Markus Söder hasn’t talked for a minute before he’s already gotten to the suckling pig. Whenever it comes to Albania, he comes with this story, you can set your watch by it. On Thursday morning in the former Banz monastery, it took Söder 50 seconds to thank the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama very much for “the great food” during his visit to Albania almost a year ago. There they recreated the menu for Söder that CSU idol Franz Josef Strauss was served in the 1980s. “The starter was a meat soup,” says Söder, and after that the only non-meat thing was “the apple in the suckling pig’s mouth.”
But Söder then gets the curve at the winter meeting of the CSU state parliamentary group. Away from meat, towards the Albanian-Italian migration pact, which could be “a model” for European refugee policy – even if there are legal doubts. The European elections in June are “a decisive and directional election”. Söder thinks for the EU, but of course the CSU is also facing the next choice of direction.
At least in the surveys, this direction is correct from the CSU perspective. The party currently sees the BR24 Bavaria trend at 43 percent. Above the 40 mark, which is so important for the CSU – and above the European election result from 2019 (40.7). The widespread fear in the group that Free Voters leader Hubert Aiwanger will continue to steal votes from the CSU does not seem to be coming true at the moment. At the end of the exam on Thursday, CSU parliamentary group leader Klaus Holetschek even expressed the hope that “a certain magic is already over” for Aiwanger and his party.
Holetschek’s first test comes to an end with the exam. He would like to give the group more self-confidence in his new role, including towards Söder. Apart from detailed questions regarding the reduction of bureaucracy and the conscription debate, there were no signs of friction between the parliamentary group and the Prime Minister in Banz.
CSU Europe’s leading candidate Manfred Weber was also a guest in Banz.
(Photo: Daniel Vogl/dpa)
With a view to the European election campaign, the CSU would like to talk about the big questions: migration deals with third countries, trade agreements, a common defense strategy. The EU is currently “not in a position to defend itself,” warns CSU top candidate Manfred Weber in Banz. The structures must now be created to change this. He doesn’t want to see “the future of Europe being divided” between Putin’s Russia and the United States, which could soon be ruled again by Donald Trump. “If the Russian wins in Ukraine and the American leaves, it will be difficult for us,” says CSU party leader Söder.
At the press appearance with Prime Minister Rama, Söder promoted Albania’s accession to the EU, described the Free State as Germany’s “bridgehead to southern and southeastern Europe” – and said a very funny sentence: “Bavaria is the northernmost city in Italy.” Next to the Bavarian, the Albanian Prime Minister appears even more modest than he already appears in Banz. “We are small. We know we are not rich,” says Rama. Migration policy is therefore a pan-European task. His country can only make one contribution.