Protests Target Koch, Poor University Conditions

UNCLAS FRANKFURT 000039 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV ECON PINR PREL GM SUBJECT: Protests Target Koch, Poor University Conditions REF: (A) Frankfurt 07786, (B) Frankfurt 9873 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: University strikes and protests in Hesse during recent weeks continue to target Minister-President Roland Koch (CDU). University leaders and students say funding cuts and fee hikes violate prior agreements and will endanger Hesse's leading position in science and research. Protests against Koch's "Operation Safe Future" (reftel) include universities, churches, trade unions and even former coalition partner FDP (Free Democrats) officials. The state government defends the cuts and shows no signs of bending. While Hesse officials are increasingly nervous, Koch appears to prefer confrontational "wedge politics" to Germany's post-war culture of consensus -- even within his own party. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) In September, the Hesse government announced far- reaching budget cuts (ref A),prompting university presidents to openly criticize the government for breaking the "university pact" signed after Koch came to power in ¶1999. That agreement mandated university reforms in exchange for shielding higher education from budget cuts. While universities enacted reforms, the 2004 Hesse budget foresees a 1.9 percent cut in university funding. Former Higher Education Minister Ruth Wagner (FDP) condemned the cuts as a threat to Hesse's position as a center of research and innovation. Tensions between government and university leaders escalated this month when Koch threatened to cut funding for Kassel University because its president publicly supported the striking students. ¶3. (SBU) Students in Hesse have held weeks of protests against M-P Koch, and university students remain on a month-long strike. As in Berlin and other cities, Frankfurt students are protesting decreased funding at a time of peaking enrollment. Protests in Hesse culminated in a rally December 13 at which virtually every banner denounced Koch. Campus leaders oppose fees of 500-900 euros per semester on long-term students -- not the fees per se, but the fact that revenues will go to reduce the state deficit and not to universities. Students also say the fees are unfair because poor funding keeps them in school longer (many classes are oversubscribed). ¶4. (SBU) In recent weeks, Koch and Hesse Minister for Higher Education Udo Corts have faced blockades, disruptions, and protests at many events. The Koch government is holding firm and defends the 1.9 percent cut as small relative to other areas of government. Corts says there are too many long-term students (ten percent are enrolled for more than 16 semesters in undergraduate programs). Frankfurt Goethe University student spokesman Falk Hertfelder told us that students would end the strike for the holiday season, but that "Koch won't have a minute of peace in Frankfurt next year." COMMENT -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The current wave of university protests/strikes is not a 1968-style movement: students appear thus far to have specific goals and a narrow political agenda. The protests are focused on Koch's confrontational and autocratic leadership style. Koch did not consult universities, NGO's or churches before announcing program cuts, which the Hesse CDU see as policy tools and not just ways to bring the budget closer to balance. ¶6. (SBU) Koch dislikes consensus-style "appeasement roundtables" and prefers to use the CDU's absolute majority in Hesse to make and carry out decisions. This confrontational approach has proven divisive (alienating the FDP) and risky, as evidenced by Koch's poor showing in the Hohmann affair (ref B). Despite the political fallout, Koch views these as risks worth taking in his efforts to streamline Hesse's extensive social system. END COMMENT. ¶7. (U) This message has been coordinated with Embassy Berlin. BODDE