Hans-Georg Maassen, who led the Office of Constitutional Protection, which monitors extremist organizations, will take up a new position as Secretary of State in the Interior Ministry, according to a government statement on Tuesday. Many condemned the move as a “pseudo solution” that mocks those campaigning against the growing threat of far-right violence in Germany.
In a news conference Wednesday, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Maassen would remain in his post at the spy agency until a successor was found.
Maassen is accused of questioning the validity of a video showing far-right protesters apparently chasing migrants without any evidence to support his claim, and therefore legitimizing attempts by far-right groups to downplay the violence in the eastern city of Chemnitz last month. He later backtracked, saying he had been misunderstood.
The announcement came Tuesday evening following a crisis meeting between Chancellor Angela Merkel, Social Democrats (SPD) leader Andrea Nahles and Seehofer, and was widely seen as a compromise solution designed to appease both the SPD, which had called for Maassen to go, and Seehofer, a staunch defender of the spy chief.
“The so-called agreement on Maassen is a joke,” Florian Post, an SPD lawmaker in Bavaria, told the RND newspaper group in Germany. “Either the man is fit to hold high office or he isn’t.”
The Social Democrats were joined in their anger by politicians from the Green Party, Left Party and the liberal FDP.
Seehofer on Wednesday reiterated his confidence in Maassen, describing him as competent and full of integrity.
The strong reaction suggests that the government’s apparent attempt at appeasement has failed and that discontent within the ruling coalition — which was cobbled together in January after previous talks collapsed — is deepening.
Public prosecutor: Video is genuine
In an interview with tabloid newspaper Bild, Maassen claimed the video could have been faked and cast doubt on widespread reports that some protesters in Chemnitz had “hunted” migrants, putting him at odds with Merkel who had said the pictures “very clearly revealed hate” that could not be tolerated.
The Dresden public prosecutor also said the video clip was genuine and was investigating a criminal complaint based on the footage, while several media outlets claimed to have authenticated the video.
Maassen’s comments, which were praised by the far-right Alternative for Germany party — some of whose politicians had joined the Chemnitz protests — were widely seen as an attempt to downplay the growing problem of right-wing violence in eastern Germany and legitimize anger towards the media.
Following days of pressure, Maassen admitted that the video had not been falsified and that his comments had been misunderstood, according German media reports.
Maassen said he had meant to express doubt about whether the video genuinely showed people being chased, the papers wrote. He denies accusations of showing favor to the far right and the AfD in his comments relating to Chemnitz and in holding meetings with AfD politicians.
Source : Nbcnewyork