A man waves a Russian flag at the memorial in Treptow (archive photo) Photo: Carsten Koall/dpa
From BZ/dpa
According to the police, before the commemoration days at the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Berlin Administrative Court also allowed Russian flags and symbols to be displayed.
However, the police have lodged a complaint with the Higher Administrative Court against this decision, a police spokeswoman said on Sunday. A decision by the next instance was expected for the same day.
Originally, the police had issued a ban on Russian and Ukrainian flags and symbols around the Soviet memorials in Treptow, Tiergarten and Schönholzer Heide for the commemoration days on May 8th and 9th. The two days mark the 78th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.
Ban on Ukrainian flags lifted
However, the administrative court had already lifted the ban on Ukrainian symbols on Friday. The ban on Russian symbols was then challenged in an urgent procedure on Saturday.
In this case, too, the administrative court ruled against the general decree, said a police spokeswoman. While the police accepted the decision in the case of the Ukrainian symbols, they went to the next instance with regard to the Russian symbols, it was said.
Since Russia has attacked Ukraine and both countries are currently at war, conflicts were feared for the anniversary. The police had justified their general decree by wanting to ensure the “dignified commemoration of the fallen soldiers of the Soviet Army at the time”. In addition to Russian and Ukrainian flags, she had also banned symbols and images as well as the playing of marching and military songs around the three memorials.