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Police harshly criticize the AfD for its standing ovation boycott in the Bundestag
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Bundestag defends police officers: only one parliamentary group remains seated
Three policemen opposed the violent protesters outside the Reichstag. When hero police officers are honored in the Bundestag, all parliamentary groups stand up except one.
When right-wing extremists tried to break into the Reichstag, only a few police officers initially protected the building. Members of the Bundestag thanked officials with a standing ovation, but not the AfD. Now there is strong criticism from the police.
reThe scenes of a week and a half ago are still very much present for many people: the protesters first broke through the barriers in the Reichstag and then went up the stairs of the building. Initially, only a few police officers stood up to the roaring crowd. On Wednesday they were invited to the Bundestag.
MPs thanked officials who opposed the protesters’ advance. There was prolonged applause and a standing ovation to the police attending the session from the bleachers of the plenary hall. Only the AfD members remained seated.
Police representatives harshly criticized the boycott to a standing ovation the next day. “I cannot explain what was going on in the minds of the AfD deputies, especially since this party usually sends different signals to the police,” said Rainer Wendt, federal president of the German Police Union, the “Tagesspiegel” of Berlin. Wendt believes that the AfD has the expectation that police officers “can be satisfied with concise slogans.” On the contrary, the party lacked genuine care and commitment to the emergency services as human beings. If there was significant sympathy for the AfD from the ranks of the police, now the party has played on their behavior, Wendt said.
Lindner: “They are not constitutional patriots”
Jörg Radek, vice president of the police union (GdP) also criticized the AfD. By remaining seated, the parliamentarians had shown their disdain for the dedication of the police officers to our Germany, he told the newspaper.
Among other things, the leader of the FDP parliamentary group, Christian Lindner, and the member of the CDU, Johannes Steiniger, criticized the behavior of the AfD on Twitter. “They are not constitutional patriots,” Lindner wrote to the parliamentary group around Alice Weidel and Alexander Gauland.
“In honor and thanks for your difficult service we just got up”, Steiniger wrote in front of the police. And then she pushed: “The AfD has stayed where it is.”
Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) told the meeting: “The police need our support and they deserve it.” He asked that the house be protected from abuse. The Reichstag building represents Germany’s parliamentary tradition, as well as its fire for the destruction of democracy, Schäuble said at the opening of the plenary session in Berlin on Wednesday. Today it is the seat of the Bundestag and therefore the symbol of free democracy: “And that is why it has to be sacrosanct.”
Since the riots, new security measures for the Bundestag have been discussed. Schäuble did not comment on specific considerations, but stressed that the house should not be allowed to be misused as a mere backdrop. This applies to all attempts to “use the house in a conspicuous way, whether with flags, pamphlets or banners.” It shouldn’t be differentiated based on content, he said.
Right wing extremists and Reich citizens had come to the steps of the Reichstag building with black, white and red Reich flags. But other flags could also be seen. According to the police, between 300 and 400 people participated in the action.
Regarding the demonstration, Schäuble said there are “limits to decency” as to the extent to which extremists can instrumentalize it. Such scenes should not be repeated. The right to demonstrate is a valuable asset, but it must be used responsibly. The state monopoly on violence should not be questioned, Schäuble said, also with a view to the riots by left-wing extremists in Leipzig.
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