On May 22, 2024, the Hessian Minister of the Interior Roman Poseck visited EBS Law School in Wiesbaden to mark the 75th anniversary of the Grundgesetz, the German constitution. The topic of his lecture was »Tomorrow. 75 Years of the Grundgesetz – Challenging Times in Good Constitution«. Roman Poseck spanned an arc from the history of the origins of the Grundgesetz to current challenges such as the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, increasing right-wing extremism, anti-Semitism and Islamism. He also emphasized the importance of an united Europe in connection with a call for the European elections on June 9, 2024.
The Minister explained: »Most people in our country still stand by the values of our Basic Law. Democrats are clearly in the majority. An order that focuses on people’s freedom also thrives on participation. Many people make use of this freedom by volunteering in charities, fire departments, aid organizations, churches, politics and many other areas. They are role models in the sense of our Grundgesetz. Volunteers not only contribute to the functioning of our community and to a society worth living in, they are also a strong foundation of our free and democratic basic order. This commitment must be recognized and preserved. Democracy needs civil engagement and committed democrats. This depends on each individual.«
The ceremony was opened by a speech from the Rector of EBS Universität, Prof. Dr. Martin Böhm. The Dean of EBS Law School, Prof. Dr. Michael Nietsch, moderated the visit of Prof. Poseck, who is also an honorary professor at EBS Universität. Around 80 students and lecturers from EBS Law School listened to the Minister of the Interior and his speech.
»As citizens, we can be justifiably proud of our Basic Law. The Basic Law has paved the way for peace, freedom, democracy and prosperity. Conceived as a counter-draft to the crimes of National Socialism, our democracy has been able to prove itself as an anchor of stability for over 75 years. The Basic Law has always been both a reliable and sufficiently flexible guide.
The continuation of the success story of our Basic Law is not a foregone conclusion. The threats to our values are obvious. They come from outside and from within. In the world, conflicts between dictatorships and democracies are intensifying; even in Europe, they are being waged by military means. For more than two years, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has shown us that freedom, peace, justice and humanity have no value for Russia under Putin. We Europeans must therefore do everything in our power to defend and preserve our values. We are also challenged almost daily by cyber attacks, disinformation campaigns and cases of espionage, which also target our fundamental democratic values.
Long success story of the Basic Law
We are also seeing a growing number of people within Germany who are questioning our values. Extremist forces are on the rise and are becoming more radicalized. The greatest threat to our democracy currently comes from right-wing extremism. Right-wing extremist crimes are on the rise. Just yesterday, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser presented an alarming record. The number of politically motivated crimes nationwide reached a new high of 60,028 offenses in 2023 and the trend continues to rise. The number of cases of right-wing extremist crimes nationwide rose from 23,493 in 2022 to 28,945 last year. That is an increase of 23 percent. The number of anti-Semitic crimes nationwide has almost doubled to 5,164 in the space of a year. Perpetrators include left-wing extremists who also reject our legal system. Currently, for example, there are dangerous links between left-wing extremist forces and parts of the pro-Palestinian movement. Islamism also poses a threat, as recently became clearly visible in Hamburg. A caliphate state and the values of our Basic Law are fundamentally contradictory.
These dangers must be taken seriously. But there is no reason for despondency.
Today, we can build on the long success story of our Basic Law with self-assurance and confidence and continue to do so. Contrary to what the enemies of democracy would have us believe, the many challenges of our time are not a consequence of our values. On the contrary: they are mostly attacks on these values and can best be countered with democratic and constitutional means. Our democratic constitutional state is resilient. This was also recently demonstrated by the decision of the Higher Administrative Court in Münster to categorize the AfD.
Liberal-Democratic Fundamental Order
Most people in our country still support the values of our Basic Law. The democrats have a clear majority. An order that focuses on people’s freedom also thrives on participation. Many people make use of this freedom by volunteering in charities, fire departments, aid organizations, churches, politics and many other areas. They are role models in the sense of our Basic Law. Volunteers not only contribute to the functioning of our community and to a society worth living in, they are also a strong foundation of our free and democratic basic order. This commitment must be recognized and preserved. Democracy needs civil engagement and committed and convincing democrats. This also depends on each individual.We also need a strong and united Europe. The rule of law and democracy are values shared by all member states of the European Union. They unite us and set us apart from many other countries in the rest of the world. Together we in Europe are more, more resilient, more successful and stronger. That is why the European elections on June 9 are also about strengthening our values.«
Source: Hessisches Ministerium des Innern, für Sicherheit und Heimatschutz
[Translated by DeepL]