Editing Edmund Stoiber (section)

==Controversies==

===Comments on East Germany===
During the run-up to the German [[2005 German federal election|general election]] in 2005, which was held ahead of schedule, Stoiber created controversy through a campaign speech held in the beginning of August 2005 in the federal state of [[Baden-Württemberg]]. He  said, "I do not accept that the East [of Germany] will again decide who will be Germany's chancellor. It cannot be allowed that the frustrated determine Germany's fate." People in the new federal states of Germany (the former [[German Democratic Republic]]) were offended by Stoiber's remarks. While the CSU attempted to portray them as "misinterpreted", Stoiber created further controversy when he claimed that "if it was like Bavaria everywhere, there wouldn't be any problems. But unfortunately, ladies and gentlemen, we have everywhere some sections of the populace not as intelligent as in Bavaria."<ref>{{langx|de|Wenn es überall so wäre wie in Bayern, hätten wir überhaupt keine Probleme. Nur, meine Damen und Herren, wir haben leider nicht überall so kluge Bevölkerungsteile wie in Bayern.}}</ref> The tone of the comments was exacerbated by a perception by some within Germany of the state of Bavaria as "arrogant".

Many, including members of the CDU, attribute Stoiber's comments and behavior as a contributing factor to the CDU's losses in the 2005 general election. He was accused by many in the CDU/CSU of offering "half-hearted" support to Angela Merkel, with some even accusing him of being reluctant to support a female candidate from the East. (This also contrasted unfavorably with Merkel's robust support for his candidacy in the [[2002 German federal election|2002 election]].) He has insinuated that votes were lost because of the choice of a female candidate. He came under heavy fire for these comments from press and politicians alike, especially since he himself lost almost 10% of the Bavarian vote—a dubious feat in itself as Bavarians tend to consistently vote conservatively. Nonetheless, a poll has suggested over 9% may have voted differently if the conservative candidate was a man from the West, although this does not clearly show if such a candidate would have gained or lost votes for the conservatives.

===BayernLB activities===
When the [[Croatian National Bank]] turned down [[BayernLB]]'s original bid to take over the local arm of [[Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank International]], this drew strong criticism from Stoiber, who said the decision was "unacceptable" and a "severe strain" for Bavaria's relations with Croatia. Croatia was seeking to join the [[European Union]] at the time. The central bank's board later reviewed and accepted BayernLB's offer of 1.6 billion euros.<ref>Zoran Radosavljevic (12 September 2007), [https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL1281484820070912 BLB gets nod from Croatia to take over Hypo unit] ''[[Reuters]]''.</ref> The investment in Hypo Group Alpe Adria was part of a series of ill-fated investments, which later forced BayernLB to take a 10 billion-euro bailout in the financial crisis.

===Alleged intentions for a coup===
In [[Wolfgang Schäuble]]'s memoirs ''Erinnerungen. Mein Leben in der Politik'' (“Memories. My Life in Politics”), published posthumously in 2024, Schäuble claims that in 2015, at the height of the [[2015 European migrant crisis|refugee crisis at the time]], Stoiber tried to persuade him to overthrow Chancellor [[Angela Merkel]], in order to become chancellor himself. Stoiber commented on that: “I have had as many personal and confidential conversations with few colleagues in my life from the 1980s until the last few years as with my long-standing and close colleague Wolfgang Schäuble. I have never commented on reports about it and of course that still applies to me today after his death."<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-04-03 |title=Wolfgang Schäuble: Edmund Stoiber soll Sturz von Angela Merkel geplant haben |url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/wolfgang-schaeuble-edmund-stoiber-soll-sturz-von-angela-merkel-geplant-haben-a-c4a29617-9118-47b2-8d81-446cb49b1e0d |access-date=2024-04-03 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}}</ref>