The meeting of the party’s young people is also a popularity test for Union grandees. The CDU chairman fights back tears alongside the Israeli ambassador, the CSU leader attacks the Greens. What is better received? Hard to say.
Friedrich Merz has not been received enthusiastically throughout the CDU in recent months – the party leader’s comments have caused considerable irritation. He can be all the more pleased about this welcome. The Junge Union met in Braunschweig for its Germany Day. The meetings of the party’s junior members are always a popularity test for CDU grandees. And Merz seems to be able to pass it easily in Braunschweig. The Union ranks at 32 percent in the surveys, says JU boss Johannes Winkel. “The fact that we are so strong again is largely thanks to you, dear Friedrich Merz.” The Junge Union wants “clear content” – and there are only “few politicians in Germany who have stood for a content profile as clearly as you, dear Friedrich, over the last few years.”