Berlin is the venue for a right-wing conservative conference. Among others, supporters and advocates of Donald Trump are invited – and members of the CDU.
Berlin – An event organized by the right-wing conservative campaign agency “The Republic” will take place in the German capital at the beginning of September. Right-wing US lobbyists and supporters of the former US president Donald Trump are to meet there with conservative forces from Germany. CDU leader Friedrich Merz, just like his party, is trying to give the impression of being at arm’s length.
The “Berlin Campaign Conference” is to be held between September 4 and 6, mainly in the Berlin Marriot Hotel. According to the conference website, it is “an important meeting place for forging center-right cooperation and strengthening conservative activism around the world.” Anyone willing to shell out entrance fees of between $100 and $700 will be equipped with the knowledge of a large number of international guests in order to be able to “help shape the way into the future.” Invited are mainly conservative lobbyists from the USA and other countries – including the controversial “Heritage Foundation.” From Germany, speakers are mainly represented who are close to one party: the CDU.
Not only Trump supporters will attend the conference in Berlin – the CDU will also be represented
Thorsten Alsleben is one of them. The managing director of the “Initiative Neue Soziale Marktwirtschaft” (INSM), an employers’ organization that campaigns for deregulation and privatization as well as against climate protection measures, was previously the managing director of the CDU-affiliated Mittelstands- und Wirtschaftsunion (MIT) for eight years. When Alsleben took up his current position in November 2022, the Daily Mirrorthat the INSM would thereby move further to the right. Finally, CDU circles say that even party leader Friedrich Merz is too reactionary.
Also invited to the conference is CDU campaign manager Christine Carboni, who will give a lecture on “similarities and differences between commercial and personal brands” – knowledge that she probably also has from her time as Head of Brand for the Würth Group. The CDU sees no problem with her appearance. “As with other organizers, we provide suitable specialist speakers if there is interest and need, as is the case in this case with our campaign manager Christine Carboni,” a CDU spokeswoman told the Editorial Network Germany (RND). According to the report, the organizer ‘The Republic’ is independent of the CDU and there is no “structural cooperation”.
“The Republic” is close to the Union – even though party leader Merz has backtracked
Formally, that may be true. Nevertheless, a certain proximity to the Union is obvious simply because of the past of the founder of “The Republic”, Armin Petschner-Multari. He was previously responsible for the social media presence of the CSU regional group in the Bundestag and worked at the CSU party headquarters in Munich. Compared to the World he made it clear in 2022: “I am CSU pure. CSU until I drop.” The same report states that “The Republic” immediately found supporters in the Union: Friedrich Merz, Stefan Müller and Christoph Ploß. Müller and Merz were also present at fundraising dinners and had Twitter all the best. But at least Merz was not looking for a direct relationship at the time, it continues.
However, public pressure also seemed to be responsible for Merz’s distancing himself to a certain extent. He canceled his participation in a planned conference organized by “The Republic” late in 2022. Representatives of the US gun lobby and Republican US Senator and Trump supporter Lindsey Graham were scheduled to appear at the event. Shortly beforehand, Merz had confirmed his attendance in the media, but then backed down. There had been criticism, especially from the Greens and the Left. The liberal wing of the CDU was just as unimpressed by their party leader’s flirtation with Petschner-Multari and its content at the time.
Trump fans meet CDU members in Berlin ahead of US election – the ‘Heritage Foundation’ is also invited
Today, too, concerns are coming from the Union. “It is frightening that we open the doors to Trumpists. First Jens Spahn explains what we supposedly have in common with Donald Trump, now he is holding joint conferences with his supporters,” said an unnamed top official, according to the report by RNDOne must therefore ask oneself what goals the party is pursuing and “whether there is still such a thing as intellectual and moral leadership in the CDU,” he continued.
In view of the list of speakers at the Berlin Campaign Conference, these concerns seem justified. Grover Norquist from the US lobby organisation Americans for Tax Reform will speak there. He has been campaigning for lower taxes in the USA for years – financed by financial donations from the super-rich and oil companies, the report continues. The campaign manager of the former Republican challenger to Trump Nikki Haley was invited. The most scandalous, however, is the cooperation with the Heritage Foundation. According to critics, the Foundation’s plan for the restructuring of the American state apparatus after a possible election victory of Trump is pursuing US election authoritarian and racist goals. (tpn)
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