The former vice-chancellor and foreign minister of Germany, the SPD politician Sigmar Gabriel (63), caused outrage before the World Cup. In a tweet about how to deal with homosexuality and poor working conditions, he defends Qatar and criticizes Germany.
He writes: “German arrogance towards Qatar is a knockout…! How forgetful are we really?” Homosexuality was punishable in Germany until 1994, guest workers were treated “badly”. In addition, his mother had to ask her husband for permission if she wanted to work.
«crack in the bowl»
Gabriel has received a lot of criticism with his tweet. For example, the green politician Volker Beck (61) replied: “You are seriously comparing the situation of homosexuals in Germany in 1994 with that in Qatar in 2022? You have a crack in the bowl with your understanding of despots.”
It also took Germany decades to become a liberal country, Gabriel told Stern magazine. Gabriel hopes Qatar will do both: “Say what needs to change. But also respect what has already been achieved. What we have now achieved is that the Qataris turn a blind eye.”
And Gabriel continues to tweet, this time about the 2026 World Cup, which will take place in Mexico, among other places: “In this country, about 1,000 women are killed every year and the number of unreported cases is much higher. Let’s see if we are as hard on a Christian country as we are on a Muslim.” (girlfriend)