Federal Constitutional Court orders Reiche to remove Left Party video from ministry Instagram
Germany's top court provisionally ordered Economy Minister Katherina Reiche to take down an Instagram clip linking the Left Party to antisemitism, deciding 6:2 on an urgent application from the party.
The provisional order
The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe ordered Economy Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) on Thursday, 15 October, to remove an Instagram video from her ministry's profile until the main case is decided. The order was passed by six votes to two on an urgent application (Eilantrag) from the Left Party. The main proceedings, case number 2 BvE 5/26, remain open, so the court has not yet ruled on whether the statements are constitutional. The Left Party argued that Reiche breached the neutrality duty of state bodies and violated its right to equal participation in political competition.
How the video came about
The clip was taken from a speech Reiche gave at the 'MyWay' economic conference and posted on the ministry's Instagram channel. Spiegel dates the speech excerpts to 23 September, while N-tv reports that the video appeared on 24 September under the title 'Antisemitismus und Enteignung gefährden Deutschland und die Wirtschaft'. The video does not name the Left Party but criticises it for discussing expropriation in its programme and for a party that openly lives antisemitism. In the clip, Reiche argued that the party's stance was dangerous for the capital and the investment location.
It is not only dangerous for the capital, it is dangerous for Germany as an investment location, because we need capital and must not deter it.
The ministry's spokesperson said the clip extended a speech given to family business owners and clearly referred to threats to the economic location. The spokesperson gave the Instagram title as 'Wirtschafts- und Investitionsstandort stark machen'. The ministry declined further comment while the case was running.
- Speech whose excerpts appear in the video, according to Spiegel
- Video posted on the ministry's Instagram account, according to N-tv
- Federal Constitutional Court issues provisional order by 6:2 vote
What the judges said
The court reasoned that without the order, the Left Party could suffer a severe irreparable disadvantage if it wins the main case, because the video keeps spreading during ongoing government-formation talks in Berlin. The judges also wrote that the post was published and spread using official authority and state resources.
The publication and dissemination of the Instagram post took place here under the specific use of official authority and state resources.
The judges questioned whether Reiche's sharp and polemical wording stayed within the limits of objectivity. If the main action fails, Reiche would not be prevented from repeating the statements, and during the proceedings she may speak as a party politician or a private person within freedom of expression.
Responses and the ministry's defence
Janis Ehling, the Left Party's federal managing director, told Spiegel that the campaign by CDU ministers against the party was collapsing.
The large-scale campaign by CDU ministers against the Left Party is currently collapsing like a house of cards.
Ehling added that ministers misusing their political power for such a smear campaign was deeply shabby and raised serious questions about their understanding of office. Reiche's lawyers at the firm Schertz Bergmann argued in a written submission that informing the public about developments they see as threats to investment conditions belongs to the government's public relations work.
Coalition talks in Berlin
The dispute comes as the Left, Greens and SPD hold exploratory talks after the Left's election win in the Berlin House of Representatives election. Before those talks the three parties published a joint agreement on handling antisemitism, which threatens party members who breach it with sanctions up to expulsion. The row also centres on Vanessa Emde, a Neukölln Left politician who won the direct mandate in Neukölln with more than 46% of first votes. Reports say she is now to join the Left parliamentary group after all, contrary to earlier reports, and she is regarded as one of the central figures of the party's Israel-hostile current. The main-case decision is still pending.
