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Official election campaign start of the Union: Five weeks before the election, in the middle of the polls, CDU Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet is aggressive.
Armin Laschet, CDU candidate for chancellor:
“We want to prevent the tender plant of hope from being stifled by red-red-green gimmicks. All three have tax increases in them. All three are wrong. We are on the right track with our clear course on federal economic policy. (...) That is an industrial policy goal. That is structural change. And that is the opposite of what the SPD and the Greens are doing. They have the social question, they have forgotten the jobs because they only care about their ideologies and not how it works and how it can be done. "
In his half-hour speech, Laschet called for "more Europe" in foreign and security policy in view of the situation in Afghanistan.
As Chancellor, he wants to provide incentives for climate protection instead of issuing bans.
He rules out tax increases.
Armin Laschet, CDU candidate for chancellor:
“And so it doesn't matter how this election turns out. We will fight. I will fight with all I can. That this country will not be taken over by ideologues, that we have the chance to implement our ideas of this modern Germany. That's what we're fighting for. We'll give everything we can. There we will also make clear the differences that exist to the others. It is fundamental who rules. We want to rule. Not because we want to govern, because we want to govern, but because we have to govern so that Germany can take a good path. That is my goal. And that's why we're going for it with all clarity. "
At their joint appearance, the Chancellor candidate Laschet, CSU leader Markus Söder and Chancellor Angela Merkel showed unity, except for the smaller peaks of Söder.
Markus Söder, chairman of the CSU:
“I'll tell you one thing, I don't want a left alliance party for Germany. I don't want any traffic lights in Germany. I think these times are far too serious for us to be able to leave the country to people who ultimately have no concept of how things will continue in Germany. I tell you, in serious times it takes a clear line, clear leadership. And neither Olaf Scholz nor Ms. Baerbock can provide this clear guidance. The clear leadership can only establish the union with Armin Laschet at this point. "
Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor:
»It was and is always important to him, on the basis of our Christian image of man, to focus on the individual with his inviolable dignity and to build bridges between people. Dear Armin, I know that this is exactly what guides and shapes your actions. Whether in the Bundestag, in the European Parliament, as Germany's first integration minister, as prime minister of the large and important state of North Rhine-Westphalia, as chairman of the CDU in Germany, as a candidate for chancellor from the CDU and CSU. And, I am deeply convinced of that, as Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. "
Merkel had so far largely kept out of the election campaign.
But now it is important to fight for an election victory for the CDU and CSU, said the Chancellor at the joint appearance.