Joint Press Release

Joint Press Release

from: Thomas Jurk (SPD), Caren Lay (DIE LINKE), Maria Michalk (CDU), Members of the German Parliament; Stefan Brangs (SPD), Mike Hauschild (FDP), Antje Hermenau (GRÜNE), Heiko Kosel (DIE LINKE), Aloysius Mikwauschk (CDU), Marko Schiemann (CDU), Members of the Parliament of Saxony; Michael Harig, President of the District of Bautzen; David Statnik, Chairman of Domowina, the Federation of Lusatian Sorbs 

Vandalism against bilingual place-name and traffic signs in the district of Bautzen is intolerable

We utterly condemn the recent massive vandalism against bilingual place-name and traffic signs. The damage done in the night before 28 May makes it clear that there are fellow citizens in Upper Lusatia, who are grossly intolerant and who are ignoring and fighting against a vibrant and publicly visible situation of bilingualism in Upper Lusatia. It is not acceptable to stir up such forms of resentment against the Sorbian population. People who do so are violating both the constitution of Saxony and European norms. We expect that these activities will be investigated and that the perpetrators will be punished. Injustice done on such a magnitude makes it impossible to go back to business as usual.

We call on all the citizens of Upper Lusatia to protect and to care for our unique heritage of bilingualism. We ask you to provide the police with any relevant information that may lead to resolving these crimes.

The bilingual place-name and traffic signs in the German-Sorbian area of settlement are a symbol of the two cultures that live together in Lusatia. For centuries Germans and Sorbs have lived together in peace. This should remain so in the future. These bilingual place-name and traffic signs make us into a special region. We will not accept that this will be destroyed due to the gross behaviour of some individuals, because the loss would affect us all.