Values Union selects candidates for election

The conservative Werteunion has now also established itself as a party in Saxony. In the presence of national leader Hans Georg Maaßen, entrepreneur Heiko Petzold was elected state chairman in Dresden on Sunday. "I am delighted and proud to be able to stand for the Werteunion in my home state of Saxony. I am an entrepreneur, come from the center of society and know what is going on outside in the country. That's why I won't just describe problems. I want to solve them," the party quoted its leader, who is also number one on the state list for the state elections on September 1.

Maßen had also previously commented on his party's candidacy in Bavaria. "I am delighted that we will now have the opportunity to play an active role in shaping politics at state level in Saxony. We stand for values and freedom. I am sure that we can count on the support of many Saxons," explained the former President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

After Thuringia and Schleswig-Holstein, the third state association of the Values Union has now been founded in Saxony. According to a spokesperson, it has 40 members, with 50 more being considered for membership. Unlike in Thuringia, the party is not planning to take part in the local elections in June.

Until now, Werteunion had led a rather shadowy existence in Saxony. As a consequence of earlier disputes, parts of the conservatives decided to continue in the state under the name Heimatunion in 2022. Its leader Sven Eppinger - who is standing for the CDU in the state elections - believes that establishing the Werteunion as a party would be counterproductive. This would only further fragment the conservative camp, he recently told the German Press Agency. The CDU had succeeded in narrowing the "representation gap" between itself and the AfD by making course corrections. The Free Voters and the "Bündnis Deutschland" (Alliance Germany) are already operating in this gap. As a further 'gap filler', the Values Union will merely ensure that more votes fall short of the 5 percent hurdle.