Germany risks Weimar-style divisions, President Steinmeier warns
Steinmeier said hopes for liberal democracy and international cooperation have suffered bitter setbacks as more than 400,000 people attend Unity Day events.
- Germany marks the 36th anniversary of German Unity Day on Saturday in Bremen, hosting over 400,000 visitors for national celebrations featuring hundreds of events through Sunday commemorating the 1990 integration of East Germany into the Federal Republic.
- In his final Unity Day speech, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned that democracy faces renewed threats from right-wing extremism, noting that hopes for international cooperation have suffered "bitter setbacks."
- Commemorating October 3, 1990, when five states rejoined the Federal Republic, the festivities highlight the motto "Many Strengths — One Country," with Bremen hosting as the current president of the Bundesrat.
- Eastern Germany commissioner Elisabeth Kaiser argued for a female successor from the east, stating eastern Germans remain underrepresented in power and that the time is right for an eastern German head of state.
- Germany's Federal Convention will elect Steinmeier's successor on January 30, as the 70-year-old president cautioned that the presidency is "not an office to be taken lightly" with his second term ending next year.
17 Articles
17 Articles
Defend what is valuable and has been won: The Federal President uses the ceremony for the Day of German Unity for a comprehensive warning.
In his speech on the Day of German Unity, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned against the alleged destructive effects of the Internet on political culture, lamenting "an unbearable political demagogy of extremist forces."
Germany risks Weimar-style divisions, President Steinmeier warns
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned that Germany risked slipping back into the divisions of the pre-World War Two Weimar Republic in a flood of disinformation spread by antidemocratic extremists.
Germany: Next president should come from east, says official
Germany is marking Unity Day with events in the northern city of Bremen. Eastern Germany commissioner Elisabeth Kaiser has used the occasion to call for the next president to come from the east. DW has the latest.
At the unity celebrations in Bremen none of the top representatives of the state comes from the East. The East Representative Elisabeth Kaiser criticizes this – and demands consequences in the election of the next head of state.
Zeit Online
INTELLINEWSWhy should the next Federal President not be "a wise woman from East Germany", asks the Federal Government's East Commissioner. She thinks the time is ripe.
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