“We repeatedly witness the misuse or contempt for our national symbols such as the Brandenburg Gate, for example, by anti-Israel demonstrators or climate radicals,” expressed CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt to the newspapers of the Mediengruppe Bayern on Saturday. “Many of our neighbors in Europe are just as appalled as we are by these images from Germany,” he mentioned.
He called for a “more pronounced protection of our national symbols” through a “prohibited zone for these buildings, in which demonstrations are banned with few exceptions”. “I think we need to seriously consider that,” also stated the Union’s parliamentary managing director in the Bundestag, Thorsten Frei (CDU). “Even the Bundestag doesn’t have a prohibited zone. I believe that the exercise of the right to demonstrate according to our constitution does not have to happen in every location.”
According to the CDU politician, the police should also make a more distinct assessment when approving demonstrations in these locations: “It already makes a difference whether demonstrations at these sensitive locations concern an important issue of German politics or events in other countries,” Frei continued. Similarly, it makes a difference whether demonstrations there are in German or in other languages, he added. “Because in doubt, it’s not immediately apparent whether the slogans chanted there are constitutionally sound.”
