Steinmeier warns of threats to democracy on German Unity Day

On German Unity Day, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned of the failure of democracy and at the same time called for a determined fight against extremism. "Populist parties of all stripes are destabilizing parliamentary democracy," said Steinmeier at the central ceremony in Bremen, according to the speech manuscript.

One cannot "avoid the fact that a quarter, a third and more are declaring with their voting decision that they are turning away from important fundamental rights of our republic." But one should not forget about the high percentage of extremist voters in the East that extremists get the absolute most votes in the West, he said, referring to the results of the most recent state elections in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The AfD became the strongest force there.

»The unbearable political demagoguery of extremist forces, who enjoy destruction and mock and threaten other people, not only endangers freedom and democracy today. “It endangers our unity,” said the Federal President. He also condemned a "senseless defamation of the Federal Republic" as a "propaganda lie of extremism" and a "shrill emotionalization" on the Internet.

Steinmeier sent words of warning to the black-red federal government: In these times, a “considered, steady, professional, persistent government policy is needed more urgently than ever,” he said. This is the only way to eliminate “the deeper economic and social causes of uncertainty” among the population.