Amid far-right surge, Ramelow warns of division between east, west Germans
Left political leaders from eastern provinces say that the surge of the far-right AfD party has opened old wounds in the country with a fractured past.
The Berlin Wall, a barrier that surrounded West Berlin and prevented access from East Berlin and adjacent areas of East Germany from 1961 to 1989, now only has a few remaining sections that remind us of its approximately 160-kilometre length. / Photo: AP Archive
The stunning electoral show by the far-right AfD party in the just-concluded European elections could drive a wedge between East and West Germany, the top elected official of the country’s Thuringia province has said.
“Emotional unity is breaking down,” Minister-President Bodo Ramelow of the German free state of Thuringia warned on Tuesday.
“In social networks after the European elections, I'm now reading comments like: 'Where is the gratitude of East Germans?’,’ Ramelow told the Redaktionsnetz Deutschland (RND) newspaper on Tuesday.
“These are questions that we don't need right now.”
Divided into communist East Germany and secular-liberal West Germany at the end of World War II, the country officially reunited on October 3, 1990, though deep social divisions continue to simmer.
The rise of the far-right AfD in the European elections has triggered a renewed debate about the relationship between east and west Germans.
While Ramelow of the Left Party warned of a growing divide, North Rhine-Westphalia Minister-President Hendrik Wüst of the CDU called for initiatives to facilitate more exchanges, especially among young people.
"The East has nothing to apologise for. Rather, it should be seen as an opportunity. Instead, the emotional unity is increasingly collapsing. The fact that east Germans are expected to be grateful is driving this spiral further,” Ramlow added.
With a 15.9 percent vote share, the AfD emerged as the second-largest force behind the conservative CDU/CSU. This was its best result to date in elections to the EU Parliament. The party came first in all five eastern German states, and the newly-founded Wagenknecht party BSW came third in the East.
State elections will be held in Thuringia in September, as in Saxony and Brandenburg.
“The starting position is difficult,” said Ramelow. "But state elections are personal elections. And all personal elections have not gone well for the AfD."
Call for a new start
Amid rising tensions, North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister-President Wüst called for a new start in relations between East and West Germany.
“It is time for a Unification Treaty 2.0, which, in addition to formal unity, also brings people together better - for greater trust and cohesion between East and West,” he told RND, referring to the 1990 ‘Unification Treaty’ which formalised the merger of the West and East Germany into one nation.
The CDU politician said the country needed “a series of projects, for example, bringing young people from east and west closer together”.
“Because exchange creates trust and opens up perspectives for more understanding among each other.”
The Minister-President also spoke out in favour of reviving the Round Table, as it existed at the time of reunification. “Back then, very different people came together with the one goal of working towards a better democratic future,” said Wüst.
SPD leader Saskia Esken, however, played down the fears and said she did not see a growing divide between the east and west.
In Baden-Württemberg, too, the AfD received between 19 and 20 percent of the votes in some places.
Nevertheless, the existing problems must be tackled in order to overcome the social divide. "It's not right that people in the east earn significantly less than those in the west. We must also ensure that unity continues to develop,” said Esken.
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