Category Archives: Olaf Scholz

German far-right party AfD poised for state election victory in east

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Alternative für Deutschland leader speaks of ‘historic success’ of top place in Thuringia and second in Saxony

A far-right party became the biggest force in a German state parliament for the first time since the second world war, preliminary results showed on Sunday, while a new populist force on the left established a firm foothold in the country’s political landscape.

Voters in two closely watched elections in the former communist east made their dissatisfaction with Germany’s mainstream political parties clear, putting the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party in the top spot in Thuringia, with 32.8% of the vote, and second place in Saxony, with 30.6%, according to preliminary results.

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German state elections: Far right leads in Thuringia exit poll, centre-right ahead in Saxony – as it happened

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Exit polls show strong performance for far-right Alternative für Deutschland in both German state elections

The centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has taken a narrow lead in Saxony, with the far right Alternative für Deutschland following closely in second place, according to the first exit polls.

Saxony ZDF exit poll

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Starmer appears to leave door open for potential EU youth exchange scheme

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PM does not rule out setting up system in future after meeting with Olaf Scholz, who stressed desire for closer ties

Keir Starmer has held the door open for some form of youth mobility exchange with EU countries after talks in Germany with Olaf Scholz, who stressed to the British prime minister his wish for closer such ties.

While Starmer said at a press conference with the German chancellor that the UK did not have plans to join the EU’s youth mobility scheme – with No 10 having previously ruled out such a move – speaking to reporters later, he pointedly did not rule out setting up some sort of system for other link-ups, for example student exchanges.

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Evan Gershkovich’s most tireless advocate to secure his release: his mother

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Ella Milman pressed world leaders and researched the scheme that would eventually lead to the release of her son

Much has been made of the public diplomacy behind the largest prisoner swap between Russia and the US since the cold war, with officials from at least seven countries spending years making calls and holding secret meetings in far-flung capitals.

But since Evan Gershkovich, the formerly imprisoned Wall Street Journal reporter, and others stepped off the plane in Maryland on Thursday, new details have emerged about the role of a crucial player in that effort: his mother.

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Olaf Scholz welcomes Argentina’s president Javier Milei to Germany

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German chancellor holds unusually short meeting in Berlin with the controversial populist leader

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has welcomed Argentina’s populist president, Javier Milei, for a controversial and unusually short meeting in Berlin after the divisive leader accepted an award from a German foundation with links to the far right.

Protesters, some holding placards reading “No trade with despots”, jeered from beyond the gates of Scholz’s chancellery as the self-described anarcho-capitalist emerged from his limousine on his first visit to Germany as president.

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Olaf Scholz questioned at Progressive Governance Summit – as it happened

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German chancellor and LSE professor Lea Ypi speak on ‘freedom, peace and progress’ at event chaired by Guardian’s editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner

Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, said at the Progressive Governance Summit that globalisation is a benefit for world development.

There must be an answer to the question why the most lucky countries in the world have “right-populist movements and unrest,” he said.

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Zelenskiy lobbies for support and investment to reconstruct Ukraine

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Ukrainian president appeals in Berlin for funding to repair and rebuild energy infrastructure and for defence

The Ukrainian president and his allies have used a major conference in Berlin to lobby international business for support in the country’s reconstruction and recovery efforts even as it continues to be bombarded by Russia.

Speaking at the Ukraine recovery conference, hosted by the German government, at which the topic of Ukraine’s survival was centre stage, Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Europe’s peace was also at stake if his country was not able to protect and rebuild itself as it stood up to Russia.

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European elections’ main impact likely to be felt in national capitals

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Mainstream groups hold on to majority in European parliament but far right gains weaken governments in France and Germany

So in the end, with a couple of alarming wobbles, the centre held. As polls predicted, the mainstream pro-EU alliance of centre-right, centre-left, liberal and Green parties in the European parliament hung on, quite comfortably, to its majority.

Europe’s national conservative and far-right forces made big gains, ending up with just under a quarter of MEPs in the 720-seat assembly – their highest tally ever. But they did not do uniformly well, and in some places fared worse than forecast.

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Olaf Scholz condemns attacks on politicians after third assault in a week

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German chancellor says attacks are ‘outrageous and cowardly’ after politicians have been hit and injured in Germany

Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has strongly condemned a rash of attacks on politicians after a senator and former mayor of Berlin was struck over the head in a public library in the third assault on an elected official in less than a week.

Franziska Giffey, a member of Scholz’s centre-left Social Democratic party (SPD) was slightly injured and briefly hospitalised after a man hit her from behind with a bag containing an unidentified hard object on Tuesday. Police have arrested a 74-year-old male suspect.

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Germans grill Olaf Scholz over soaring cost of doner kebabs

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Die Linke party is among those calling for a Dönerpreisbremse or price cap on the hugely popular street food

The soaring cost of doner kebabs has led to growing calls in Germany for a government subsidy programme to keep the inflation-hit dish, one of the country’s favourites, affordable as politicians report it is frequently cited as a concern in doorstep conversations with voters.

The chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has become so used to being asked about the price of kebabs during public appearances that his government has even posted on social media to explain that price rises are in part due to rising wage and energy costs. “It’s quite striking that everywhere I go, mainly from young people, I’m asked whether there shouldn’t be a price brake for the doner,” Scholz has said.

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The prince, the plotters and the would-be putsch: Germany to try far-right coup gang

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Ex-soldier, conspiracy theorist, astrologer and anti-vaxxer among the first of 27 people on trial for trying to violently topple the German government – led by Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss

One of the largest legal proceedings in German history is due to start on Monday with the first of three trials of a group of far-right conspiracists who planned to violently overthrow the country’s parliament.

So sprawling is the network, so extensive their plans, that for a mixture of logistical and security reasons, the 27 people due in the dock have been split into three separate groups.

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German chancellor urges Xi Jinping to press Russia to end Ukraine war, saying ‘China’s word carries weight’

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Olaf Scholz says Chinese president agreed to back June peace talks that Russia is not attending while Xi says efforts for a resolution must involve both sides

Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, says he has urged Xi Jinping to press Russia to end its “senseless” war in Ukraine and that the Chinese president has agreed to back a peace conference in Switzerland.

Scholz said after a meeting with Xi in Beijing on Tuesday that “China’s word carries weight in Russia”.

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German chancellor urges Chinese industry bosses to play fair in EU market

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Olaf Scholz says European cars should have equal access to Chinese customers

The chancellor of Germany has urged industry bosses in China to play fair by not overproducing cheap goods or infringing copyright rules.

Speaking on a three-day visit to China, where he is travelling with leading business representatives and three government ministers, Olaf Scholz said he, in turn, would encourage the European Union not to be driven by self-interested protectionism, in which governments restrict international trade to help domestic companies.

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‘I will not dance’: Olaf Scholz joins TikTok with a promise

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German chancellor follows in the footsteps of Joe Biden and other leaders on social media platform

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has opened a TikTok account, promising he will not be seen dancing on the social media platform popular with young people.

The newest official government channel “increases the information offer to citizens, who increasingly inform themselves and discuss politics on TikTok”, Scholz’s spokesperson, Steffen Hebestreit, said in a statement.

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German, French and Polish leaders hold emergency meeting on Ukraine

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European military powers try to dampen tensions between them over Russian war and US aid for Kyiv

The three leading military powers in mainland Europe – France, Germany and Poland – are holding an emergency session in Berlin to try to dampen tensions over their different responses to the twin spectres of Russian military advances in Ukraine and US Congress’s refusal to approve substantial further military aid for Kyiv.

The clash in approach – predominantly between the newly hawkish French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the perennially cautious German chancellor, Olaf Scholz – was laid bare in a dramatic French TV interview on Thursday night in which Macron said Europe’s security, even its existence, was at risk.

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Nato chief rebukes Donald Trump and announces record defence spending

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Jens Stoltenberg accuses Trump of undermining alliance and says 18 members are expected to invest at least 2% of GDP this year

Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary general, has accused Donald Trump of undermining the basis of the transatlantic alliance as he announced that 18 Nato members were expected to beat the target of spending more than 2% of GDP on defence.

It was the second rebuke by the Nato chief to the Republican frontrunner in less than a week, reinforced by a declaration that Germany was among the countries planning to spend over the threshold for the first time in a generation.

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European leaders call for stronger defence ties after Trump’s Nato remarks

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Polish PM Donald Tusk says ‘all for one, and one for all’ in thinly veiled riposte to Republican frontrunner

European leaders have called for greater unity and military cooperation across the continent in response to comments from Donald Trump that threatened to undermine the basis of Nato.

Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, said on a visit to Paris on Monday that there was “no alternative” to the EU and the transatlantic alliance before a summit in which he discussed deepening defence relationships with the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

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About 200,000 people protest across Germany against far-right AfD party

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Chancellor says protests are ‘strong sign in favour of democracy’ as demonstrators gather in Berlin, Dresden, Hanover and other cities

About 200,000 people have taken to the streets of Germany in further protests against the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Protests on Saturday also took place in Dresden, Mainz and Hanover in a sign of growing alarm at strong public support for AfD.

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AfD leader ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’, says German Social Democrats head

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Lars Klingbeil warns far-right party’s discussions of mass deportation sparked fear for millions across country

The co-leader of the German Social Democrats (SPD), the largest party in the Bundestag, has accused the leader of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) of being a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” as he warned that plans for mass deportation discussed at a secret meeting attended by its members had sparked fears for millions across the country.

In an extraordinary parliamentary debate on “fortifying democracy” in reaction to the far-right gathering that took place in November in Potsdam, Lars Klingbeil described the AfD as “rightwing extremist”. He accused the party leader and parliamentary head, Alice Weidel, of being a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” over her “teary-eyed” description of what she said was a “smear campaign” against the party. “Your facade is beginning to crumble,” he said. “The true face of the AfD is clearly coming to light.”

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Scholz urges unity against far right after mass deportation ‘masterplan’ revealed

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German chancellor condemns ‘fanatics with assimilation fantasies’ after reports about AfD meeting

Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has urged democrats to stand together against “fanatics with assimilation fantasies” after it emerged that politicians from the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party had discussed a “masterplan” for mass deportations in the event of the party coming to power.

The far-right meeting, involving members of the AfD, the head of the Identitarian Movement and neo-Nazi activists, took place last November at a countryside hotel on the outskirts of Potsdam.

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