Stephan Kramer is the head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, BfV), Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, in the state of Thuringia. I hardly need to tell you that Mr. Kramer’s job description doesn’t include interfering in politics. However, everything is politicized in Germany these days, and the BfV is no exception. Like its counterparts in the USA, it is tasked with doing whatever it takes to prevent “right-wing extremists” from gaining any political power. In Germany, that means stopping the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland, Alternative for Germany).
Many thanks to Hellequin GB for translating this article from Junge Freiheit. The translator’s comments are in square brackets:
Thuringia
When the head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution becomes the first election campaigner
Thuringia’s President for the Protection of the Constitution, Kramer, is abandoning all mandatory neutrality: “Until election day” he will do “everything” to “defend” against an AfD election victory.
Berlin/Erfurt
The President of the Thuringian Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which is committed to neutrality, Stephan Kramer, has declared himself an important election campaigner for his country.
In the ARD “Report from Berlin”, the 55-year-old said on the question of possible AfD government responsibility that he would “do everything to defend myself against this extremist attack within the scope of my legal possibilities and civic duties” until election day.
The senior official, who is a member of the board of trustees of the left-leaning Amadeu Antonio Foundation, also explained why he was spreading his assessment of the party as right-wing extremist: “We made this public because it is one of our tasks to make voters aware of this danger so that those at the ballot box will hopefully help with their decision to ensure that extremists do not come into government responsibility.” [What I see here is an EXTREMIST, busily helping to destroy a country and people, calling those that want to save the country, its people and culture, extremist. Now that’s what I’d call “calling the kettle BLACK.]
First non-lawyer to be head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution
Although Kramer is not a lawyer, which is actually a requirement for the office of head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the red-red-green state government appointed him to this post in 2015. Kramer was already known for his politically polarizing statements in his previous role as general secretary of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. [Why does a character like Beria come to my mind here?]
Thuringia is governed by a left-wing SPD-Green cabinet led by Minister-President Bodo Ramelow, which has been voted out of office five years ago [after Merkel called from South Africa]. There were never any promised new elections. The CDU tolerates the minority alliance. Regular state elections are scheduled for September 1st. The AfD is clearly ahead in the polls.
Afterword from the translator:
“Thuringia is governed by a Left-SPD-Green cabinet led by Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow, which has been voted out of office five years ago. There were never any promised new elections. The CDU tolerates the minority alliance.”
But the head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution sees the AfD as a threat to democracy?
You can’t make something like that up.
Only Germans can do that in reality.
Wow, the same thuringia whose railway workers fear for their lives from all the illegals?
By all means, yes, certainly that kramer guy should “defend” against the “extremist attack” (AfD), as that is the most obvious threat. /sarc
Traitors everywhere, it’s just unbelievable how this justice system works in Germany , DDR2
One of the biggest weaknesses of the parliamentary system is the prevalence of minority parties creating governing coalitions that even solid majority voters can’t do anything about. It’s one thing for a governing system to protect minorities against a tyranny of the majority, but it’s quite another to set minority parties into a controlling position. I hope AfD manages to crack this nut.
Canada has that problem. No matter how they want to replace Son of Castro, they can’t until enough of his coalition is removed. It’s almost like creating an electoral system where only New York, California, and Illinois always get to determine who the president will be, strictly by virtue of the popular vote. Wait, that’s what the Democrats are trying to create.