Category Archives: Germany

‘We are dealing with fundamentalist rightwingers’: Berlin statues are latest battleground in Germany’s culture wars

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Monuments erected on the Stadtschloss are an ‘infiltration’ of the city and its skyline by nationalists, say critics

Silently towering into the grey Berlin sky, the latest addition to the German capital’s skyline is easily missed by passengers passing along the Unter den Linden boulevard below. Eight statues of Old Testament prophets, each more than 3 metres tall and weighing 3 tonnes, were installed last week in a circular formation around the cupola of the palace in the centre of the metropolis.

Whether these wise men made of sandstone are mere innocent bystanders overlooking the ebb and flow of German history or warriors in a culture war over the country’s future, however, has been the subject of heated debate. Critics say the erection of Isaiah, Ezekiel and co is emblematic of the silent manipulation of a prestige architecture project by a shady group of donors with nationalist leanings.

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Populist parties’ divisions jeopardise chances of setting European agenda

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Survey shows supporters of nationalist parties hold widely differing views on EU membership, migration and support for Ukraine

Populist and nationalist parties fighting the European elections in June are deeply divided on almost all key issues, according to a survey, in a finding that questions their chances of defining the bloc’s agenda even in the event of a predicted far-right surge.

However, the report, by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), also said pro-EU parties risked mobilising the Eurosceptic vote if they continued to ape hard-right policies rather than coming up with persuasive alternatives.

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Far-right Austrian nationalist banned from Germany after neo-Nazi meeting

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Martin Sellner, leader of ethno-nationalist Identitarian Movement, had addressed controversial event in Potsdam in November

A far-right Austrian nationalist has been banned from entering Germany after addressing a meeting about mass deportations that provoked mass protests across the country.

Days after he was deported from Switzerland, Martin Sellner, a leader of Austria’s ethno-nationalist Identitarian Movement, posted a video of himself on X reading out a letter to his lawyer that he said was from authorities in the city of Potsdam.

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Climate activists across Europe block access to North Sea oil infrastructure

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Blockades at facilities in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, with protests in Scotland and action expected in Denmark

Climate activists in four countries are blocking access to North Sea oil infrastructure as part of a coordinated pan-European civil disobedience protest.

Blockades have been taking place at oil and gas terminals, refineries and ports in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, in protest at the continued exploitation of North Sea fossil fuel deposits.

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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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New EU gig economy laws saved from oblivion by Belgian compromise

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Directive aims to give taxi and delivery drivers such as those working for Uber and Deliveroo rights similar to those enjoyed by full employees

New laws designed to improve the rights of gig economy workers in the EU contracted to companies such as Uber have been saved from oblivion after they won the majority backing of member states.

The legislation had been blocked by a group of countries last month, when France said it could not support the text on the table and Germany abstained.

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Deutsche Bahn files legal action over German rail strike

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GDL union has announced its sixth strike in a dispute over wages and hours

The German rail operator Deutsche Bahn has taken urgent legal action in an effort to stop a strike by a train drivers’ union.

The GDL trade union, which has about 40,000 members and represents train drivers and other rail workers, announced a strike this week – its sixth in a months-long dispute over wages and hours.

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UK politics: Sunak refuses to say how abolition of national insurance would be funded – as it happened

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PM says ‘people trust me on these things’ and refuses to be drawn on whether government would forgo entire £46bn raised from measure

Keir Starmer has accused Jeremy Hunt of repeating the budget mistakes made by Liz Truss during her disastrous premiership.

In comments on the budget during a visit to a building site this morning, Starmer focused on Hunt’s proposal to abolish employees’ national insurance over time, saying that this was a bigger unfunded tax promise than those in Truss’s mini-budget. (See 9.28am.)

How humiliating was that for the government yesterday?

We’ve argued for years that they should get rid of the non-dom tax status, they’ve resisted that. And now, completely out of ideas, the only decent policy they’ve got is the one that they’ve lifted from us.

Nothing that Jeremy Hunt did yesterday, nor anything the OBR said, changes anything very significantly. Which is a shame. Because that means we are still:

-heading for a parliament in which people will on average be worse off at the end than at the start,

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Daniela Klette of Baader-Meinhof gang remanded in custody

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Klette, 65, allegedly took part in three violent Red Army Faction attacks in the 1990s

A former member of the radical anti-capitalist Baader-Meinhof gang arrested in Berlin last week after 30 years on the run has been remanded in custody over three violent attacks in the 1990s.

Police swooped on Daniela Klette, 65, at an apartment in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district on 26 February. They called it a “milestone” as Klette was one of the most wanted people in Europe.

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‘Hypervaccinated’ man reportedly received 217 Covid jabs without side effects

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German man, who said he had vaccines for ‘private reasons’, suspected of selling certificates to people who didn’t want jab

A German man who voluntarily received 217 coronavirus jabs over 29 months showed “no signs” of having been infected with the virus that causes Covid-19 and had not suffered from any vaccine-related side effects, according to a study published in the medical journal Lancet Infectious Diseases.

The 62-year-old, from Magdeburg, Germany, whom doctors described as “hypervaccinated”, said he had had the large number of vaccines for “private reasons”, according to the researchers from University of Erlangen-Nuremberg who examined him.

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UK urges Germany to give long-range missiles to Kyiv despite Luftwaffe leak

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Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he will not give missiles that could strike at strategic Crimea bridge, as Russia seeks to exploit leak

Britain has urged a reluctant Berlin to supply long-range Taurus missiles to Kyiv despite an embarrassing leak to Russian television of a top-secret call involving German air force officers who said UK troops were “on the ground” in Ukraine.

The Kremlin sought to exploit what it saw as a propaganda coup and pressure the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, who in turn insisted on Monday he would not donate missiles that could strike at the strategic Kerch bridge linking Russia and occupied Crimea.

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German prosecutors urge Red Army Faction suspects to surrender

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Officials say ‘pressure is rising’ on two fugitives after arrest of a third last week and raids at weekend

Authorities in Germany have called on two suspected leftwing terrorists to turn themselves in and said they were close on their tails.

After the arrest a week ago of Daniela Klette, the last remaining female member of the Red Army Faction at large, officials said the net was closing in on her two alleged accomplices, Burkhard Garweg, 55, and Ernst-Volker Staub, 69.

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Police raids in Berlin fail to find two Red Army Faction fugitives

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Over 100 officers joined operation, which will continue despite setback, as part of hunt for Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg in Germany

The renewed German police hunt for two alleged members of the Red Army Faction, previously known as the far-left militant Baader-Meinhof gang, who have been on the run for more than 30 years, will continue after an operation in Berlin failed to find the suspects.

Special armed police units launched raids in the Markgrafendamm area of Berlin at 7.30am on Sunday in a search for Ernst-Volker Staub, 69, and Burkhard Garweg, 55.

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Germany to investigate Russia’s apparent interception of military talks on Ukraine

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Chancellor Olaf Scholz describes as ‘very serious’ the circulation of a recording purportedly showing German officials discussing delivery of long-range missiles to Kyiv

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has promised a full investigation after a recording purportedly of confidential army talks on the Ukraine war was circulated on Russian social media, in a huge embarrassment for Berlin.

A German defence ministry spokesperson confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the ministry believed a conversation in the air force division was “intercepted”. “We are currently unable to say for certain whether changes were made to the recorded or transcribed version that is circulating on social media,” they said.

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Politicians from 12 countries unite to press for arms ban on Israel

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Letter aims to bring public anger over 30,000 deaths of Palestinians in Gaza into heart of parliaments

More than 200 MPs from 12 countries have committed themselves to trying to persuade their governments to impose a ban on arms sales to Israel, arguing they will not be complicit in “Israel’s grave violation of international law” in its assault on Gaza.

The letter, organised by Progressive International, a network of socialist MPs and activists focused on international justice, is seen as the best practical measure possible to bring public anger over the 30,000 deaths of Palestinians in Gaza into the heart of parliaments, where calls for an immediate unconditional ceasefire have so far fallen on deaf ears or been rejected by national governments.

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‘Two worlds colliding’: Berlin transport workers and climate activists unite over rights

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Two groups are striking for better working conditions and investment in Germany’s underfunded public transport

At first sight, the gathering in an office complex in east Berlin resembles a self-help group. But the public transport workers and climate protesters sitting in a semi-circle introducing themselves have been thrown together, they say, to fight for a common cause.

“Hello, my name is Erdogan. I’m a bus driver in the northern zone of Berlin and have been in the job for 32 years. I’m glad someone is finally taking our profession seriously,” says one.

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Berlin police order evacuation of Red Army Faction fugitive’s apartment block

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Suspected explosives found after arrest of Daniela Klette, the last living female member of the terror group

Police in Berlin have ordered the evacuation of the apartment block in which a fugitive from the Red Army Faction (RAF) was arrested on Monday, telling the residents they had found suspected explosives in the building.

Already reeling from the arrest of Daniela Klette, the last living female member of the RAF, neighbours at the property in Berlin were told to leave their homes on Wednesday as police and fire brigade reinforcements were drafted in to help clear nearby buildings.

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‘It’s been scary’: relief in Plymouth as German bomb is floated out to sea

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Residents tell of concerns and community spirit after discovery and removal of 500kg second world war explosive

Usually as the weekend approaches, the streets, shops and pubs around Devonport, the largest naval dockyard in western Europe, hum with life.

But an eerie hush fell over the area on Friday after more than 10,000 people were evacuated from homes and workplaces so a second-world-war bomb dropped on Plymouth by the Luftwaffe could be extracted from a back garden.

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Germans must capitalise on anti-AfD momentum, says political veteran

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Exclusive: Time is ripe for challenge to growing far-right support, says former Bundestag president

A former president of the German Bundestag has urged the country’s political leaders to seize on the momentum of recent nationwide demonstrations against far-right populism to build “an alliance of democrats”, comparing the outpouring of anger to the protests that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Wolfgang Thierse, a veteran social democrat considered by many to be a moral authority in contemporary Germany, said he was shocked by the rise of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), which has struggled to distance itself from revelations that party members attended a meeting at which plans for the mass deportation of foreigners were discussed.

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American man admits rape and murder of woman near German castle

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Defendant, 31, met two US women on path in Marienbrücke and pushed them down ravine, prosecutors say

An American man has admitted to charges of murder and rape after he allegedly pushed two US women down a ravine, fatally injuring one of them, near Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany last year.

The 31-year-old defendant admitted to the charges during the start of his trial, the German news agency dpa reported. Defendants in the German legal system do not formally enter pleas to charges.

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