Steinmeier warns of dangers for democracy on German Unity Day

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for the defense of democracy at the ceremony for German Unity Day. At the same time, he warned of a further rise in extremist forces in Germany, also fueled by lies and manipulation on social media. He also referred to the AfD's recent electoral successes.

“And all of this is accompanied by an unbearable political demagoguery of extremist forces who enjoy destruction, mock and threaten other people. And that doesn’t just endanger freedom and democracy,” said Steinmeier about the situation in Germany. “It also endangers our internal unity. And we can’t want that.”

Is Berlin like Weimar? Steinmeier: Question “not yet decided”

Almost four decades after German unification, large parts of society declared their distrust of the political order of the Federal Republic. Every vote counts and should be taken seriously. Steinmeier said: “That is precisely why we cannot avoid the fact that a quarter or more are saying with their voting decision that they are turning away from important fundamental decisions of the republic.”

The discrediting of democratic processes, the radicalization of the public and the defamation of compromise should be a warning. “It will always be different, but whether Berlin will become more similar to the Weimar Republic is a question that has not yet been decided. But we have it in our hands,” said Steinmeier.

Democracy is “re-contested”

He also called for the democratic culture of debate to be upheld. With regard to social media, the head of state warned against the most absurd idiocies and shrill emotionalization, accompanied by confusion as to whether a human is still writing or a machine.

He thought that everyone had learned the lesson from history and now had to see how right-wing extremist partisans today want to erase the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Steinmeier said: “I thought our democracy was secure and I have to find out that it is being challenged again. Yes, and that's why: in the future it will be about the self-assertion of democracy."

Insa survey: AfD at 30 percent

In an Insa survey, the AfD has now reached the 30 percent mark nationwide for the first time - and at the same time the Union has fallen to a low. The AfD gained one percentage point compared to the previous week, the CDU and CSU lost one point and only achieved 18 percent. This means that the AfD is twelve points ahead of the Union of Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) in the survey by the Insa Institute for “Bild”.

Kaiser for East German Federal President

The emotionally charged speech, for which Steinmeier received long applause, could have been one of his last major speeches as Federal President - a new head of state will be elected at the end of January and his term of office will end a little later in March.

The Federal Government's Eastern Commissioner, Elisabeth Kaiser, criticized the existing inequality between East and West and called for an East German Federal President. “I think the time is ripe for an East German head of state again,” Kaiser told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. “Why shouldn’t the next Federal President be a smart woman from East Germany?”

According to Kaiser, October 3rd is a moving day. He reminds us that living together in freedom and without borders is not a given. “For many East Germans, this was a time of great biographical upheaval and existential worries. These experiences continue to shape East Germans to this day,” said Kaiser.

Unity celebration with messages

Around 1,000 guests of honor from politics, justice and society celebrated Unity Day in Bremen. The festival under the motto “Many Strengths - One Country” is taking place in the Hanseatic city this year because the smallest federal state holds the presidency of the Federal Council. Germany's political leaders came there to celebrate - in addition to the Federal President, Chancellor Merz, Bundestag President Julia Klöckner, several ministers, almost all heads of government of the federal states and judges of the Federal Constitutional Court.

What is celebrated on German Unity Day?

On October 3, 1990, the unification treaty between the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany came into force. With him, the unity of Germany was restored after more than 40 years of division. Berlin became the capital of the unified Germany and October 3rd was designated as a German national holiday.

October 3rd is the only federal holiday, all others are the responsibility of the federal states. Previously, June 17th was celebrated in West Germany as “German Unity Day” - to commemorate the uprising in the GDR on June 17th, 1953.