German lawmakers push to ban flag burning

German lawmakers inched closer to banning the public burning of flags of foreign countries and the EU. The idea for the bill dates back to 2017, when Israeli flags were burned at a protest in Berlin.

Representatives of the ruling coalition have drafted a bill that would impose a fine or prison sentence for those who burn flags or national symbols of foreign countries, as well as of the European Union.

Burning the German flag publicly is already illegal in Germany, but the law is murky when it comes to burning the flag of any foreign nation or of the EU. Each case of flag-burning is currently dealt with on an individual basis, usually in terms of whether it can constitute a hate crime.

A bill had previously been introduced to parliament concerning the burning of just the EU flag, but Wednesday’s debate concerned a new bill that would expand fines and prison sentences to those burning the flags of any foreign country.

The ruling coalition have not yet set out a time frame for the bill, which will need to be voted on by parliament.

Although the bill will most likely pass with CDU and SPD support, opposition parties expressed skepticism.

Read more via DW