Controversial legal politician
At the CDU before being thrown out, at the union of values now the boss: Hans-Georg Maassen
Hans-Georg Maassen is the new chairman of the Union of Values
© Michael Reichel / DPA
Hans-Georg Maassen advocates “conservative values” and “against any kind of eco-socialism and gender wokism”. The former head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution won the hearts of the Union of Values. They now chose him to be their boss.
The former president of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Hans-Georg Maassen, has been elected chairman of the right-wing conservative union of values. The group announced this on Twitter. As chairman, he wanted to “work for the implementation of Christian-democratic goals, for conservative and liberal values and against any kind of eco-socialism and gender wokism,” Maassen said on Twitter before the election.
Hans-Georg Maassen accuses CDU smear campaign
The CDU, which is examining a party exclusion procedure against him, accused Maassen of a “shabby dirt campaign” against him. In recent years, Maaßen has repeatedly caused a stir and trouble in the CDU with right-wing populist statements – most recently with statements that were criticized as racist.
The Union of Values, founded in 2017, sees itself as a group of conservative Christian Democrats. She argues that the CDU, under the then party leader Angela Merkel, had shifted too far to the left and had to take more conservative positions again. It operates as a registered association and is not one of the official party organizations. The federal CDU is a thorn in the side of the union of values because of their criticism of the official party course.
The group says it has around 4,000 members. In the past two years it has been marked by internal disputes. In 2021, the AfD-affiliated economist Max Otte was surprisingly elected to succeed founding chairman Alexander Mitsch. Otte had to give up the presidency after running as a candidate for the AfD for the office of Federal President last year.
“Correction of the disastrous traffic light and Merkel policy”
Founding chairman Mitsch told the AFP news agency that he believed Maassen could “put the union of values back on the right track after the Otte disaster and exert a constructive political influence.” The CDU must change “to correct the disastrous policy of the Merkel era and the ‘traffic light’,” said Mitsch.
The federal CDU announced on Tuesday that it was examining a party exclusion procedure against Maassen. Party leader Friedrich Merz had previously criticized Maassen’s statements as “unacceptable”.
The reason for the criticism was an interview by Maaßen with a right-wing populist Internet portal. “According to green-red racial theory, whites are an inferior race,” he claimed there, among other things. He blamed “politicians and attitude journalists” for “racism practiced against the native Germans”.
Maassen was President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution from 2012 to 2018. He had to vacate the post after questioning right-wing extremist riots in Chemnitz. In 2021 he failed in the federal elections as a direct candidate for the CDU in Thuringia.