Latest news with #JuliaKlöckner
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
German parliament to fly rainbow flag on Saturday - but not on Pride
The German parliament will fly a rainbow flag on Saturday to mark the international day against homophobia, but the symbol for the queer community will not be seen during Berlin Pride celebrations. The flag will be hoisted on May 17, a date which Julia Klöckner - the president of Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag - on Friday called crucial in the fight "against discrimination and for the acceptance of the diversity and equality of all people." The date, formally known as International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, was chosen to mark the World Health Organization's 1990 decision to remove homosexuality from its classification of diseases. "I have also decided that this will be the only occasion and that a corresponding flag will not also be flown on Christopher Street Day, which, as a day of assembly, protest and celebration, thrives on its powerful presence on the streets," Klöckner added. The term Christopher Street Day (CSD) is used in Germany to refer to Pride celebrations for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT+) community. 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. 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.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Germans must know 'monstrous extent' of WWII crimes, says Klöckner
Germany must recognize the "monstrous extent" of the crimes it committed during World War II, the president of the Bundestag - the lower house of parliament - said on Thursday as German lawmakers marked 80 years since the end of the conflict. In a speech to the German parliament, Julia Klöckner highlighted the forgotten victims of the brutal war, which Germany started with its invasion of Poland in September 1939. "German occupying forces committed war crimes almost everywhere in Europe," she said. "To this day, not everyone is aware of the monstrous extent of the German crimes. Or worse still, many no longer want to deal with it." Among the overlooked victims of the conflict, Klöckner emphasized the suffering of the Polish nation, and of the scale of German destruction in modern-day Belarus and Russia. She also brought up the plight of the German women who faced sexual violence by invading forces, drawing a direct parallel to the conflict in Ukraine. "Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol: Once again, girls and women are becoming victims of sexual violence, used as weapons of war," she said, referring to Ukrainian cities that have become symbols of the current war. Klöckner further condemned Russia's justification of the war in Ukraine through reference to World War II as an "abuse of history." She warned that while post-war Germans have long considered peace to be inevitable, the 80th anniversary of the conflict shows that "those who were liberated have a duty to defend freedom."
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
German parliament to mark 80 years since end of World War II on May 8
Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, is to hold a special ceremony on May 8 to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the downfall of the Nazi dictatorship. "World War II was the most brutal and bloody war in history," Bundestag President Julia Klöckner said on Tuesday. "We remember and we do not forget." Klöckner is due to give a speech focused on the war's consequences for women and on lessons from the conflict for the present day. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is expected to deliver a commemorative address, with conservative leader Friedrich Merz - who is due to be elected as the country's chancellor on May 6 - in attendance. Anke Rehlinger, president of the upper house, the Bundesrat, is also due to attend the ceremony, alongside diplomatic representatives and Stephan Harbarth, president of the German Constitutional Court. A one-off bank holiday has been set in Berlin to mark the 80th anniversary of the war's end on May 8, 1945. On the 40th anniversary in 1985, a speech by then-president Richard von Weizsäcker made international headlines, with its clear recognition of the guilt and involvement of many Germans in Nazi crimes and the responsibility of subsequent generations. While many Germans saw the events of 1945 as defeat, Weizsäcker insisted that May 8 was a "day of liberation" from the "inhuman system of Nazi tyranny." The National Socialist German Workers' Party - commonly referred to as the Nazi party - gained power under Adolf Hitler in 1933 and led Germany into World War II in 1939. Around 6 million Jews were murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust, with other persecuted groups including the Roma people, disabled people and Poles.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
German parliament expected to meet May 6 to elect Friedrich Merz as the new chancellor
BERLIN (AP) — The German parliament plans to meet on May 6 to elect Friedrich Merz as the country's next leader, if all the parties in his proposed government approve a coalition agreement reached last week. Parliament's lower house, the Bundestag, said Monday that Speaker Julia Klöckner is preparing to call the session early next month. Merz will need a majority of all members of the house to be elected as post-World War II Germany's 10th chancellor, succeeding Olaf Scholz. The proposed coalition of his center-right Christian Democratic Union; its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union; and Scholz's center-left Social Democrats has a relatively modest majority, with 328 of the 630 seats. Since no party wants to work with the far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, which finished second in Germany's election in February, no other plausible combination of governing parties has a parliamentary majority. There are still two hurdles to clear before parliament can vote. The biggest is a ballot of the Social Democrats' membership on the coalition agreement, which starts on Tuesday and ends on April 29. The CDU also must approve the accord at a party convention set for April 28, while the CSU's leadership already approved it last week. The would-be coalition aims to spur economic growth, ramp up defense spending, take a tougher approach to migration and catch up on long-neglected modernization. But there is some resistance in the Social Democrats' ranks after the party finished third in February with its worst postwar result in a national parliamentary election. The party's youth wing has come out against the deal. Party co-leader Lars Klingbeil said Sunday he is confident that a majority of members will say it's right for the Social Democrats to 'take responsibility for Germany.' 'There are always alternatives. ... One alternative is new elections, one alternative is perhaps a minority government,' Klingbeil told ARD television. But in today's troubled times, 'Germany must be a place of stability,' he added. 'For that, we need a stable democratic government, and we have presented a sensible coalition agreement for that.'
Washington Post
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
German parliament expected to meet May 6 to elect Friedrich Merz as the new chancellor
BERLIN — The German parliament plans to meet on May 6 to elect Friedrich Merz as the country's next leader, if all the parties in his proposed government approve a coalition agreement reached last week. Parliament's lower house, the Bundestag , said Monday that Speaker Julia Klöckner is preparing to call the session early next month.
