According to dpa information, the AfD is nominating former national player and world champion Thomas Berthold as a candidate for the office of Federal President. The nomination has more of a symbolic meaning.
According to dpa information, the AfD is expected to nominate former national player and soccer world champion Thomas Berthold as a candidate for the office of Federal President. Official advice and a decision on this should not be made until Saturday at a conference between the federal executive board and the state chairmen.
It had previously been said that it would be a “man from the middle of society”. At the 2022 Federal Assembly, the AfD nominated the former head of the Values Union, Max Otte, who was therefore later expelled from the CDU.
The nomination of its own candidate by the AfD has more of a symbolic meaning. In the Federal Assembly, which meets on January 30th, CSU politician Ilse Aigner, nominated by the Union and SPD, is likely to get the majority for the highest state office and thus succeed Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
During his career, Thomas Berthold played for Eintracht Frankfurt, FC Bayern and VfB Stuttgart, among others. The defender played 62 international matches and in 1990 he became world champion in Italy with the German national team. After his career, he worked, among other things, as manager of Fortuna Düsseldorf and as an expert for several television channels and magazines.
During the corona pandemic, he appeared as a critic of the measures taken at the time. These were “completely exaggerated,” he told the dpa in 2020. In a speech at a “Lateral Thinking 711” event in Stuttgart, Berthold stated, among other things, that his trust in the political leadership had reached “below zero”.
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The Bundestag has decided on a far-reaching reform of the German secret services. According to the legislative package passed on Friday, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) and the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) are now allowed to take active and covert action against attackers in the event of particular threats, instead of simply collecting information as before. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt called the law a “reform of the century”.
The federal government has launched a reform of parental allowance. As deputy government spokesman Sebastian Hille announced, the plans were approved by Family Minister Karin Prien (CDU) on Thursday via a circular cabinet decision.
Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider was cautious about the question of whether the federal government would extend the fuel discount beyond the end of the year. “The high prices are a big burden, and in the short term most people have no chance of switching,” said Schneider.
The federal budget for the coming year is in place – at least provisionally. The federal government will now be allowed to spend more money in 2027 than ever before in one year. Spending of around 560.9 billion euros is planned. Every third euro in the budget is financed by debt.
In the future, there will be mandatory language and development tests for children in daycare centers nationwide. The Bundestag passed a corresponding law this Thursday.
