Overview
- Linke politician Wenke Brüdgam quit as state equality commissioner after a deleted video showed her describing how she tore down Germany flags from empty houses on Rügen.
- Brüdgam had apologized, calling the action a big mistake, and said she spoke and acted as a private person while affirming democratic values.
- Opposition parties CDU, AfD and FDP had declared her position untenable, and the AfD prepared an Abwahl motion in the state parliament.
- The Staatsanwaltschaft Stralsund confirmed multiple police complaints and is examining whether to open a formal investigation, while the justice ministry conducts internal reviews.
- Justice Minister Jacqueline Bernhardt expressed respect for the decision, and Linke state chair Hennis Herbst called the resignation excessive, pointing to a far-right call to stage flag displays.