Answering the call to revise the society’s approach to modern democracy, College of Eastern Europe and Stiftung Friedliche Revolution organised a public debate “Much more than politics. Much more than Germany. Cultural and European dimensions of the German East-West divide”. The debate took place on Wilhelm-Leuschner Square in Leipzig, on the 4th of October. The debate was a part of Revolutionale – Festival für Veränderung which commemorates the reunification of Germany and the democratization of the Eastern part of the country. The event was held within the framework of the project “Protecting European Values” co-funded by the European Union. The debate was conducted in German.
The debate focused on the most recent surge of anti-establishment forces in the East Germany. Indeed, the European and state elections confirmed that the division between East and West in Germany is deepening. Two anti-establishment political forces, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), representing Eurosceptic far right and Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), conservative nationalist leftists, won nearly 45% of votes in three Eastern federal states (Brandenburg, Sachsen and Thüringen) this September. Their good performance challenges gravely a coalition process building. Moreover, for the first time in the history of post-war Bundesrepublik, a radical right party won the regional elections (Thüringen). The rise of these parties originates from certain particular aspects of identity, worldviews, historical memories, and values present in the Eastern Germany, but on the other hand, similar developments may be observed across Europe.
After the opening remarks set out by Adam Balcer (College of Eastern Europe) and Ina Luft (Stiftung Friedliche Revolution), Anna Barth from Projekt Mothek presented her podcast that in 12 episodes, 8 voices from the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district (Thüringen) speak out and address questions about a happy life, justice, commitment and community. According to Anna “the wall was dismantled but new walls were built” and her podcast attempts to build bridges between citizens. Then the discussion with Anna and Piotr Kocyba from Leipzig University took place. It was moderated by Stephan Stach from Robert-Havemann-Gesellschaft. The food for thought for a debate were main theses of policy paper prepared by Piotr Kocyba and Florian Lippert from the university of Groningen. The policy paper concerns the phenomenon of the most recent increase of popularity of AfD and Bündnis in the Eastern Germany. It will be published in the coming weeks within the framework of the “Protecting European Values” project led by KEW and co-funded by the European Commission
