Germany - Bavarian PM Orders Christian Crosses On All Public Buildings

The southern German state Bavaria, with its regional capital Munich, has in a stunning blow to the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel, ordered its region to place Christian Crosses at the entrance of all public buildings as of 1 June 2018.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="de" dir="ltr">Klares Bekenntnis zu unserer bayerischen Identität und christlichen Werten. Haben heute im Kabinett beschlossen, dass in jeder staatlichen Behörde ab dem 1. Juni ein Kreuz hängen soll. Habe direkt nach der Sitzung ein Kreuz im Eingangsbereich der Staatskanzlei aufgehängt. <a href="https://t.co/o99M0dV4Uy">pic.twitter.com/o99M0dV4Uy</a></p>&mdash; Markus Söder (@Markus_Soeder) <a href="https://twitter.com/Markus_Soeder/status/988768341820170240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 24, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Premier Markus Söder, who made the announcement, explained that Christian crosses should no longer be seen as religious symbols but simply as a "clear avowal of our Bavarian identity and Christian values".

The CSU, the Christian Conservatives, of Bavaria are in a coalition with the CDU, the Christian Democrats, and form the backbone of the German government. However, since the 2015-2016 refugee crisis in Europe, the Bavarian CSU has been wanting Chancellor Angela Merkel to be harsher in her dealings with the immigration crisis, something they feel should have been handled differently.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bavaria orders Christian crosses to be hung at the entrance of ALL government buildings <a href="https://t.co/ZS1fWtd5Gj">https://t.co/ZS1fWtd5Gj</a></p>&mdash; Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) <a href="https://twitter.com/MailOnline/status/989133199455473669?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2018</a></blockquote>

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As a result, the CSU is now mostly trying to win back votes it lost to the right-wing AfD. According to critics, this latest move should also be seen in that light.

The Green Party stated: "Instead of nailing crucifixes to the walls of the authorities, it would do more justice to Christian responsibility to show mercy and charity in everyday political life."

Meanwhile the Free Democrat leader Mr Christian Lindner said: "The way Markus Söder and the CSU permanently instrumentalize religions for party politics is reminiscent of Turkish President Erdogan. The Basic Law has no denomination!"

Source:

https://www.stern.de/politik/deutschland/kreuz-in-bayern--markus-soeder-ist-das-problem--nicht-das-christen-symbol-7957440.html