German government supports the protest of local authors against Amazon

Monika Grütters, the German minister for culture and media, supports the recent protest of more than 1,000 writers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The authors signed an open letter to Amazon, accusing it of manipulations of reading recommendations and of lying to customers about the availability of the books published by Bonnier Group. Amazon did not deny accusations. It simply stated that it wants Bonnier Group to lower e-book prices, because it “offers most of its titles under conditions that make it significantly more expensive for us to sell a digital version, as compared to a printed edition”. Germany is the largest market for Amazon outside of the United States.
According to Monika Grütters, the book market is not like any normal market and needs protection.

"Market power and domination over central distribution channels should not endanger our cultural diversity," said the state minister for culture and media, Monika Grütters [...]. 

Her statement "welcomes and supports" a campaign by authors, some of whom have been caught in the cross-fire as Amazon re-negotiates its deals with publishers [...]. 

"If titles are removed from recommendation lists and deliveries are delayed to enforce discount demands from publishers, this is totally unacceptable," Grütters said, stressing that books are both "economic goods" and "cultural property" [...]. 

Grütters said that "literature, books, publishing houses ... are a foundation of our cultural life". 

"They must not be subject purely to market principles. Dealing appropriately with these values   also has an ethical dimension. This applies to all players - including Amazon."

Would she have said the same things if Amazon were a German company? Hard to tell.