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The first blanks of the Berlinale bears can be seen in the Hermann Noack picture foundry.
© Jens Kalaene/dpa
The Berlinale management has excluded the AfD from its opening gala.
NRW, on the other hand, is holding on to the much-noticed state reception despite criticism of its guest list - with AfD representatives.
Düsseldorf - The Berlinale leadership has excluded AfD politicians from the opening gala - North Rhine-Westphalia does not want to follow suit.
At its always highly regarded state reception in Berlin, NRW does not want to make any changes to its guest list at the moment.
“Nothing has changed at the moment,” replied a spokeswoman for the North Rhine-Westphalia state representation on Friday when asked by the German Press Agency about the consequences of the attitude of the Berlinale leadership.
The state government invited members of all parties represented in the federal and state parliaments to the state reception on February 18th “as usual” and “in the spirit of equal treatment of elected representatives”.
The state government, like the federal government, is of the opinion that “this corresponds to respect for parliaments and their elected representatives”.
The spokeswoman had previously assured the “Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung” (WAZ): “The state government will at the same time make it clear that there is no place for anti-Semitism, racism or hostility to democracy at the Berlinale reception.” The NRW reception has had a negative impact in recent years because of the The importance of the country's film foundation always attracted a lot of celebrities and provided the Prime Minister with welcome photo opportunities with stars.
Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) also wants to stick to the current protocol for invitations to party representatives.
There are no plans to change “the protocol practices,” said a Senate spokeswoman.
At the same time, she paid respect to the decision of the Berlinale management.
She announced on Thursday evening that, especially in view of the revelations of anti-democratic positions in recent weeks, it was important to take an unambiguous stand for an open democracy.
The Berlin AfD state and parliamentary group leader Kristin Brinker then spoke of a “cultural-political beacon” and complained about exclusion and stigmatization.
In NRW state politics, however, there is opposition to sticking to the guest list.
“Hendrik Wüst called the AfD in the state parliament a very dangerous Nazi party – and he was right.
“But then he’s not allowed to roll out the red carpet for her,” said SPD state parliament member Serdar Yüksel to “WAZ”.
The chairwoman of the Green Youth, Laura Alderath, expressed similar criticism of the Prime Minister's attitude.
dpa