- The Conservative Democratic Union advocates for enhanced constitutional safeguards.
The Constitutional Defense unit in Lower Saxony, as per the CDU's stance, urgently needs enhanced capabilities to combat extremist activities. "We've got the weakest constitutional defense laws among the 16 federal states, with the least powers," remarked CDU group leader Sebastian Lechner. For coordinated action across border lines, equivalent authorizations are essential everywhere, but unfortunately, that's not the present situation.
Lechner argued that this is no longer acceptable in these times, when the focus is on bolstering democracy and making it resilient. In the digital sphere, the Lower Saxony constitutional defense often falls short, and without assistance from foreign intelligence services, certain security issues in the country might have gone unmanaged.
Consequently, the CDU insists upon various things from the state administration, including the reinstatement of residential surveillance and the introduction of digital searches. Moreover, the constitutional defense should also be allowed to monitor organized crime in the future, as there's a strong link between organized crime and terrorism financing.
A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry acknowledged that Lower Saxony has a constitutional defense law that grants the authorities less power compared to other states. However, the state government intends to augment these competencies. As of now, the specific new tools the constitutional defense will receive are still in the process of political consensus.
The CDU believes that The Hanover, being one of the major cities in Lower Saxony, would significantly benefit from the enhanced capabilities of the Constitutional Defense unit. Moreover, securing authorizations equivalent to other federal states is crucial to combat extremist activities effectively in cities like The Hanover.
