Before the meeting of the CDU on the case of ex-neo-Nazis and district board member Robert Möritz, representatives of the grassroots had clearly positioned themselves against their party friend.
"Anyone who initially denies the former closeness to right-wing extremism and leaves the Uniter association only under public pressure has not achieved the necessary distance from previous positions outside of our constitutional order," says a statement from the CDU district association Burgenlandkreis. Möritz is a CDU board member at the district level in the neighboring Anhalt-Bitterfeld district.
The 18 signatories from the Burgenland district include District Administrator Götz Ulrich, Vice-District CDU boss Jana Schumann and the head of the CDU parliamentary group in the district council of the Burgenland district, Jörg Riemer. The "firewall" to the right must be kept, it said. "And nobody needs to justify or even apologize for demanding this firewall!"
Previously, the CDU member of the Bundestag Kees de Vries had asked Möritz to leave his assessor position on the district board. Like Möritz, De Vries is a member of the Anhalt-Bitterfeld district CDU.
MDR contribution shows Möritz 2014 with neo-Nazi musicians
The CDU leadership meets on Thursday evening in Magdeburg with the district chiefs to process the case. A week after the revelations, Möritz had admitted to having been a folder at a neo-Nazi demo years ago. In addition, he was still a member of the Uniter association, suspected of being right-wing extremists, and is wearing a tattoo popular with neo-Nazis.
According to his own district association, Möritz distanced himself credibly from the neo-Nazi scene. The panel decided to keep him on the board. Since then, this has caused criticism, also in the Union. Many doubt that the departure from the scene is credible.
Meanwhile, the MDR reports on Möritz's further contacts in the extreme right-wing scene. The magazine "Exakt" had recordings from 2014 that showed the 29-year-old with members of the neo-Nazi band "Barricades" from Halle.
On Wednesday, CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had emphasized her party's distance to right-wing extremists. "We are resolute and uncompromising against all forms of right-wing extremism," said Kramp-Karrenbauer on a flight to a troop visit to Cyprus. "Everyone has personal responsibility for this."
