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German Justice Minister Christina Lambrecht calls for a tough response to the far-right riots in Berlin. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also condemned the assault by protesters at the Reichstag building.
German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and politicians from almost all parties condemned the advance of the protesters on the steps of the Reichstag building in Berlin on Saturday night. “The Reich flags and the far-right mob in front of the German Bundestag are an unbearable attack on the heart of our democracy. We will never accept it,” Steinmeier said.
He thanked the police officers, “who acted with extreme caution in a difficult situation.” A large group of aggressive protesters against Crown policy had broken through the barriers at the Reichstag building in Berlin on Saturday night. They climbed the stairs and stood triumphantly in front of the glass-enclosed visitor entrance. You could also see the black-white-red imperial flags used by the so-called imperial citizens, but also other flags. Initially, only three policemen faced the roaring crowd. After a while, reinforcements arrived and the police also used pepper spray to drive people back.
According to police estimates, nearly 40,000 people across Germany had previously demonstrated largely peacefully against Corona’s policy. On the periphery, however, there were attacks by Reich citizens and right-wing extremists against police officers in front of the Russian embassy near the Brandenburg Gate. A crowd of 3,000 people threw stones and bottles.
Federal President Steinmeier emphasized: “Our democracy is alive.” Anyone who is angry at the Crown’s measures or doubts its need can do so, also in public, even at demonstrations. “My understanding ends where the protesters get hooked on the cars of the enemies of democracy and political agitators.”
“Defend yourself from enemies”
German Justice Minister Christina Lambrecht called for a tough response from the state to the escalating demonstration by opponents of the crown protection measures in Berlin. “We must defend ourselves against these enemies of our democracy with all coherence,” the SPD politician said this Sunday in the newspapers of the Funke media group. “The unbearable image of Reich citizens and neo-Nazis in front of the Reichstag must not be repeated, not in front of parliament and never in parliament,” Lambrecht declared.
He thanked the policemen “who, under difficult conditions, protected the Reichstag building as a symbol of our democracy.” The democratic constitutional state guarantees the right of its citizens to demonstrate peacefully. “But those who attack the Bundestag and wave the Reich flag show nothing but hatred for democracy and contempt for everything that defines our country.”
Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) told the German Press Agency: “After these scenes, the last person should have understood that there are also limits to decency, how far you can go with whoever runs with you. Responsibility not to get out of your protest No one can prevent extremists from being instrumentalized. ” The fact that this attack may even occur “must be addressed quickly and completely.”
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) explained in the “Bild am Sonntag”: “The Reichstag building is the place where our parliament functions and therefore the symbolic center of our free democracy. It is unbearable that chaos and extremists misuse it for their own ends. “
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) tweeted: “The Reich flags in front of the parliament are shameful.” SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz wrote: “Nazi symbols, Reich citizens and imperial flags have absolutely no place in front of the German Bundestag.” SPD Secretary General Lars Klingbeil said the Bundestag council of elders had to clarify “what security concepts were like.”
The initiator distances himself from the rioters
The initiator of the big rally, Michael Ballweg of the Stuttgart lateral thinking initiative, distanced himself from the rioters. “They have nothing to do with our movement.” Lateral thinking is a peaceful and democratic movement, violence has no place there. However, he does not understand why the Berlin Interior senator “does not present the appropriate police forces to counter such actions,” especially since they knew each other beforehand, Ballweg said. “Why can’t you protect the building?”
Videos circulating on the Internet show how more than a hundred people cheering and shouting remain for minutes in and above the grand staircase right in front of the Reichstag gate. In addition to the imperial flag, German, American and Russian flags and banners can also be seen. Three policemen try to keep the crowd at bay by waving batons. In the background, a man shouts: “We are at peace, we are at peace.” Another man keeps yelling, “Crazy, crazy.”
Berlin police spokesman Thilo Cablitz tried to explain that night: “We cannot always be present everywhere, it was precisely this gap that was used to scale the barricade, break it down and then climb the stairs in front of the Reichstag. “. A full police record of Saturday’s demonstration is due to be published on Sunday.
Interior Senator Andreas Geisel (SPD) reported on Saturday night that around 300 people had been arrested during the day, around 200 in the attacks in front of the Russian embassy alone. Geisel described the events as predictable. “It was to be expected what happened today,” he said Saturday night at the ARD “Tagesthemen.” The police were in action with some 3,000 agents from various federal states and the federal police. Vegan cookbook car Attila Hildmann, who calls himself a “far right” and a preacher of the conspiracy, was also arrested outside the Russian embassy.
After the police originally banned the demonstrations, the courts only gave permission. The police did not allow the first demonstration march to begin on Saturday afternoon because the minimum distances were not observed to avoid contagion. In the afternoon, tens of thousands of people were able to demonstrate on Straße des 17. Juni in Tiergarten. A wide mix of citizens could be seen, including young and old, as well as families with children. In banners they called for the resignation of the federal government and the end of the protection conditions and daily restrictions due to the corona pandemic. Over and over the crowd chanted “Resistance” and “We are the people.”
(WHAT / dpa)
