"Germany Day" of the Junge Union - the party's young talent as the driving force

Johannes Winkel doesn't beat around the bush for long. "The Union is in a very serious situation, and the country in general is also in a very serious situation, and that's why the situation is of course critical right now, you have to be honest like that."

The list of problems is long. Election failures in Saxony-Anhalt, Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. There the CDU was even thrown out of a state parliament for the first time. In nationwide surveys, the Union is well behind the AfD. The approval ratings for Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his black-red government are miserable.

The ongoing dispute in the coalition with the SPD has reached a new low following the resignation of Labor Minister Bärbel Bas and mutual accusations. Not a good starting point for the “Germany Day”, the annual meeting of the party’s young talent, or is it?

“We dare to do it”

JU boss Winkel appears extremely self-confident. "If there is one group that can take care of the future of the CDU, then it is the youth organization, the Junge Union, and we have the confidence to do that."

Johannes Winkel has led the Junge Union since 2022. He has been a member of the Bundestag since 2025, directly elected in Düsseldorf. At the latest during the big pension dispute last year, the JU chairman made national headlines. As one of the young pension rebels in the Union faction who rejected the billion-dollar pension package of their own coalition. A conflict that was fought out on an open stage at the “Germany Day” almost a year ago with Friedrich Merz, the Chancellor and CDU chairman.

AI, families, pension

Could things get busy again in Bonn when Merz speaks to the delegates on Saturday? He’s looking forward to the encounter, says Winkel. "The last Germany Day was indeed extraordinary and interesting and I am of course excited to see how the Chancellor will perform at this Germany Day. We are definitely very well prepared and very strongly positioned in terms of content."

The main focus of the JU in Bonn, where, in addition to Merz, CSU boss Markus Söder and North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst will be speaking, will be a new family policy, artificial intelligence and of course the mega topic of pensions and intergenerational equality.

“I have the feeling that last year we managed to really discuss the topic of demography intensively in Germany for the first time, and now we have also presented the corresponding results with the pension commission,” says Winkel.

Winkel wants to remain chairman

The 34-year-old has made a steep rise despite being one of the leaders of the pension rebels, or perhaps because of that. The Union parliamentary group vice-president in the Bundestag has recently been responsible for labor and social affairs. His word is becoming increasingly important in the party.

This is also a reason why Winkel is running for another term as chairman, even though he will soon reach the upper age limit for the JU. "It's a great position to be JU chairman, but the main point of the candidacy is that in my opinion the next two years are really about existential questions for the Union." People expect answers from the Union, says Winkel. He wants to help give them.