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Values Union WerteUnion | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | WU |
| Chairperson | vacant |
| Spokesperson | Martin Lohmann |
| Deputy chairs | Alexander Mitsch,Albert Weiler |
| Founder | Alexander Mitsch |
| Founded | 24 March 2017 (2017-03-24) (association) 17 February 2024 (2024-02-17) (party) |
| Split from | CDU |
| Headquarters | Berlin |
| Youth wing | Junge Werteunion |
| Membership(2024) | 1,386 to 4,000 |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Colours | Navy blue Orange |
| Bundestag | 0 / 630 |
| Bundesrat | 0 / 69 |
| State Parliaments | 1 / 1,891 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 96 |
| Heads of State Governments | 0 / 16 |
| Website | |
| werteunion | |
TheValues Union (German:WerteUnion,WU) is a German political party founded on 17 February 2024 by transforming a seven-year-oldregistered association with the same name.[4] According to its own information, the Values Union had around 4,000 members in 2022, with about 3,000 also being members of theChristian Democratic Union of Germany.[5]
The Values Union (WU) was founded in 2017 and mostly included the members of theChristian Democratic Union (CDU) seeking to reestablish their party'sconservative roots.[6] The formation was motivated by the same shift to the right in the CDU that eventually forcedAngela Merkel out of the leadership, due to her flirting withKeynesianism andsocial democracy, to the detriment of the "tough market radicalism of theCDU/CSU", as well as associated electorate losses to the right-wingAlternative for Germany (AfD).[7]
The CDU's executive committee did not recognize WU as a party subdivision, with critics accusing it of being close to the AfD.[6] The group, which was quite small at the time, argued against Merkel's approaches to theEuro rescue [de] and the2015 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 thepresidium and executive committee of the CDU related to the murder ofWalter Lübcke indirectly accused Maaßen and WU of being complicit: "Anyone who supports the AfD must know that they are poisoning the social climate and brutalizing the political discourse". The federal leadership of the CDU initiated expulsion of Maaßen in February 2023.[8]
The deputy federal chairwoman andNorth Rhine-Westphalia state leader of WU, Simone Baum, took part ina secret networking meeting between the AfD and other right-wing extremists on 2023.[9] At the meeting, the right-wing extremist participants discussed how an expulsion of migrants and people who think differently politically would be possible.[10] The CDU initiated party expulsion proceedings against Baum, and the city ofCologne terminated her employment with immediate effect, likewise due to her participation at the secret meeting.[11]
In the beginning of 2024, Maaßen announced a vote among the association members in order to turn WU into a political party that would take an anti-immigration stance.[12] At a general meeting on 20 January inErfurt, its members voted to form a new party, with a plan to participate in the upcoming September 2024 regional elections inThuringia,Saxony, andBrandenburg.[13] Maaßen had said earlier that the new party would cooperate with all parties that support its program and "are ready for a change in policy in Germany".[14] WU got 0.28% of the vote in the2024 Saxony state election, 0.56% inThuringia, and 0.26% inBrandenburg.[citation needed]
AfDBundestag memberDirk Spaniel joined WU in January 2025, giving it representation in the federal parliament.[15] Spaniel will not run for re-election.[16]
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| Election | Leader | Constituency | Party list | Seats | +/– | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||||
| 2025 | Hans-Georg Maaßen | 2,844 (#20) | 0.01 | 6,803 (#25) | 0.01 | 0 / 630 | New | Extra-parliamentary |
| State | Year | Votes | % | Seats | ± | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saxony | 2024 | 6,474 | 0.28 (#14) | 0 / 120 | N/A | Extra-parliamentary |
| Thuringia | 2024 | 6,780 | 0.56 (#10) | 0 / 88 | N/A | Extra-parliamentary |
| Brandenburg | 2024 | 3,877 | 0.26 (#12) | 0 / 88 | N/A | Extra-parliamentary |
The chair of WU isHans-Georg Maaßen, the former head of theFederal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Since January 2024, he has been monitored by his former colleagues.[17]
Shortly after the party was founded, a dispute over direction and power struggles began. Maaßen said that he would ideally like to form a coalition with the CDU, which he called the "premium partner" for WU. He also said he was happy about the possible demise of the AfD. This caused discord within the party. The entrepreneur Markus Krall and ex-AfD memberMax Otte were involved in founding the party. After less than a month, they announced their resignation. Both criticized the party's unclear program and political direction and its protagonists' overconfidence.[18] They also complained that the party's distance from the AfD was too great.[19][20][21]
Politically, observers place the Values Union between the CDU and the AfD.[19] It has been described as Germany'sTea Party.[22] Prior to turning into a party, it had no official party affiliation, and its role within the CDU/CSU was highly controversial.[23][24] In the 2018 leadership election, it supportedFriedrich Merz.[25]
Federal presidency:
Former members: