©Reuters. Hans-Georg Maassen, chairman of Germany's right-wing conservative group Werte Union (Values Union), speaks at a press conference after attending the founding rally of the Conservative-Liberal party in Remagen, Germany, on February 17, 2024.Reuters/Jana Rodenbusch
2/3
Written by Thomas Escritt and Sarah Marsh
BERLIN (Reuters) – A former German spy chief accused of distracting from the far-right threat and sacked founded a new right-wing party on Saturday and held its first party conference on a boat near Germany's ancient capital. Capital Bonn.
The party is the third party to be founded this year in Germany, where the political landscape is even more fragmented, with election forecasts uncertain ahead of European Parliament polls and votes in half the country's municipalities and three cantons. It's becoming difficult.
The Werteunion (Union of Values) is led by Hans-Georg Maassen, who was sacked as head of the German Constitutional Defense Bureau (BfV) in 2018.
Maassen was initially forced to resign after questioning the authenticity of a video showing far-right extremists chasing migrants in the eastern city of Chemnitz, claiming it may have been fabricated.
He later toned down his remarks, saying the video's interpretation rather than its authenticity was questionable, but it was not enough to quell the outcry that led to his resignation.
The lawyer has since become known for his increasingly extreme commentary on immigration and has become a hero to far-right activists, including some around Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss, the aristocrat who led the failed coup in 2022. Ta.
Maassen, a former member of the opposition Christian Democratic Party, said last month that he is now under surveillance by the security services he runs. The BfV said privacy laws meant it could not comment on individual cases.
“12:32. Done!” Maassen said on social media platform X, posting a photo of himself and a colleague in front of a German flag on a boat.
Germany's mainstream political parties have slumped significantly in opinion polls since their heyday in the 1980s, when the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats consistently enjoyed close to 50% approval ratings, and many emerging parties are showing signs of dissatisfaction with the system. I'm trying to use it.
Earlier this year, left-wing politician Sarah Wagenknecht founded a new left-wing populist party.
Welte Union was once a pressure group affiliated with the Christian Democratic Party, but is now aligned with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is leading in opinion polls in some eastern states. There will be a fight.
While all other political parties have ruled out working with the AfD, Maassen recently ruled out forming a coalition with the party, but said he was ready to support the bill if it made sense.
