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German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday condemned Germany’s “unbearable attack on the heart of democracy” by protesters, who on Saturday night tried to enter the Reichstag building, seat of the lower house of parliament.
On Saturday, hours after the dispersal of a demonstration in Berlin against the restrictions imposed against the spread of the new coronavirus, which brought together some 20,000 people, some 200 far-right militants who had participated in the protest tried to force entry into the Reichstag. .
“The Nazi flags and the obscenities of the extreme right in the German Bundestag are an unbearable attack on the heart of our democracy,” the head of state wrote in a statement posted on Instagram.
“We will never accept it,” the president added. The images of the attack on the Reichstag, which reflect the radicalism of some of those who participated in the “anti-crown” demonstrations, scandalized various sectors in Germany.
“If someone is angry with the measures or questions it, they can do so, even in public and at demonstrations. My understanding ends when protesters mix with enemies of democracy and political agitators,” Steinmeier said.
At least 200 protesters forced security barriers to try to climb the steps and enter the Reichstag, being detained by the police, who resorted to “outrage” and detained several people.
The attack had already been condemned by the Interior Minister, Horst Seehofer, who considered “unacceptable” the acts perpetrated against the “symbolic center of liberal democracy” in Germany.
Justice Minister Christina Lambrecht also condemned the attack and called on the Germans to “defend themselves against these enemies of democracy.”
“The unbearable image of the neo-Nazis in front of the Reichstag cannot be repeated,” the minister told the Funk group newspapers.
“It is a shame to see the flags of the Reich in front of our parliament,” said Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
Over the course of Saturday, around 300 people were arrested.
The most serious events occurred, in addition to the Reichstag, next to the Russian embassy, where some 2,000 people gathered, some of whom later went to the parliament building.
The crowd included militants of the “identity” movement of the Reichburgers (citizens of the Reich), who do not recognize the Federal Republic of Germany and reject its legal order.
In front of the Russian embassy, Nazi flags waved amid shouts of support for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chancellor Angela Merkel as they threw bottles and stones at the riot police mobilized there.
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