Latest news with #JuliaKlöckner
DW
a day ago
- Politics
- DW
Bundestag boss wants rainbow flags out of German parliament – DW – 07/13/2025
Bundestag President Julia Klöckner has said rainbow Pride flags must be removed from deputies' offices. Bundestag President Julia Klöckner, of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), has been engaging in fiery debates with deputies from the opposition Left and Green parties about whether political and cultural symbols have a place in the German legislature. The Bundestag's administration, which Klöckner oversees, has ordered deputies to immediately remove rainbow flags displayed in and around their parliamentary offices. The flag represents the LGBTQ+ communities. The reason given by the Bundestag's administration is that displaying flags in parliament is "fundamentally prohibited, regardless of their symbolism." A spokesperson added that there had been reports from deputies that rainbow flags displayed in office windows were clearly visible from outside. Paragraph 4 of the Bundestag's house rules states that "posting notices, in particular posters, signs, and stickers on doors, walls, or windows in generally accessible buildings of the German Bundestag, as well as on windows and facades of these buildings visible from the outside, is not permitted." In the past, flags were generally permitted. Now, Left party member Stella Meredino reported that federal police were called in because of a rainbow flag in her Bundestag office. Klöckner, a former agriculture minister who has been the Bundestag president since late March, is a combative conservative. She holds the second-highest office in the country and is expected to chair Bundestag sessions as independently as possible — free from party interests — to ensure that debates are held in a factual and calm manner. She also represents the Bundestag at large, and thus all of the deputies within it. Klöckner has, however, been known to make provocative statements against the Greens and Left, as well as against the Social Democrats, the junior partner's in the government led by her CDU. She drew the ire of LGBTQ+ deputies and those who consider themselves allies queer communities when she opposed the rainbow flag's being flown above the Bundestag on Christopher Street Day, as pride is known in Germany. Raising the flag for CSD had become a tradition since 2022. Klöckner justified her refusal on grounds of neutrality. From now on, the flag will be raised on May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia. This is although traditionally, CSD marks the most important date of the year for the queer community. This year, CSD falls on July 26. No flag will be flying above the Bundestag. Not even a petition signed by some 220,000 people calling for a rethink changed Klöckner's mind. Critics say Klöckner fails to recognize the pressures facing queer communities at this moment. Green Party member Lamya Kaddor told DW that Klöckner shows a "bigoted understanding" of neutrality. "At a time when queer people, and thus liberal society, are increasingly targeted by attacks and hateful rhetoric, we cannot afford such a formalistic notion of neutrality. Political responsibility means protecting the freedom and dignity of all people." Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a fellow member of the CDU, has expressed support for Klöckner. On the well-known talk show aired by public broadcaster ARD, Merz said "the Bundestag is not a circus tent" where any flag could be raised at will. He said there was one day a year, May 17, when the rainbow flag would fly from the parliament building. On Wednesday, however, Merz spoke out in support of queer communities in the Bundestag. "We are doing everything we can to enable queer people to live a good and safe life in our society," Merz said. He added that "I am personally committed to ensuring that this is the case and improves." Hostility toward queer people, Merz said, is "no trivial offense and is not appropriate for cheap jokes." Like Klöckner, her deputies are all new to the job. One of them, Josephine Ortleb of the Social Democrats, recently told German weekly Zeit that she too had a rainbow flag displayed in her Bundestag office. She said "it should not seem like queer symbols are now being suppressed." Ortleb, Omid Nouripour of the Greens, and another of Klöckner's deputies will speak at this year's CSD in Berlin on July 26. Bundestag employees will also be present. Unlike last year, however, there will be no Bundestag float at the parade. This, too, has been prohibited by Klö you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter, Berlin Briefing.
Euractiv
4 days ago
- Politics
- Euractiv
President of German parliament says ‘Nein, danke!' to Pride flag
BERLIN – The German parliament's administration has ordered lawmakers to remove Pride flags from public display, amid a pushback against LGBTQ+ activism within the institution. Since her election in May, the Bundestag's Christian Democratic President Julia Klöckner has rolled back several practices introduced under her Social Democratic predecessor, such as the flying of the rainbow flag over the parliament during Berlin's annual Pride parade. In the latest move, the Bundestag's administration has ordered an MP to remove a Pride flag and objects – including a rainbow-coloured towel – from display in their office window, according to an email seen by Euractiv. The email's author argued that the parliament's house rules prohibit putting up posters and signs on generally accessible and publicly visible parts of its buildings 'without exception." The administration also targeted other MPs in the last few days, including one who had hung up a Pride flag, according to two sources briefed on the matter. German newspaper Tagesspiegel , which also reported on the matter, named two of the affected MPs as Lina Seitzl, a Social Democrat, and Stella Merendino, from the Left party. Some flags had been on display for extended periods, even several years in one case, according to one of the sources. A Bundestag spokesperson said the violations were brought to the administration's attention by other MPs. "It's not specifically about the rainbow flag," he said, noting that a German or EU flag would also have to be removed. He added that removal orders were recurring "again and again" and were a "routine operation." A larger quarrel is looming, with the Social Democrats' parliamentary group expected to raise the matter with the executive committee of the Bundestag this week, asking for a more sensitive approach to enforcing the rule, according to a third parliamentary source. The removal is typically executed by the parliament's police, the Bundestag spokesperson said. In the Pride flag case, officers had scoured the parliament's corridors, taking pictures of door signs, to identify the culpable MPs, according to the first two sources. One of them noted that other MPs were displaying posters and signs unrelated to Pride in their windows without being reprimanded. Pride clash The display of the Pride flag remains subject to controversy in the Bundestag complex. Klöckner's Social Democratic predecessor, Bärbel Bas, had authorised the rainbow flag to be flown for the first time over the Parliament in 2022 to mark Berlin's Pride parade. But Klöckner announced in May that the German parliament would henceforth only fly the flag on the International Day against Homophobia. She also prohibited the parliament's queer staff network from participating in the event in an official capacity. The restrictions were necessary to maintain the parliament's political neutrality, Klöckner argued, which required it to abstain from supporting events with a particular political agenda, including Pride. If Pride flags were to fly, the observant Catholic argued, then so should the Vatican flag as 'Christians are the most persecuted group worldwide.' Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a fellow Christian Democrat, defended her decision, saying the Bundestag was 'not a circus tent', where flags could be hoisted at whim. The decisions and comments have been met with an intense backlash, including from Merz's coalition partner, the SPD. Social Democrat MPs branded the Bundestag's withdrawal from Pride "disconcerting". The government's commissioner on queer affairs, Sophie Koch (SPD), said it would be 'appropriate' for the chancellor to understand that raising the rainbow flag at the Bundestag is a powerful sign in times when queer people are under attack. Some 220,000 people have signed a petition calling on Klöckner to fly the rainbow flag at the Bundestag during Berlin Pride on 26 July. (mm, jp)
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Merz backs not flying rainbow flag on German parliament during Pride
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has backed the decision not to fly the rainbow flag on the Reichstag building - which houses the German Parliament - during Berlin Pride celebrations, saying the building "is not a circus tent." Julia Klöckner - the president of Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag - had decided not to fly the flag on the Reichstag during Pride celebrations - known locally as Christopher Street Day (CSD). Asked about Klöckner's decision, Merz told German public broadcaster ARD on Tuesday that "the Bundestag is not a circus tent" on which flags can be hoisted at will. The flag, a symbol for the queer community, is hoisted one day a year on May 17 to mark the international day against homophobia, he said. "On all other days, the German flag and the European flag are flown on the German Bundestag, and no others. And this decision is the right one." Everyone can fly whatever flags they want on their own doorstep, said the chancellor. "But we're talking about the German parliament here, and in the German parliament, we don't fly any flags every day, but the German national flag and the European flag." The Reichstag building - which houses the Bundestag - first flew the rainbow flag to mark CSD in 2022. Former Bundestag president Bärbel Bas said raising the flag would show a commitment to diversity. Klöckner's decision not to raise the flag at parliament on CSD was criticized by opposition parties the Greens and the Left, among others. The term Christopher Street Day is used in Germany to refer to Pride celebrations for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ+) communities. It is a reference to the location of the Stonewall Inn in New York City's Greenwich Village neighbourhood, where a protest against police discrimination on June 28, 1969, kick-started the gay liberation movement.
DW
01-07-2025
- Politics
- DW
No Pride, no Palestine: Bundestag boss claims neutrality – DW – 06/30/2025
Julia Klöckner was seen as a surprise choice for Bundestag president — a role that traditionally requires a calm and neutral presence. Klöckner is an outspoken figure with a taste for pointed language. When she was elected to the post in March, Julia Klöckner — an archconservative who enjoys wading in to culture wars — was considered a surprising choice for president of the German parliament, and she has done little to allay those concerned since then. In late June, she angered progressive Bundestag members by announcing that the rainbow Pride flag would not fly from the parliament building, the Reichstag, on Christopher Street Day on July 26, as has traditionally the case. Klöckner also decided that queer members of the Bundestag administration were not to attend the CSD parade in an official capacity. Her stance prompted Green and Left Party parliamentarians to mount a protest by wearing color-coordinated clothes in the chamber to create their own rainbow. By that time, Klöckner had already shown that she was going to enforce a strict interpretation of the Bundestag's clothing rules — these state, rather vaguely, that members' clothing must simply be "appropriate to the dignity of the chamber." In early June, that rule provided the Bundestag president with enough justification to send Left Party member Cansin Köktürk out of a debate for refusing to remove a T-shirt bearing the word "Palestine." Two weeks earlier, she did the same to Marcel Bauer, also of the Left Party, when he refused to take off his black beret. A former agriculture minister under Chancellor Angela Merkel, 52-year-old Klöckner has long been a senior politician of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and a confidante to Chancellor Friedrich Merz. "I have firmly resolved to always fulfill my tasks impartially, calmly and undauntedly, stay clear on the matter, while connecting with others," Klöckner said in her acceptance speech. Impartiality is certainly a watchword for someone in her office: The president of the Bundestag is formally the second head of the German state (after the president and ahead of the chancellor). And, though there is no regulation stipulating this, the office is traditionally held by someone from the largest parliamentary group — in this case, the CDU/CSU. Klöckner is known as a feisty conservative who is not shy of pushing buttons. In the run-up to February's federal election, she caused a stir by posting a combative statement on Instagram: "You don't have to vote AfD for what you want. There is a democratic alternative: The CDU." This was seen by critics as both a trivialization of Alternative for Germany (AfD) and a tacit admission that the CDU had adopted the far-right party's extreme anti-refugee stance. It was not the first time that Klöckner had taken a hard line on immigration policy: In 2015, when refugees came to Germany in large numbers from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, Klöckner demanded that they be legally obliged to integrate into society. In 2023, she also reposted a false claim on social media that dental care for asylum-seekers had cost the German state €690 million ($746 million) in the previous year. Klöckner is not above calling for more reticence from others, especially the Christian church: In an interview with the newspaper in April, she said the church should talk less about day-to-day politics and more about spiritual matters. "I mean, sure, the church can express its opinion on the speed limit, but that's not necessarily why I pay church tax," she said. Nor was her appointment to the new Bundestag role without some detractors: Klöckner gave up her position as CDU treasurer after NGO Lobbycontrol pointed out that, as Bundestag president, she would be tasked with overseeing party donations. She said that she had planned to give up the post anyway before taking on the new job. Klöckner is the daughter of a winegrower from the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Among her prestigious early roles was as German Wine Queen in 1995, an office that involves more than 200 public appointments a year. Trained as a journalist, Klöckner led the CDU in her home state from 2010 to 2022, during which time she spent four years, from 2018 to 2021, as federal agriculture minister. Environmental organizations criticized Klöckner for ineffective policymaking and a perceived closeness to the food industry — particularly Nestle: In 2019, she was accused of openly advertising for the international food processing giant by posting a video on social media in which she appeared beside Nestle's Germany chief and praised it for reducing the amount of sugar in its food — campaigners have long called on Germany to introduce a sugar tax. The president chairs the Bundestag's plenary sessions and supervises the laws governing the parliament. He or she also represents the parliament as a whole, speaking at commemorative ceremonies such as the one held every year on January 27 to mark the Holocaust. The president sometimes also speaks during state visits by foreign heads of government or heads of state. The president is obliged to respect the rights of all parties, which is why the post is often held by someone with extensive parliamentary experience who is held in high regard by all parliamentary groups and parties. This was particularly the case with Wolfgang Schäuble, a CDU veteran of several Cabinet posts, who was Bundestag president from 2017 to 2021. Klöckner, by comparison, is a less experienced and some would say a more divisive you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter, Berlin Briefing.
DW
30-06-2025
- Politics
- DW
No Pride, no Palestine: Bundestag boss revels in provocation – DW – 06/30/2025
Julia Klöckner was seen as a surprise choice for Bundestag president — a role that traditionally requires a calm and neutral presence. Klöckner is an outspoken figure with a taste for populist provocation. When she was elected to the post in March, Julia Klöckner — an archconservative who enjoys wading in to culture wars — was considered a surprising choice for president of the German parliament, and she has done little to allay those concerned since then. In late June, she angered progressive Bundestag members by announcing that the rainbow Pride flag would not fly from the parliament building, the Reichstag, on Christopher Street Day on July 26, as has traditionally the case. Klöckner also decided that queer members of the Bundestag administration were not to attend the CSD parade in an official capacity. Her stance prompted Green and Left Party parliamentarians to mount a protest by wearing color-coordinated clothes in the chamber to create their own rainbow. By that time, Klöckner had already shown that she was going to enforce a strict interpretation of the Bundestag's clothing rules — these state, rather vaguely, that members' clothing must simply be "appropriate to the dignity of the chamber." In early June, that rule provided the Bundestag president with enough justification to send Left Party member Cansin Köktürk out of a debate for refusing to remove a T-shirt bearing the word "Palestine." Two weeks earlier, she did the same to Marcel Bauer, also of the Left Party, when he refused to take off his black beret. A former agriculture minister under Chancellor Angela Merkel, 52-year-old Klöckner has long been a senior politician of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and a confidante to Chancellor Friedrich Merz. "I have firmly resolved to always fulfill my tasks impartially, calmly and undauntedly, stay clear on the matter, while connecting with others," Klöckner said in her acceptance speech. Impartiality is certainly a watchword for someone in her office: The president of the Bundestag is formally the second head of the German state (after the president and ahead of the chancellor). And, though there is no regulation stipulating this, the office is traditionally held by someone from the largest parliamentary group — in this case, the CDU/CSU. Klöckner is known as a feisty conservative who is not shy of pushing buttons. In the run-up to February's federal election, she caused a stir by posting a combative statement on Instagram: "You don't have to vote AfD for what you want. There is a democratic alternative: The CDU." This was seen by critics as both a trivialization of Alternative for Germany (AfD) and a tacit admission that the CDU had adopted the far-right party's extreme anti-refugee stance. It was not the first time that Klöckner had taken a hard line on immigration policy: In 2015, when refugees came to Germany in large numbers from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, Klöckner demanded that they be legally obliged to integrate into society. In 2023, she also reposted a false claim on social media that dental care for asylum-seekers had cost the German state €690 million ($746 million) in the previous year. Meanwhile, the outspoken politician is not above calling for more reticence from others, especially the Christian church: In an interview with the newspaper in April, Klöckner said that the church should talk less about day-to-day politics and more about spiritual matters. "I mean, sure, the church can express its opinion on the speed limit, but that's not necessarily why I pay church tax," she said. Nor was her appointment to the new Bundestag role without some controversy: Klöckner gave up her position as CDU treasurer after NGO Lobbycontrol pointed out that, as Bundestag president, she would be tasked with overseeing party donations. She said that she had planned to give up the post anyway before taking on the new job. Klöckner is the daughter of a winegrower from the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Among her prestigious early roles was as German Wine Queen in 1995, an office that involves more than 200 public appointments a year. Trained as a journalist, Klöckner led the CDU in her home state from 2010 to 2022, during which time she spent four years, from 2018 to 2021, as Federal Agriculture Minister. Environmental organizations criticized Klöckner for ineffective policy making and an alleged closeness to the food industry — particularly Nestlé: In 2019, she was accused of openly advertising for the international food processing giant by posting a video on social media in which she appeared beside Nestlé's Germany chief and praised it for reducing the amount of sugar in its food — campaigners have long called on Germany to introduce a sugar tax. The president chairs the Bundestag's plenary sessions and supervises the laws governing the parliament. He or she also represents the parliament as a whole, speaking at commemorative ceremonies such as the one held every year on January 27 to mark the Holocaust. The president sometimes also speaks during state visits by foreign heads of government or heads of state. The president is obliged to respect the rights of all parties, which is why the post is often held by someone with extensive parliamentary experience who is held in high regard by all parliamentary groups and parties. This was particularly the case with Wolfgang Schäuble, a CDU veteran of several Cabinet posts, who was Bundestag president from 2017 to 2021. Klöckner, by comparison, is a less experienced and some would say a more divisive you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter, Berlin Briefing.
