by Thorsten Koch

Federal Minister of the Interior, Horst Seehofer (CSU), wants to end his decades-long political career after the current legislative period. He has been in politics for 50 years. After the next federal election, a “total contrast program” would begin, he said. Seehofer said he would become “an apolitical person”. He does not seek positions in advisory boards.

In one of his most recent statements, Seehofer said he was “deeply concerned” by extremist organizations in Germany trying to undermine current demonstrations against measures to contain the Corona pandemic. They tried to misuse the demonstrations for their particular agendas. The Federal Ministry of the Interior also knew of online activities in which subversives agitated. Seehofer confirmed that his ministry takes this very seriously.

The right to demonstrate that people who love friends in the sense of democracy must be upheld even now, said Seehofer. But organizers of demonstrations should make sure that the demonstrations are not instrumentalized. He called on citizens who love democracy to be vigilant.

From 1980 to 2008 Seehofer was a member of the Bundestag. He was later Minister of Health, Minister of Agriculture and has served as Federal Minister of the Interior since 2018. Between 2008 and 2018, Seehofer was Prime Minister of Bavaria.