left-wing neo-socialism mentioned by F. Merz is entirely real. “The cultural hegemony of the supposedly left and supposedly emancipatory strata is growing only because the CDU avoided any cultural struggle in Merkel’s year,” commented Die Welt editor-in-chief U. Poschardt.

The future of the Community will also depend on whether the German Christian Democrats succeed in preventing the German Christian Democrats from becoming the next economically strong EU state in the elections next September.