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Bettina Stark-Watzinger fired State Secretary Sabine Döring. Their actions can be viewed critically. But you also have to look closely at other departments, because completely different problems arise there.
Bettina Stark-Watzinger is Germany’s Minister of Education and Research.
Oliver Maksan, NZZ German Editor
You are reading today an extract from the weekday newsletter “Der Andere Blick” written by Oliver Maksan, editor of the NZZ’s Berlin office. Subscribe to our free newsletter. Don’t live in Germany? Benefit from this.
With the announcement on Sunday of a Removal of State Secretary Sabine Döring Germany’s liberal education minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger is neither pleasing friends nor enemies. Some scientists continue to call for her resignation. However, FDP sympathizers criticize the minister for succumbing to pressure from the SPD and the Greens.
The unhappiness on both sides is not surprising. Exonerating Doering from his obligations made no sense. Stark-Watzinger fired Doering even though she had no desire to do what she was accused of doing — namely, to check whether professors could have their funding cut off because of their political speech. This was effectively an infringement on academic freedom.
The cause of the excitement is an open letter from Berlin lecturers who in May expressed solidarity with the pro-Palestinian students who occupied a room at the Free University of Berlin and who have evaded police pursuit at the instigation of the university administration.
This prompted now-sacked State Secretary Dolin to take action. She ordered her college to conduct a legal review of the professors’ letter. Critics accused her of also considering cutting funding. Dolin denied this, saying she did not want to commission a review of the funding consequences of those who signed the letter. After an initial misunderstanding, she later corrected this. It should only be checked whether those who signed the letter had committed a criminal offence.
This letter is protected by free speech
From a purely formal point of view, this also gives Dolin a reason to accuse him. Under the service law, it is the responsibility of the states, not the federal government, to review the consequences. The letter also falls within the scope of free speech, which does not protect professors from saying false or even stupid things.
There is no doubt that her letter is shameful. They do not mention Hamas’s terrorist acts against Israel at all. They also call for impunity for rioters who previously caused serious damage to the university. They even talk about “police violence”, thus making the evacuation of the university look completely disproportionate. They do not mention the possible trivialization of terrorism by students.
That is why criticism of the sacked Secretary of State should not be taken too far. A test order is a test order. No damage was done except the impression it created.
There is also the impression that there are double standards in academia and politics. Geraldine Rauch, the rector of the Technical University, who apparently enjoyed anti-Semitic posts on social networks, is now able to remain in office with a lot of ingenuity. On the other hand, a state secretary who may have appeared too enthusiastic must go.
There are also more and more cases of criticism in the federal government, but none of them have any consequences. For example, the Green Party-appointed anti-discrimination commissioner Ferda Ataman Letter to the operator of a fitness studio in BavariaAtaman proposed that the operator pay 1,000 euros in compensation for the alleged violation of personality. That was excessive.
Critics should not relax their standards
Federal Environment Agency It took a long timeThe investigation revealed substantial evidence of a possible multi-billion dollar fraud related to Germany’s energy transition. Despite this, the responsible environment ministry did not draw any human consequences.
An investigative committee of the German Economy Ministry must now clarify the circumstances of the nuclear phase-out. The question is whether the political dimension of the House of Representatives has prevented an open review of extending the life of Germany’s remaining nuclear power plants, thereby harming consumers and energy security.
People can argue that what is happening in the science department is wrong. But standards should not slip.
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