Annual review
Eleven quotes: What moved German politics in 2024
The Chancellor talks about “moral maturity”, the President of the Federal Council about “unity” and a left-wing politician about “vanity”: these sentences were spoken in moments that shaped the political year.
Over the course of the year, there are many sentences that could be more or less remembered. Eleven quotes about what was going on in German politics this year:
“Prudence is not something that can be qualified as weakness, as some do, but prudence is what the citizens of this country are entitled to.”
(Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz on March 13th in the government poll in the Bundestag about his no to Taurus deliveries to Ukraine.)
“We can’t allow that to happen. That racism even becomes a party hit, that contempt for humanity becomes a trend. (…) But there are more of us, and we are louder!! So fascists fuck off, nobody misses you.”
(The musician Udo Lindenberg on May 29th on Instagram after the racism scandal surrounding a party video on Sylt.)
“I’m vain, but I’ve never had the idea of naming a party after me.”
(The former Left faction leader Gregor Gysi on June 7th at the conclusion of the Left’s European election campaign in Potsdam about the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht party, which was founded by the former Left politician of the same name.)
“The Office for the Protection of the Constitution has itself become an enemy of the constitution and it should be abolished in this form.”
(Alice Weidel, co-chair of the AfD, during her re-election at the federal party conference on June 29th in Essen about the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which is observing the AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist case.)
“We want to put Germany back in order. We want to repair the traffic light damage. (…) We’ll rock it together.”
(CSU leader Markus Söder on September 17th in Berlin at the press conference for the election of CDU leader Friedrich Merz as the Union’s candidate for chancellor.)
“It seems that once again, as so often in history, it was Social Democrats who stopped extremists on their way to power.”
(Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke, SPD, in Potsdam on September 22nd to celebrate his party’s victory in the state elections ahead of the AfD, which had been ahead of the SPD for a long time in the polls.)
“Freedom is not just: I feel happy, but: I am responsible – and that is too much for many people.”
(Former Federal President Joachim Gauck on September 22nd on the ARD talk show “Caren Miosga” in view of the AfD’s recent electoral successes in East Germany.)
“We East Germans have contributed more to unity than Rotkäppchen champagne and the traffic light man.”
(Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig, SPD, on October 3rd in her speech at the ceremony on German Unity Day in Schwerin.)
“Too often, Federal Minister Lindner has blocked laws that were irrelevant. Too often he has used small-minded party political tactics. Too often he has broken my trust. There is no basis of trust for further cooperation.”
(Chancellor Olaf Scholz, SPD, on November 6th on the dismissal of Finance Minister Christian Lindner, FDP, and the failure of the traffic light coalition.)
“Sometimes a dismissal is also a liberation. (…) That was the demand for political submission or a provoked break in the coalition.”
(Former Finance Minister Christian Lindner, FDP, on November 13th in the Bundestag after his expulsion by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, SPD, and the break of the traffic light government.)
“To join a government requires the necessary moral maturity.”
(Chancellor Olaf Scholz, SPD, on December 16th in the Bundestag in his statement on the vote of confidence he asked.)
dpa
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
