Showing posts with label CDU. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CDU. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Far-Right Enters Germany's Parliament for First Time in 60 Years


The Alternative for Germany party, which has moved so far right that it includes neo-Nazis, now has a seat at the table. Meanwhile, both the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats lost big, explains TRNN's Shir Hever

Monday, September 25, 2017

Inside Story - The Resurgence of the Right in Germany


She was expected to win, and she did. But Angela Merkel's re-election victory in Germany on Sunday is bittersweet. The Chancellor's Christian Democratic Union won 34 percent of seats in the parliament or Bundestag - that's enough to be the biggest party, but not for a majority government. She'll start talks to build a coalition. At the same time, Merkel's contending with a surge of support for the AfD - the nationalists won the largest far-right representation in parliament since Hitler's Nazis in the 1940s.

For the first time in decades, a right wing party that's opposed her every move has a seat at the political table. Merkel says her party has a clear mandate. How will she govern this time?

Presenter: Elizabeth Puranam | Guests: Dietrich Von Kyaw - Former German Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the EU; Thorsten Benner - Director of Global Public Policy Institute; Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian - Contributing Writer, Foreign Policy


Monday, September 19, 2016

CDU Loses Votes in Berlin over Migration | DW News


Berlin's state election is the latest in a string of dismal results for Angela Merkel's CDU. Many blame her refugee policy for the vote drop but Merkel refuses to change course.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

After the Election: How Isolated Is Merkel? | Quadriga


It is seen as a slap in the face for Angela Merkel. The election result in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern saw the chancellor’s conservatives slumping into third place – behind the populist right-wing Alternative for Germany party (AfD).

Our guests: Ulrike Herrmann is a business editor at the Berlin daily taz; Malte Lehming is the opinion editor at Der Tagesspiegel newspaper. Janosch Delcker reported on the Mecklenburg election for Politico.

German Chancellor’s Own Party Turns On Angela Merkel


Tuesday, September 06, 2016

CDU-Debakel bei Landtagswahl: "Schnauze voll"


Im Wahlkreis Rostock II hat die CDU mit 12,8 Prozent ihr schlechtestes Landtagswahlergebnis eingefahren. Was halten die Bewohner von Angela Merkel?

Monday, September 05, 2016

Far-right AfD Beats Merkel's Party in German State Vote


An anti-immigration party has overtaken German Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling CDU party in her home state, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Election results show Alternative for Germany, or AFD, won 21 percent of votes, about two percent more than the CDU.

Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane reports from Schwerin.


Sunday, September 04, 2016

German Anti-immigrant Party Beats Merkel's Party in Her Home State


REUTERS.COM: German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats fell to third place in a state election on Sunday behind the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, TV projections showed.

In a stinging defeat for Merkel in her home district one year ahead of federal elections, the upstart AfD won 21.4 percent of the vote in their first election in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern by campaigning hard against the chancellor's policies on refugees, according to a projection by ZDF TV at 1615 GMT.

"This isn't pretty for us," said Michael Grosse-Groehmer, one of Merkel's top deputies in parliament in Berlin in a ZDF TV interview. "Those who voted for the AfD were sending a message of protest." » | By Erik Kirschbaum and Andrea Shalal | BERLIN | Sunday, September 4, 2016

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Close The Borders: Angela Merkel's Own Party Turn On Leader's ‘Open Door’ Refugee Policy

EXPRESS: GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing another mutiny in her own party after politicians demanded Germany closed its borders to asylum seekers.

More than 40 politicians in Merkel’s Christian Democrat Party signed a petition to close its doors to refugees following the sex attacks in Cologne.

The chancellor has come under intense pressure to change her “open-door” policy after it was revealed asylum seekers were among suspects in the vicious New Year’s Eve attacks.

More than 650 women have now come forward to file criminal complaints over the attacks, around 45 per cent of them for sexual assault. » | Charlie Peat | Thursday, January 14, 2016

Monday, November 02, 2015

Deutschland - Feuer im Dach bei den Unionsparteien


Die Flüchtlingspolitik der deutschen Bundeskanzlerin sorgt für Unmut in den Unionsparteien. Die Existenz von CDU und CSU stehe auf dem Spiel, sagt der bayerische Ministerpräsident Horst Seehofer. CDU-Finanzminister Schäuble, der seit 43 Jahren im Bundestag ist, spricht von einer dramatisch schlechten Stimmung in der CDU.

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Merkel verliert an Zustimmung

Flüchtlinge aus dem Irak und Syrien fotografieren sich
gemeinsam mit Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel.
ZEIT ONLINE: Die Haltung der Kanzlerin in der Flüchtlingskrise lässt offenbar ihre Beliebtheit in der Bevölkerung sinken. Auch aus ihrer Partei bekommt Angela Merkel viel Kritik.

Die Beliebtheit von Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel (CDU) hat deutlich gelitten. In einer Umfrage des Nachrichtenmagazins Der Spiegel musste die Kanzlerin erstmals in dieser Legislaturperiode den Spitzenplatz als beliebteste Politikerin abgeben. Auch im jüngsten ZDF-Politbarometer rutschte Merkel bei der Frage nach den wichtigsten Politikern auf Platz vier ab. » | Quelle: ZEIT ONLINE, dpa, cz | Sonntag, 27. September 2015

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Merkel's Party Routed in Big German State

REUTERS.COM: Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives suffered a crushing defeat on Sunday in an election in Germany's most populous state, a result which could embolden the left opposition to step up its criticism of her European austerity policies.

The election in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), a western German state with a bigger population than the Netherlands and an economy the size of Turkey, was held 18 months before a national election in which Merkel is expected to fight for a third term.

She remains popular in Germany for her steady handling of the euro zone debt crisis, but the sheer scale of her party's defeat leaves her vulnerable at a time when a backlash against her insistence on fiscal discipline is building across Europe.

According to first projections, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) won 38.8 percent of the vote and will have enough to form a stable majority with the Greens, who scored 12.2 percent.

The two left-leaning parties had run a fragile minority government for the past two years under popular SPD leader Hannelore Kraft, whose decisive victory on Sunday could propel her to national prominence.

Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) saw their support plunge to just 25.8 percent, down from nearly 35 percent in 2010, and the worst result in the state since World War Two.

"This is not a good evening for Merkel," said Gero Neugebauer, a political scientist at Berlin's Free University. » | Stephen Brown | Reuters | (Reporting by Stephen Brown and Tom Kaeckenhoff in Duesseldorf; Writing by Noah Barkin,Madeline Chambers, Sarah Marsh in Berlin) | Sunday, May 13, 2012

REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND: Rot-Grün gewinnt in NRW - Debakel für die CDU » | Sonntag, 13. Mai 2012

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Dette de la Grèce: et si elle vendait ses îles?

Quelle folie! – Mark

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: PROPOSITION | Des députés allemands ont appelé la Grèce à vendre des îles pour aider à financer sa dette.

Photo: Tribune de Genève

Le quotidien populaire allemand Bild révèle cette information jeudi, qu'il résume l’idée en ces termes: "On vous donne du fric, vous nous donnez Corfou".

"L’Etat grec doit renoncer à sa participation dans des sociétés, et vendre des propriétés foncières, comme par exemple des îles inhabitées", a affirmé au journal le député libéral Frank Schäffler, du parti FDP au pouvoir. >>> AFP | Jeudi 04 Mars 2010

Greece Should Sell Islands to Keep Bankruptcy at Bay, Say German MPs

What a stupid idea! Really dumb! – Mark

THE GUARDIAN: Fire sale of Greek islands, Acropolis and Parthenon suggested / Greek public reacts with outrage and boycotts German goods

Josef Schlarmann told Bild newspaper that Greece should consider selling its uninhabited islands for debt redemption. Photograph: The Guardian

Greece must consider a fire sale of land, historic buildings and art works to cut its debts, two rightwing German politicians said today in a newspaper interview that is bound to exacerbate tensions between Athens and Berlin.

Alongside austerity measures such as cuts to public sector pay and a freeze on state pensions, why not sell a few uninhabited islands or ancient artefacts, asked Josef Schlarmann, a senior member of Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, and Frank Schaeffler, a finance policy expert in the Free Democrats.

The Acropolis and the Parthenon could also fall under the hammer, along with temptingly idyllic Aegean islands still under state ownership, in a rush to keep bankruptcy at bay.

"Those in insolvency have to sell everything they have to pay their creditors," Schlarmann told Bild newspaper. "Greece owns buildings, companies and uninhabited islands, which could all be used for debt redemption." >>> Phillip Inman and Helena Smith | Thursday, March 04, 2010

Verkauft doch eure Inseln, ihr Pleite-Griechen ... UND DIE AKROPOLIS GLEICH MIT!

Welch eine Dummheit! – Mark

BILD.de: Jetzt machen die Griechen ernst, um ihr Land vor dem Bankrott zu retten, ohne auf EU-Hilfe angewiesen zu sein!

Gestern beschloss die Regierung in Athen: Die Mehrwertsteuer rauf (von 19 auf 21%), Alkohol, Luxusgüter und Tabak teurer, die Bezüge von Staatsdienern, Rentnern, Studenten gekürzt.

4,8 Mrd. Euro soll das Sparprogramm bringen – aber bei Staatsschulden von mehr als 300 Mrd. Euro ist das nicht mal ein Tropfen auf den heißen Stein ...

Was kann die Griechen dann noch retten?

Auch wenn es vielleicht verrückt klingt: Wenn wir den Griechen doch noch mit Milliarden Euro aushelfen müssen, sollten sie dafür auch etwas hergeben – z. B. ein paar ihrer wunderschönen Inseln. Motto: Ihr kriegt Kohle. Wir kriegen Korfu.

Tatsächlich ist es der größte Schatz der Griechen: 3054 Inseln, nur 87 davon bewohnt.

Und einen Markt gibt es! Derzeit bietet z. B. das Hamburger Maklerbüro Vladi Private Islands eine unbewohnte griechische Insel an – Verhandlungsbasis: 45 Mio. Euro.

Ob die Kanzlerin morgen mit ihrem Amtskollegen Papandreou bei dessen Berlin-Besuch die Insel-Frage anschneidet ...?

Der Koalitionspartner rät dazu. FDP-Finanzexperte Frank Schäffler zu BILD: „Die Kanzlerin darf keinen Rechtsbruch begehen, darf Griechenland keine Hilfen versprechen. Der griechische Staat muss sich radikal von Beteiligungen an Firmen trennen und auch Grundbesitz, z. B. unbewohnte Inseln, verkaufen.“

CDU-Mittelstandschef Josef Schlarmann: „Ein Bankrotteur muss alles, was er hat, zu Geld machen – um seine Gläubiger zu bedienen. Griechenland besitzt Gebäude, Firmen und unbewohnte Inseln, die für die Schuldentilgung eingesetzt werden können.“ >>> jan/pro/rok | Donnerstag, 04. März 2010

Monday, October 05, 2009

Nicolas Sarkozy Told David Cameron He Was 'Stupid' for Pulling Out of European Group

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: French President Nicolas Sarkozy angrily told David Cameron he was "stupid" for pulling the Conservatives out of the main centre-right grouping in the European Parliament.

Mr Sarkozy is said to have confronted Mr Cameron about the issue several times. Photo: The Telegraph

President Sarkozy and the Conservative Leader were involved in a series of heated exchanges after Mr Cameron left the European People's Party, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

Mr Sarkozy is said to have told Mr Cameron: "C'est fou, il se fait mal à la tête," meaning "It's stupid, you're giving yourself a headache."

Senior sources in Brussels revealed the exchanges which took place in the wake of Mr Cameron's pulling his Conservative MEPs out of the centre-right EPP grouping in June in order to fulfil a pledge made during his leadership campaign in 2005.

The decision went down badly with other mainstream European leaders including Angela Merkel of Germany, who threatened to withhold co-operation from the Conservatives.

Ms Merkel's Christian Democrat Union party recalled its London representative Thomas Stehling to Germany in protest at the move.

Mr Sarkozy is said to have confronted Mr Cameron about the issue several times. "They have had three or four conversations about it," said a senior diplomatic source. "On one occasion Sarkozy basically told Cameron he was stupid for doing it, that it was a decision that would come back to haunt him."

European leaders were not alone in expressing their amazement at the move. President Barack Obama is understood to have raised the issue when he met Mr Cameron last summer at the House of Commons during his visit to Britain. >>> Melissa Kite, Deputy Political Editor | Sunday, October 04, 2009

MAIL ONLINE: 'Dithering' Cameron urged to speak out on Europe as Tory referendum row overshadows start of conference >>> Tim Shipman | Sunday, October 04, 2009

THE GUARDIAN: David Cameron retreats on European referendum: Boris Johnson claims no rift over call for public vote / Decision may bring Blair presidency closer / Party will attempt to claw back UK powers >>> Nicholas Watt | Sunday, October 04, 2009

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Angela Merkel Win Ends Turkey's EU Hopes

THE TELEGRAPH: Turkish hopes of joining the EU appeared to be all but over after Germany gave warning it was ready to join France and Italy in outright opposition to the country's membership.

Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Free Democrats (FDP) are both hostile to the accession of the overwhelmingly Muslim country of 71 million.

The CDU is against the Turks joining for cultural reasons while the FDP leader, and probable new foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle has said the country's economy is too far below European standards to integrate comfortably with other members. With almost three million ethnic Turks living in Germany, many as citizens, Germany also fears there would be a flood of immigrants after Turkish accession.

Chancellor Angela Merkell has warned her Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call that Germany foreign policy was under review. An EU meeting to review the Turkish role in the unification of Cyprus in December will represent the first test of the policy.

The Turkish reaction to the German election result has been open dismay. The country's liberal broadsheet Milliyet summed up the mood in Ankara's political circles. It said: "Turkey is the loser".

The mass-market Aksam told Turks to be braced for a change in approach from Europe's biggest country. It said: "We should expect Merkel to sharpen her opposition to Turkey's membership." >>> Damien McElroy in Berlin | Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Monday, September 28, 2009


Bundestagswahl: Kanzlerin von Guidos Gnaden

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Angela Merkel hat für die Union die Kanzlerschaft gerettet, doch der eindeutige Sieger dieser Bundestagswahl heißt Guido Westerwelle. Die FDP bekommt sogar deutlich mehr Mandate als die CSU - für die Kanzlerin wird das Regieren dadurch nicht einfacher.

Berlin - Angela Merkel strahlt. Ein, zweimal wackelt sie mit dem Kopf, wippt kurz auf den Zehenspitzen, so, als wolle sie vor Freude am liebsten einen kleinen Hüpfer machen. Im roten Blazer steht sie um kurz nach 19 Uhr auf der Bühne des Konrad-Adenauer-Hauses. Eben noch war auf den Leinwänden SPD-Spitzenkandidat Frank-Walter Steinmeier zu sehen, wie er den Genossen die bittere Schlappe zu erklären versuchte, und die Menge in der CDU-Zentrale lachte spöttisch über die entsetzten Gesichter im Willy-Brandt-Haus. Nun schallt es "Angie, Angie" durch das voll besetzte Foyer. Mehrfach muss die CDU-Chefin ansetzen, um sich Gehör zu verschaffen. "Nicht nur Ihr und Sie sind heute Abend glücklich - ich bin es auch. Wir haben etwas Tolles geschafft."

Es reicht, es reicht für Schwarz-Gelb, das sagen die Wahlforscher in ihren Hochrechnungen übereinstimmend voraus. Es reicht sogar für eine stabile Mehrheit - "und das ist gut", freut sich Merkel. Es reicht allerdings nicht, weil Angela Merkel und Horst Seehofer ihre Union endlich wieder an die 40 Prozentmarke herangeführt hätten. Im Gegenteil: CDU und CSU erreichen mit gerade einmal 33,8 Prozent nicht einmal das Niveau von vor vier Jahren. Damit fährt Merkel das schlechteste Ergebnis für die Union bei einer Bundestagswahl seit der Wahl 1949 ein. Die CSU erleidet für ihre Verhältnisse gar ein Desaster: Bei 42,6 Prozent liegen die Christsozialen in Bayern.

Es reicht also vor allem für Schwarz-Gelb, weil die FDP so stark ist. 14,6 Prozent holen die Liberalen. Guido Westerwelle ist der eigentliche große Sieger dieser Wahl, darum überlässt ihm Merkel am Abend sogar den letzten Auftritt in der Reihe der TV-Liveschaltungen.

Westerwelle nimmt seinen Lebenspartner mit


Um 19.11 betritt der FDP-Chef dann das Foyer in den "Römischen Höfen" in Berlin. Die Anhänger rufen "Guido, Guido", irgendwann singen sie wie im Fußballstadion "So sehen Sieger aus, Schalalala". Westerwelle steht auf dem Podest mit dem Führungspersonal seiner Partei, plötzlich umarmt ihn sein Lebenspartner Michael Mronz. Westerwelle strahlt in die Kameras, es ist der Augenblick, auf den er hingearbeitet hat - die FDP ist wieder zurück an der Macht, nach elf Jahren in der Opposition. Neben ihm steht Hans Dietrich Genscher, der Ex-Außenminister und FDP-Ehrenvorsitzende, er wirkt fast ein wenig entrückt. Genscher, der die sozial-liberale und schwarz-gelbe Koalition in seiner Zeit mitgeprägt hat, hat Wahlkampf für den FDP-Chef gemacht. Genscher hat ihm im Präsidium an diesem Abend noch vor der ersten Hochrechnung gedankt: Der Erfolg sei auch ein Verdienst Westerwelles als Person. >>> Von Severin Weiland und Philipp Wittrock | Sonntag, 27. September 2009

Spiegel TV Video anschauen: Wahlerfolg für Angela Merkel und Guido Westerwelle >>>

Neuer Koalitionsvertrag bis Ende Oktober: Deutsches Regierungsbündnis soll im Eiltempo stehen

NZZ ONLINE: Die Siegesparteien der deutschen Bundestagswahlen wollen rasch ein Regierungskonzept vorstellen. Sie geben sich einen Monat Zeit dafür. Die wichtigen Knackpunkte bei den Koalitionsverhandlungen dürften wohl die Kosten der Arbeitslosigkeit sowie die steuerlichen Massnahmen bilden.

Schon am Morgen nach der opulenten Siegesfeier der FDP und der Union wird auf dem Politparkett wieder fleissig gearbeitet. Zum Ausruhen bleibt definitiv keine Zeit, im Gegenteil: Schon Ende Oktober wollen sich die Liberalen und die Union auf einen neuen Koalitionsvertrag verständigen. Dies hat der FDP-Generalsekretär Dirk Niebel bereits am Sonntagabend gegenüber dem «Spiegel» verlauten lassen.

Deutsche Effizienz

So soll es denn auch keine Sondierungsgespräche geben. Man wolle vorwärts machen und direkte Gespräche über die Koalition führen, so der Parteisekretär weiter. Bereits heute sind Termine auf Vorstandsebne vorgesehen. Deutsche Effizienz eben. >>> hoh | Montag, 28. September 2009
Mandate for Change in Germany: Merkel's Center-Right Coalition Wins, Opening Door to Tax Cuts and Labor Revamp

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: BERLIN -- A center-right alliance led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel was set for victory in Germany's national elections on Sunday, opening the door to modest tax cuts and labor-market changes that could help strengthen the fragile recovery in Germany's crisis-battered economy.

Ms. Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union and its pro-business ally, the Free Democratic Party, were set to win a small majority in Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, according to early results. The CDU, its Bavarian conservative sister-party, the Christian Social Union, and the FDP won 48.4% of the national vote on Sunday, according to projections by state broadcaster ARD.

"For corporate Germany, this is a good signal," said Thorsten Polleit, economist at Barclays Capital in Frankfurt. "The FDP, which will feel very confident now, and much of the CDU will want to bring down government spending in order to cut income taxes."

The parties are expected to form a new national government quickly, replacing the fractious bipartisan coalition between Ms. Merkel's CDU and the left-leaning Social Democratic Party that has ruled Germany since 2005.

For the U.S. and other German allies, the election result will bring continuity in German foreign policy, including on Afghanistan, where the FDP is expected to continue to support German troops' presence, while calling for an exit strategy in the medium term. Unlike the SPD, which has had a sometimes difficult relationship with the U.S., the FDP has long been a staunch proponent of Germany's trans-Atlantic partnership.

President Barack Obama called Ms. Merkel on Sunday to offer his congratulations, the White House said in a statement, adding: "The President and Chancellor Merkel agreed that with the election of a strong German government, our cooperation will further strengthen and deepen."

Ms. Merkel, a 55-year-old physicist who is Germany's first female chancellor and its first leader to grow up in the former East Germany, told her cheering supporters in Berlin Sunday night she wants to be "a chancellor for all Germans," an attempt to reassure voters that she would temper market-oriented changes with concern for social harmony. Ms. Merkel said that she would govern for "the workers as well as for the entrepreneurs." >>> Marcus Walker | Monday, September 28, 2009