Overview
- Speaking at Schloss Bellevue, Frank-Walter Steinmeier said democracy and freedom face their gravest pressure since reunification.
- He identified right-wing extremist forces as the principal danger, noting their growing support and attacks on democratic norms.
- He insisted there must be no political collaboration with extremists in government or in parliaments.
- He said a party ban is the ultima ratio of Germany’s defensive democracy and should be weighed by institutions, while urging action without delay.
- He highlighted a sharp rise in antisemitism in Germany after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and called for countering it from every source.