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Right-wing extremists use the Reich War Flag as a symbol of identification. Interior Minister Seehofer has now praised the initiative of some federal states to ban the flag. At the next conference of interior ministers one could talk about a uniform approach.

The debate initiated by some federal states about a ban on the Reich war flag in public space met with a positive response from Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer. “The Federal Minister of the Interior welcomes it when the federal states exhaust their legal possibilities to prevent the Reich war flag from being shown in public,” said his spokesman for the dpa news agency.

Seehofer therefore wanted to propose to put the topic on the agenda of the federal and state governments’ conference of interior ministers planned for December – “with the aim of a nationwide uniform approach”.

Bremen went ahead with a ban

The Bremen Interior Authority was the first to decide last week to ban the flags, which are used by Reich citizens and members of right-wing extremist groups at rallies, from the public. According to the Bremen decree, “their use in public regularly represents a lasting impairment of the requirements for an orderly civic coexistence and thus a danger to public order”.

The police in the state of Bremen can now confiscate the flags and impose a fine of up to 1000 euros.

Other federal states interested in regulation

There are similar considerations in Thuringia and Baden-Württemberg. Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann spoke out on Tuesday for a nationwide ban on the Reich flag and the Reich war flag. He also suggested that the interior ministers of the federal states should discuss how a ban could be enforced.

The so-called Reichskriegsflagge in black-white-red was used in several variants from 1871 in changing parts of the army. Already in the Weimar Republic it served as a recognition signal for monarchist, reactionary and anti-republican groups.

The use of the red, black and white Reich war flag introduced by the National Socialists in 1935, with a swastika emblazoned in the middle, is forbidden nationwide.

In one of the other historical versions, the Reich war flag can only be secured under special circumstances. According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, this is the case, for example, “when the flag is the focal point of a specific threat”. The black-white-red flag of the Empire is generally allowed.

Reich flags last came into public focus at the end of August, when demonstrators occupied the stairs of the Reichstag building in Berlin on the sidelines of the protests against the federal government’s corona protective measures.

Many politicians praise the Corona warning app as a great success – German medical officers, on the other hand, see little benefit. As long as data is not automatically forwarded to the health authorities, the app is not of great help.

The medical officers in Germany estimate the use of the corona warning app in the national pandemic fight to be very low. Since the data of the app is not automatically forwarded to the health authorities, the application in its current form is not of great help in quickly fighting corona outbreaks, said the chairwoman of the Federal Association of Doctors in the Public Health Service, Ute Teichert, the newspapers the Funke media group.

Data protection over pandemic protection

The app plays “almost no role” in the daily work of the health authorities, said Teichert. It is extremely rare for an app user to report to the authorities about a warning. Politicians have decided to “put data protection above pandemic protection,” said the public health doctor. You have to accept this.

According to Teichert, it would be helpful if the app had a function with which users could at least voluntarily allow warnings to be passed on directly to the health department. This would mean that the responsible authorities would be informed much faster about cases of infection and could quickly take measures to contain a corona outbreak, she said.

18 million users in Germany

At the moment, however, it is up to the app users whether they report to the health authorities after a registered contact with an infected person. Whether they actually do it cannot be verified.

In view of the rising number of corona infections, the federal government appealed to German citizens on Wednesday to make greater use of the corona warning app. 100 days after the start, more than 18 million users have downloaded the app on their smartphone, it said.

Spahn and Braun: a “great success”

The responsible minister, Jens Spahn, admitted that only about half of the users with a positive corona test would actually report the result via their smartphone. Nevertheless: Chancellery chief Helge Braun and Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (both CDU) praised the application, which is intended to warn users when they come into contact with someone infected with corona, as a great success. With 18 million downloads, the application was downloaded as much as in all other EU countries combined.

The app communicates with other smartphones via Bluetooth. If a user tests positive for the coronavirus, the application issues an alarm to those users who have come so close to the infected person for a certain time that they could have become infected. After an alarm, users should contact the health department and do a test themselves. Use of the app is voluntary.

With information from Kai Küstner, ARD capital studio

Around 10,000 refugees have now arrived in the new camp on Lesbos. But the essentials are still missing: water, food, beds. Auxiliary workers are working at full speed – to prevent a second Moria.

By Thomas Bormann, ARD-Studio Istanbul

Everyday life is back on the island of Lesbos. The road north of the island’s capital Mytilini belongs to the cars again. Until last Friday, thousands of refugees had to sleep in the open air here. In the meantime, however, they are all quartered in the new, temporary tent camp.

Soldiers, construction workers and members of aid organizations set up a tent city for 10,000 people in record time. Help came from all over Europe. The technical relief organization from Germany, for example, sent 1,400 camp beds. But there are no beds in the tent of Omid Alizadah and his family:

“No, there are no beds. Only sheets and blankets. So many sleep on the bare floor. There are only tents here – the tents have no floor, no boards or anything – and no beds either.”

Much in the warehouse is still provisional

Omid Alizadeh reports from the camp via cell phone. He comes from Afghanistan, like most of the refugees on Lesbos. Much of the new camp is still very provisional, he says, the food supply is poor; There are still not enough washing facilities; Water pipes have not yet been laid. Then he adds:

“But I don’t just want to complain now, because the camp was set up extremely quickly. We were promised: Everything should be ready next week. The authorities, the aid organizations here are working really hard on it. So: We are counting on the promises and that this camp will really be better than Moria. ”

Not all of them are as understanding as Omid Alizadeh from Afghanistan. Most refugees just want to get away from the island. At the same time, the local population of Lesbos is strictly against the camp, which is still being expanded.

Refugee Agency appeals

Philippe Leclerc from the United Nations Refugee Agency appeals during his visit to Lesbos:

“We ask everyone: the refugees, the communities in the neighborhood, the authorities: be patient and efficient.”

An appeal to everyone to stay calm, but to lend a hand – in order to make life in the camp bearable for the refugees.

Arsonists all in custody

Migration Minister Mitarakis emphasizes that the six alleged arsonists of Moria are now all in custody – young men who had lived in the camp themselves. They will serve their sentence and then expelled, the minister said. His message: Those who become criminals cannot count on mercy. However, the minister promises the around 10,000 refugees in the new camp that their asylum procedures will now be completed quickly – within a few months.

Meanwhile, around 250 refugees have tested positive for the corona virus. They will be isolated in a separate area of ​​the new camp. The other refugees are now allowed to leave the camp during the day to run errands or for a walk, says Omid, and adds:

“It is still too early to say: This camp is bad. We will see very soon whether you keep your promises and this camp gets better.”

And it won’t be a Moria 2. 14 days after the fire in Moria, it seems that the situation on the island of Lesbos has eased somewhat.