[ad_1]
Following Saturday’s escalation, several politicians are calling for the ban on demonstrations outside the Bundestag to be extended. The penetration of protesters on the Reichstag grounds is heavily criticized by all parties.
After protesters penetrated the steps of the Reichstag building on Saturday on the sidelines of protests against Corona’s measures, politicians from the CSU and the Greens suggested expanding restrictions on demonstrations in the immediate vicinity of the Bundestag.
Right-wing CSU politician Volker Ullrich suggested that the de facto ban on demonstrations should no longer be restricted to days of parliamentary sessions, “with the possibility of allowing exceptions,” as he told the “world.” Green MP Konstantin von Notz also sees the need for action. Interior Secretary of State Stephan Mayer, on the other hand, said: “I don’t see an immediate need to extend the prohibition mile around the Reichstag or to tighten regulations because of this admittedly unbearable and shameful incident.”
The Union and the SPD announced that they would convene the Council of Elders of the Bundestag due to the events. He will run for the meeting, prompting SPD parliamentary group leader Carsten Schneider “to review plans to establish a safety zone and ensure they are implemented quickly.” Furthermore, the President of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble, must speak with the Berlin Senate about the concept of security. If necessary, the federal government must secure the Bundestag itself.
On behalf of the Union, Parliamentary Director Michael Grosse-Brömer said that Parliament should not be used as a stage for extremists. The council of elders should discuss the incident and the necessary steps from a parliamentary perspective.
“Attack on the heart of our democracy”
Many politicians had previously been critical of Saturday’s events. Federal President Steinmeier harshly condemned the events: “The flags of the Reich and the mob of right-wing extremists in front of the German Bundestag are an unbearable attack on the heart of our democracy. We will never accept it.” He thanked the police officers, “who acted with extreme caution in a difficult situation.” Tomorrow the federal president wants to receive the officials involved in the operation at his official headquarters.
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.”
Strong criticism of Schäuble
Like Steinmeier, politicians from all parliamentary groups spoke out in the Bundestag, including various ministers. The President of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble, said in an interview with the daily topics, found the actions of the protesters in the Reichstag abhorrent. But it is a small minority. The vast majority of citizens support the crown’s restrictions.
The Berlin police struggled at work, but did everything quite well, Schäuble said.
Scholz: The vast majority agree with the measures
Vice Chancellor Scholz said: “It cannot be accepted that some people appear in front of the Reichstag building with symbols of a dark and bad past and that they ignore the most important symbol of our democracy, the parliament.” Every effort should be made to ensure that these images cannot be recreated. Furthermore, these scenarios should not distract from one thing: “The vast majority of the citizens of this country agree with all the decisions we have taken to protect health, the good of economic power and social cohesion,” said the SPD . -Candidate for Chancellor.
CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said each protester had to consider whether it was worth their upset and criticism and whether it justified trying to storm the Reichstag alongside the Nazis. “That is what worries me, makes me angry, and the CDU has to make it clear in the political discussion,” Kramp-Karrenbauer told ZDF.
The organizer criticized the police
A day after the incident, the initiator of the demonstration and rally, Michael Ballweg, also distanced himself from the protesters in the Reichstag. “They have nothing to do with our movement,” he said. The lateral thinking initiative he founded is a peaceful and democratic movement, violence has no place there.
He does not understand why Berlin Interior Senator Andreas Geisel “does not have adequate police forces to counter such actions,” especially since they knew each other beforehand, Ballweg said. “Why can’t you protect the building?”
Triumphant with imperial flags
According to estimates by the police, there were between 300 and 400 people who had broken through the barriers at the Reichstag building in Berlin on Saturday night. They climbed the stairs and stopped 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.
Largely Peaceful Demo: Spahn Reviews
According to police estimates, nearly 40,000 people across Germany had previously demonstrated largely peacefully against Corona’s policy. However, Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn also criticized these protesters: “It was deeply unfair and unpatriotic not to wear masks, not to keep your distance and thus endanger others,” said the CDU politician from the “Stuttgarter Zeitung “and the” Stuttgarter “. News. “The dissolution of the demonstrations is no cause for joy for the Democrats.” But it is right for the police to intervene when too many protesters in Berlin apparently did not care about the freedom and health of their own citizens. “
On the sidelines of the protests, police officers and right-wing extremists attacked police officers in front of the Russian embassy near the Brandenburg Gate. A crowd of 3,000 people threw stones and bottles. Throughout the day it was seen that right-wing extremists “are trying to take over the situation, provoke,” he reported. RBB reporter Olaf Sundermeyer at the daily topics. The protesters in front of the Reichstag building: that’s “the image that the entire right-wing extremist scene has been fantasizing about for days.”
Ban failed demos in court
In reality, the Berlin authorities wanted to ban the meetings in advance. The police stated that the reason for the ban order was that the gathering of tens of thousands of people, often without a mask or distance, posed too high a health risk for the population. However, the authorities were defeated in court, finally before the Higher Administrative Court in Berlin on Saturday night.
In view of the incident in the Reichstag building, Berlin Interior Senator Andreas Geisel sees the originally planned ban justified. “Unfortunately, exactly what the security authorities feared happened yesterday,” Geisel said. Now he hears “voices saying they should have been banned. That’s exactly what we did in advance.”
