CSU conference in Seeon: election campaign from the monastery

Attacks on traffic lights, demands for battle tanks for Ukraine: The CSU members of the Bundestag have mapped out their course in the Bavarian monastery of Seeon – especially with a view to the state elections in Bavaria in the fall.

Massive criticism of the traffic light coalition marked the meeting of the CSU members of the Bundestag in the Bavarian Seeon monastery. With a view to the upcoming state elections in Bavaria and Hesse, among other places, CSU state group leader Alexander Dobrindt said it would be “a year of decisions about the traffic light chaos”.

In Seeon Monastery, the 45 CSU members of the Bundestag met for the first time since the beginning of the corona pandemic for the traditional retreat at the beginning of the year.

The Hessian Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) was invited as a guest. He said the “traffic light fuss” in Berlin was not good for the country. “In particular, it also damages our country’s economic power. And in this respect, a strong corrective from the countries is needed.” The Union not only criticizes, it also has “very constructive, very modern and very innovative approaches”.

Scholz is to deliver battle tanks

The focal points of the consultations were the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and the consequences for Germany. Dobrindt and Rhein called on the federal government, after the decision for “Marder” armored personnel carriers, to quickly bring about the delivery of “Leopard” type battle tanks to the Ukraine. “The Federal Chancellor is called upon to make this decision now,” said Dobrindt.

Faced with internal and external threats, the CSU is pushing for the establishment of a national security council and a senior national security adviser. Such a decision by the federal government is “more urgent than ever,” said Dobrindt. He renewed a demand that has been discussed again and again for years and that the Union had already raised in the 2021 federal election campaign.

National Security Council required

There are many different threats from abroad and at home. That’s why a national security council is needed that bundles all these issues and advises the federal government. The security expert Peter Neumann supported this demand. Germany is the only country in the G7 group without such a Security Council that believes it can afford different ministries to pursue different policies. “That’s why a national security council is needed, which coordinates.”

The shortage of medicines for children was also a topic of consultation in Seeon. Rhein and Dobrindt called for a summit of the federal government, the federal states and the pharmaceutical industry. “It is unacceptable that children in Germany do not have the opportunity to get cough syrup and other medicines,” said Rhein. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) must therefore convene a children’s health summit to get the situation under control.

Dobrindt said: “Children instead of cannabis” – that was the job for the Minister of Health, Lauterbach had to take care of that now.