Volt Politician Demands Public Apology From Hessen Minister Over Instagram Remarks
Hessen European and Federal Affairs Minister Manfred Pentz faces growing calls for his resignation following derogatory Instagram comments directed at a Volt politician, merkur.de reported on November 6, 2026. The controversy erupted after Pentz posted a video addressing Frankfurt Gen Z demonstration riots and characterized the unrest as migrantischer Gewalt
(migrant violence).
Sahak Ibrahimkhil, a Volt Essen organizer, criticized the CDU minister in the comment section. Ibrahimkhil wrote that Germany needed to be entunionisiert
before it was too late, adding that the Union’s genozidbefürwortende, rassistische und autoritäre Milieu
required fighting down to the smallest village.
Pentz Responds With Mocking Language and Subsequent Apology
Pentz replied to Ibrahimkhil using broken grammar with the words Warum Du so sprechen.?!
and ich nix sprechen, ich schreiben
. The exchange quickly drew heavy social media backlash.
The Hessian European minister subsequently deleted the remarks. He later offered a brief explanation, telling the Hessenschau, Es tut mir leid, ich habe mich im Ton vergriffen,
while also apologizing directly to Ibrahimkhil for his choice of words.
Ibrahimkhil rejected the apology. Sie können nicht einfach löschen und zur Tagesordnung übergehen. Ich erwarte eine öffentliche Entschuldigung für Ihre rassistischen Aussagen,
he wrote underneath another Instagram post by Pentz. Earlier, Ibrahimkhil told the Frankfurter Rundschau from Ippen.Media that while comments from a regular party member might not have affected him personally, writing such statements as a sitting Hessian minister represented an unprecedented dimension.
Jusos and Volt Politicians Demand Resignation From Boris Rhein
Rodan Zeybek, chairman of Jusos Hessen-Süd, directed formal resignation demands toward Minister President Boris Rhein. Zeybek stated that imitating broken German served as a known racist stylistic device intended to imply the interlocutor lacked fluency, despite Ibrahimkhil writing flawless German. Zeybek added that the apology treated the incident like a personal dispute rather than an official action by a minister targeting people with migration backgrounds.
Frankfurter Stadträtin für Digitales und Internationales Eileen O´Sullivan, also representing Volt, joined the calls for resignation. She wrote on Instagram under a Pentz post, Hallo, mein Zweitname ist Ayse, wollte trotzdem auf Hochdeutsch fragen, wann Sie gedenken, zurückzutreten, aufgrund Ihrer rassistischen Äußerungen.
Pentz Previously Insulted Merz in Video Conference
This incident marks another instance of controversial remarks by Pentz within party ranks. In early 2021, while serving as Hessian CDU general secretary, Pentz attacked current Chancellor Friedrich Merz during an internal Junoe Union video conference, labeling Merz the party’s biggest divider and describing his supporters as Merz-Dschihadisten
. Following heavy criticism from then-Minister President Volker Bouffier and others, Pentz issued a written apology, admitting errors in both tone and vocabulary.
