The Defense Ministry released a statement on Thursday after a video that appeared to show a German soldier making a threat against the government was widely shared on social media. “A video of a supposed soldier, which has been shared here a lot, is currently circulating online,” the ministry wrote on Twitter. “It contains threats against the rule of law that are unacceptable. The consequences are already being examined,” it added.
Ultimatum over vaccine mandates
The man who appears in the video is dressed in a Bundeswehr uniform and gives what he claims to be his surname and rank, a junior officer akin to a sergeant or staff sergeant. His message targets the vaccine mandate for both health care workers and soldiers. He then warns the German state that it has until “tomorrow at 4 p.m.” to revoke these rules, without specifying which day he meant (the video appears to have been posted around midnight local time) or what he claimed to be threatening. Police in the region of Upper Bavaria also said on Twitter that they were “aware of the videos and their contents,” and their officers had “already taken up the case.” Protests in Germany against pandemic restrictions have intensified of late, according to comments from one of the country’s police trade unions on Wednesday, which said the strain on their officers was becoming excessive. Earlier in the month, police uncovered a potential plot to assassinate the state premier of Saxony by a group of extremists opposing coronavirus vaccinations. Numerous reports of far-right extremists within the German armed forces in recent years have also caused outrage and in some cases led to dismissals or even prosecutions. About 71% of people in Germany are fully vaccinated, although this share goes up when only counting people aged 18 and above. The new German government has said it will consider introducing a full-scale obligation to be vaccinated in 2022. Current restrictions limit most activities for the unvaccinated. ab/msh (AFP, dpa)