CDU change in Oldenburger Land: Steinkamp takes the lead!

CDU change in Oldenburger Land: Steinkamp takes the lead!

A fresh wind is blowing through the CDU in Oldenburger Land. Jochen Steinkamp won the trust of the members at a state party conference in Horumersiel and was elected as the new chairman with 163 of 168 votes. He succeeds Silvia Breher, who has led the association's fortunes since March 2019 and is now working as Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Homeland. Breher also remains deputy federal chairwoman of the CDU and emphasizes that the party will continue to work on its program, especially on social issues and pensions, such as NWZonline reported.

The CDU in Oldenburger Land has gained new courage and is focusing on a new leadership agenda. Steinkamp, ​​who entered the race unopposed, aims to increase the visibility of the regional association and place greater focus on promoting young talent. The new deputies – Björn Thümler, Christel Bartelmei, Sophia Möller and Lukas Reinken – will support him in this. These fresh minds should help bring the CDU even closer to the concerns of the citizens.

Economy and communities in focus

Lower Saxony's CDU state leader Sebastian Lechner is also active on the political stage. He sharply criticized the red-green state government and demanded that at least 1 billion euros per year from the federal investment program should benefit the municipalities. In addition, Lechner spoke out in favor of eliminating 109 municipal funding programs, which have a volume of 3.5 billion euros. The CDU is clearly positioned when it comes to financial leeway for municipalities.

Now the party conference is also showing clear civil solutions: a key motion entitled “Appreciation through value creation” was unanimously passed. This calls for the northwest to be more involved in the energy transition and for local operating companies to be founded for large energy projects. Another proposal to ensure reliable hospital care in rural areas also met with widespread approval. Many hospitals are in financial distress and should receive support from a “hospital transformation fund”. The CDU parliamentary group in the state parliament recently even applied for “emergency aid” of 300 million euros for hospitals in Lower Saxony.

Migration and asylum policy

The discussion about asylum and migration policy remains heated among political actors. The federal government plans to submit legal reviews on this matter to the Union. Chancellor Scholz would like to agree on effective border management with the opposition in order to counteract irregular migration. CDU leader Merz has made it clear that talks will only continue if comprehensive rejections are immediately accepted. The figures from the Federal Ministry of the Interior of over 30,000 rejections since October 2023 cannot be ignored, as Deutschlandfunk reports.

In this context, a number of regulations introduced are being discussed that are intended to regain control over migration and stop illegal entries. These measures range from a de facto stop in accepting asylum seekers from EU countries to strict guidelines for supporting migrants. So it remains to be seen how the debates about migration issues will develop and how the CDU will set accents in this area with the new leadership.