At its party conference on Saturday in Würzburg, the CSU wants to focus on foreign policy. “Rethinking security, sovereignty and strength” is the leading motion that the party will then discuss. The background is the Russian war against Ukraine. The eight-page paper that the Süddeutsche Zeitung is available, proposes, among other things, the founding of an “Economic NATO” which, in addition to the European Union, the USA and other NATO countries, should also include Australia, Japan, South Korea and Israel. From the point of view of the CSU, such an alliance should “deepen the strategic partnership in the West on questions of economy and innovation”. For this purpose, “ecological, social and ethical standards” are to be set, “which standardize the economic activities of the member countries,” according to the lead motion.
Furthermore, the CSU again calls for a sustained strengthening and structural reform of the Bundeswehr as well as a “stronger return to alliance and national defence” by the army. The leading motion also lists other positions that the party is already familiar with. These included the demand for a National Security Council, for longer operating times for the remaining nuclear power plants in Germany and for a reduction in the electricity tax. In its leading motion, the CSU calls the war against Ukraine a “turning point in Europe and the world.”
The Würzburg party conference is also intended to mark the start of the work of the CSU on its new policy program, which is to be completed before the 2023 state elections. It is to be developed by a commission led by the two members of the state parliament, Gerhard Hopp and Martin Huber. Since 1946, the CSU has presented a total of seven policy programs, the last so far in 2016. According to party leader Markus Söder, the 2023 program is intended to cover the Bavarian “way of life”, which he recently summed up in the slogan “Leberkäs und Laser”. Söder also wants to send “a signal to the Leberkäs floor” at the party conference, as he told Bayerischer Rundfunk. His speech is considered the highlight of the event.