E fundit!

17:47 POLITICS

Berisha gathers 71 young people elected to the National Council: Vector for the renewal of the country and the DP

The Chairman of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, held a...

From Merz's re-election as party leader to the ban on face coverings/ Decisions made at the CDU federal conference

2026-02-22 16:05:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

From Merz's re-election as party leader to the ban on face coverings/

The CDU has been holding its federal party conference in Stuttgart for two days. After re-electing Chancellor Friedrich Merz as party leader on Friday, CDU delegates voted on a host of policy decisions on Saturday.

The CDU voted on Saturday in favor of a nationwide ban on full-face veils in public spaces, explicitly mentioning garments such as the burqa or niqab, which some Muslim women wear. The resolution was approved by a majority of delegates gathered in Stuttgart. The ban would apply to any "garment or veil that completely or mainly covers the face."

Another decision taken at the conference was in favour of restoring a longer time limit for migrants to be eligible to apply for citizenship. Until June 2024, migrants had to live in Germany for at least eight years before they could apply for citizenship, with a few exceptions. But this duration has since been changed and is now five years. However, the CDU resolution argued that five years is not enough and that during this time "many migrants are not yet sufficiently integrated into German society". They voted in favour of returning to eight years.

The conference voted to introduce a minimum age for using social media platforms, as several European countries are considering measures to limit their use by children. A party spokesman was quoted by German news agency DPA as saying that the party voted for "the introduction of a legal age limit of 14 for using social networks."

The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) vowed to oppose any further easing of the previously sacrosanct federal debt limit, endorsing a measure proposed by party leader German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The debt limit is set in Germany's constitution, the Basic Law.

Meanwhile, CDU party delegates in Stuttgart rejected a proposal to tax sugary drinks as a way to encourage consumers to make healthier beverage choices. The proposal was put forward by Schleswig-Holstein State Premier Daniel Günther, who pointed to the negative impact that sugary drinks have on children's health. /DW