Steinmeier on June 17, 1953
“Anyone who speaks like that mocks the SED victims”
06/16/2023 11:44 am
70 years after the popular uprising in the GDR, President Steinmeier calls for freedom and democracy to be defended. He also finds clear words for extremists and populists who claim that it is still like a dictatorship today.
In memory of the East German uprising of June 17, 1953, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called on citizens to defend freedom and democracy. The uprising 70 years ago was “a referendum for democracy,” said Steinmeier at a ceremony in the Bundestag. Today, the Basic Law guarantees exactly the freedoms that people demanded back then.
“That’s why I say very clearly: It’s a flimsy lie when the opponents of our democracy, when populists and extremists claim that it’s ‘just like it was then’, just like it was under the dictatorship,” said Steinmeier. “Anyone who speaks like that is mocking the victims of the SED regime. Anyone who speaks like that is abusing the names of those who risked their lives at the time.”
“Putin’s madness must not destroy Europe’s work of freedom”
On June 17, 1953, around a million people across the GDR demonstrated against higher labor standards, but also against the Socialist Unity Party SED and for free elections and more prosperity. The Soviet occupation forces and the East German police stopped the protests. At least 55 people were killed and more than 10,000 arrested. “The popular uprising of June 17 is an outstanding event in the history of German freedom,” said Steinmeier. In 1989, women and men fought for democracy in many cities in the GDR. “All of Germany should be proud of this historical achievement”.
After 1989, a united Europe became a reality, which today is again threatened by the Russian war of aggression against the Ukraine. “The so-called greatness to which (Russian President Vladimir) Putin wants to bring his country back is in fact nothing other than dictatorship, dictatorship and imperialist madness,” said Steinmeier. “We must not allow this madness to destroy Europe’s work of peace and freedom.” That is why Germany stands firmly on the side of Ukraine.