On May 8 and 9, it was forbidden to display Russian flags in Berlin
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The Supreme Administrative Court of Berlin and Brandenburg banned the display of Russian and Soviet flags and symbols, including St. George’s ribbons, during commemorative events on May 8 and 9. The decision cannot be challenged. Ukrainian flags and Ukrainian marching music are allowed.
Initially, the Berlin police banned both Russian and Ukrainian flags during commemorative events on the territory of memorials in the Tiergarten district, in Treptow Park and in Schönholzer Heide Park. Ukrainian NGO Vitsche challenged this decision in the administrative court and was successful. On Friday, the court allowed Ukrainian flags to be displayed on the territory of three Berlin memorials, founded in memory of the fallen soldiers of the Red Army. The police refused to appeal to a higher instance.
On Saturday evening, the administrative court in Berlin, based on an urgent action, allowed Russian flags to be displayed in front of the memorial in the Tiergarten district. However, the police contested this decision in the Supreme Administrative Court.
The court found the police’s prediction that Russian symbols, in view of the ongoing full-scale war in Ukraine, could be used to incite violence. “After all, in the current context, these symbols could be understood as a manifestation of sympathy for waging war,” the court’s press release says.
Intensification of targeted shelling of Ukrainian cities and the civilian population leads to further escalation of the conflict, therefore, it is impossible to separate the day of remembrance of the victims of the Second World War and the resumption of hostilities in Ukraine, the court emphasizes. Ukrainian flags were not the subject of this lawsuit.
The events of May 8 were held in Berlin peacefully and without excesses. The police said that the day of remembrance passed “without any special disturbance”. Most of the visitors were on the territory of the memorial in Treptov Park. More than one and a half thousand police officers participated in maintaining order. On May 9, more visitors are expected on the territory of all three Berlin memorials.
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