KConstantin Kuhle wants to tackle the matter thoroughly. After the former AfD member of the Bundestag, Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, was arrested during the major strike by the security authorities against the “Reichsbürger” scene and the plans for a coup included an armed advance into the Reichstag, Kuhle questions the access options for former AfD members of parliament. Because of Malsack-Winkemann’s “involvement in terror plans” a “re-examination of access for former AfD MPs” is necessary.
Other MPs made similar comments on Friday. The SPD domestic politician Sebastian Hartmann demanded that Malsack-Winkemann’s contacts in the Bundestag (she was a member from 2017 to 2021) be checked because he assumed that she had hoped for support “from within” in connection with her coup plans. Hartmann and Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt (Greens) demanded in the newspapers of the Funke media group that the security checks for those who have access to the Bundestag should be reviewed and, if necessary, revised.
It is noteworthy that Kuhle does not want to examine security conditions in general, but specifically targets the AfD. That could also come from his experiences in November 2020. While the Bundestag was debating the Infection Protection Act on the way to the first Corona winter, the AfD faction had brought guests to the Reichstag building. All factions can do that. However, the guests of the AfD were not very interested in the parliamentary debate, but turned out to be filming troublemakers in the corridors of the Reichstag. A video that showed how they mobbed the then Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier from the CDU attracted particular attention. Konstantin Kuhle was also concerned with the troublemakers.
Consequences were drawn after the incidents
No weapons were found on the invaders at the time, and images of the storming of Parliament in Washington would not shock the world until nearly two months later. Now both are coming together: the experience that something like this can also happen in a democracy and the plans of the “Reich citizens”, including a former AfD MP, to penetrate the Bundestag with more than just video cameras. However, consequences were drawn after the events of November 2020, as reported by Bundestag Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki, a party friend of Kuhle.
Until then, former members of the Bundestag (who in principle still have access rights for one legislative period after leaving the Bundestag) were able to enter the Reichstag without going through one of the security checkpoints, but this privilege was abolished. Since then, alumni, like journalists, have had to go through an airlock like the ones at airports after entering the Reichstag building. In an interview with the FAZ, Kubicki draws the conclusion that changes due to the latest findings about the plans in the “Reichsbürger” scene are not necessary. Finally, the decisive measures had been taken.
The Bundestag has numerous entrances, only some of which are equipped with security checkpoints. Active MPs do not have to go through. Those who have to pass through such locks are only allowed to enter the building at the appropriate entrances. However, access and control are two-step. With the appropriate ID, you first get inside through electrically controlled glass doors. Even those who then have to go through the security check can move freely within a few square meters for a short time. A separate Bundestag police force provides protection and patrols the buildings.
The fact that the debate is focusing on the AfD these days is obvious on the one hand because of the knowledge about the coup plans of the “Reich citizens”. On the other hand, there is also a lot of debate about breaches of the law by climate activists, who usually tend to be more left-wing politically, such as members of the “last generation”. Climate activists have also made it into the Bundestag and have hardly received any help from the AfD. A few months before the disrupters invaded in November 2020, members of the environmental protection movement “Extinction Rebellion” got into the Reichstag in the summer of that year and dropped leaflets there. In addition, members of Greenpeace had abseiled from the roof of the Reichstag building.
