CDU on foreign affairs and defence

The CDU rejects civil clauses at state-funded universities, meaning self-commitments to conduct research for civilian purposes only. It sees them as a restriction on academic freedom and a disadvantage for the defense industry.

Some universities only do research for peaceful purposes. This rule is called a civil clause. The CDU is against this rule. It says the rule limits the freedom of research. Defense companies should also benefit from research.

The program points to the security situation. In the CDU's view, it is not acceptable for publicly funded institutions to keep the defense industry away from scientific progress. The party places this in the context of an open research culture that it wants to shape without bans on lines of thinking.

The CDU wants to press the federal government for a well-equipped Bundeswehr with growing personnel. It justifies this with the threat to Europe from Russia's war of aggression. In Hesse it backs the bases of the Bundeswehr and of US forces.

The CDU wants a strong German army. Soldiers should get good equipment. There should be more soldiers. The CDU says Russia threatens security in Europe. Soldiers should keep visiting schools to talk about their work.

The federal government is to actually carry out the announced investments in the Bundeswehr. Staffing gaps are to be closed, and the armed forces are to grow in the medium term. Youth officers are to keep appearing in schools as a supplement to civic education, based on the cooperation agreement with the state education ministry. Bundeswehr bases in Hesse are to receive backing. The CDU also wants to keep supporting the presence of American forces in the state.

The CDU supports further deliveries of military equipment to Ukraine and wants the federal government, together with its partners, to keep supplying Ukraine's army. In its view Ukraine must win the war. It also commits to the arms industry in Hesse.

The CDU wants to keep giving weapons to Ukraine. It says Ukraine should win the war. The weapons also protect our freedom. The CDU stands by the companies in Hesse that build weapons.

The federal government is to supply the Ukrainian army continuously in coordination with international partners. The CDU argues that these weapons also defend security and freedom in Germany. Russian aggression must not pay off, it says. The platform calls Hesse one of Europe's most important arms production sites and sees this as a location advantage.

The CDU wants to keep raising Hesse's funds for development cooperation and set up a foundation for politically persecuted people. It also wants to maintain and expand the state's international partnerships.

The CDU wants to give more money to help poorer countries. It wants to set up a foundation for persecuted people. The foundation should help people in their home countries. Hesse should build more partnerships with other regions.

The foundation is to work with the Hesse peace research institute and the German development agency GIZ to help persecuted people worldwide in their own countries; the platform mentions the persecution of Christians. Through the Bundesrat and in diplomatic relations, the CDU wants to stand up for the rights of women and LGBT*IQ people. The Vietnamese-German University in Ho Chi Minh City is to receive continued funding. Municipalities are to get help with contacts and funding for their own partnerships.