Merz's government sacrifices antiziganism commissioner: Outrage in the Berlin Senate
One of the promises of the new federal government was to halve the number of federal commissioners. Ultimately, 25 of the former 43 federal commissioner positions will no longer exist, according to the federal government. It is now gradually becoming known which positions will be filled or remain filled by which people – and which will be eliminated. A concrete list will be published in the coming days, according to the responsible new Ministry for Digitalization and State Modernization.
The Ambassador for Feminist Foreign Policy, the Special Representative for International Climate Policy and the Special Representative for Migration Agreements were deleted.
However, positions such as Commissioner for Eastern Europe and Anti-Discrimination will remain. Elisabeth Kaiser from Thuringia will be the new Commissioner for Eastern Europe, and the much-criticized scientist Ferda Ataman will remain responsible for anti-discrimination. The equally often-criticized virologist Hendrik Streeck will become Drug Commissioner. A completely new position, for example, was created for Minister of State for Sport and Volunteering in the Federal Chancellery.
One of the positions eliminated is that of Commissioner for Combating Antigypsyism and for the Lives of Sinti and Sinti, as well as Roma and Romnja in Germany. The first person to be appointed with this long-winded title was Mehmet Daimagüler , a former member of the FDP federal executive board and later a victim's lawyer in the NSU trial. Daimagüler's contract will not be renewed.
Daimagüler spoke in the taz newspaper of a "slap in the face for the Sinti and Roma in Germany." And there has also been fierce criticism from the Berlin Senate.
Alina Voinea, the Berlin state contact person on antigypsyism at the Senate Department for Integration , sees the abolition of the office as "a fatal signal from the new federal government." After all, all studies and monitoring reports show "a significant increase in antigypsy discrimination in all areas of life." The "historical responsibility of the Federal Republic towards Roma and Sinti" is apparently being repressed once again.
Voinea said she was "very concerned" about the future of the recently established Federal-State Commission on Antigypsyism and wondered how the Federal Government would continue to support members of the minority in the fight against antigypsyism if it were to abolish this office right now.
Berliner-zeitung
