Left and Greens against the Olympics in Berlin
The Left and Green parties in Berlin have reacted with harsh criticism to the CDU vote for the 2036 Olympic Games in Berlin. "We clearly reject Berlin's bid to host the Olympic Games," said Left Party leaders Franziska Brychcy and Maximilian Schirmer on Monday. "The CDU wants to bring the Olympics back to Berlin in 2036, 100 years after the Nazi Games, which is oblivious to history and completely tasteless. Opening the door to historical revisionist tendencies and a rewriting of the culture of remembrance will not happen with us left-wingers."
The Green parliamentary group also reiterated its rejection. "Black-Red's plans for the Olympics do not do justice to the current budget situation," explained the parliamentary group's spokesperson for sports policy, Klara Schedlich. "Instead of an Olympic bid, Berlin urgently needs refurbished sports facilities for popular sports." In Schedlich's opinion, the Olympic Games are not in the interests of the people of the city.
This is also the view of the Left Party, which rejected the 2036 Olympics in Berlin in a party conference resolution passed last Friday. "Our city has real problems that the Senate must finally tackle. The money for the bid, planning and staging of the Games is needed much more urgently elsewhere," said Brychcy and Schirmer.
At a closed meeting in the Polish capital Warsaw at the weekend, the CDU parliamentary group made the case for an Olympic Games in Berlin in 2036. "Where better to host the 2036 Olympic Games than in the sports and Olympic city of Berlin as part of a national bid?" said parliamentary group leader Dirk Stettner.
According to the CDU position paper, the 2036 Olympics in Berlin could be a continuation of the legendary "summer fairytale" of 2006, when Germany hosted the World Cup. The CDU MPs are convinced that the Olympic Games could be a symbol of reconciliation 100 years after those of the Nazis. Berlin could show that it has learned from history.
The Green parties, aligned with the parliamentary group, also share the Left Party's rejection of hosting the Olympic Games in Berlin in 2036, citing budget constraints and focusing on improving local sports facilities instead. Moreover, they argue that the Olympics are not prioritized in the best interests of the city's residents.
Reference to Olympic Games in other cities also highlights the ongoing discussions on the bid, as the CDU parliamentary group, in their recent meeting in Warsaw, suggested that Berlin could potentially host the 2036 Olympic Games as part of a national bid, portraying it as a symbol of reconciliation and a continuation of the 2006 World Cup's success.
Source: www.dpa.com
