According to Spiegel, Hendrik Wüst, state premier of North Rhine-Westphalia (CDU), visited Auschwitz-Birkenau on the second day of his Poland trip. He laid a memorial candle there and spontaneously spoke with a school class from Flensburg. A 16-year-old student told Wüst that one only grasps the piles of hair from former prisoners when seeing them with one’s own eyes. Wüst himself appeared moved: “The whole dimension here, it goes into the feeling.”
On his trip, Wüst also sees how Poland is arming itself in light of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The visit to Auschwitz is part of a meticulously planned program that emphasizes German-Polish reconciliation. Within the CDU, Wüst is being mentioned as a possible successor to party leader Friedrich Merz, who is currently struggling with domestic policy reforms in Berlin.
EuroPulse reported on May 16, 2026, about former US ambassador Richard Grenell’s criticism of Merz following his statement on the USA: Ex-ambassador Grenell criticizes Merz after USA statement.
Source: www.spiegel.de
