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The Occasional Knowledge-Hungry Shark

Two underwater telecables were cut in the Baltic Sea last Sunday. Who is to blame?


22/11/2024

The internet is under attack, and Western politicians have been quick to point their fingers in Putin’s general direction. Two underwater telecables in the Baltic Sea were cut Sunday night and Monday morning this week. One connected Lithuania to the Swedish island of Gotland, the other ran from Finland to Rostock in Germany. 

Despite few details, on Tuesday a statement by Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom claimed  — without specifically mentioning the cables — that, “Russia is systematically attacking European security architecture.” The German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius also stated that, “No one believes that these cables were cut accidentally.” He then added, apparently without a hint of irony, “We also have to assume, without knowing it yet, that it is sabotage.”

This is the third alleged attack in the Baltic Sea since the war between Russian and Ukraine began close to three years ago, the first two primarily targeting gas pipelines. It is unclear who carried out the first attack in September of 2022 on a pipeline built to carry Russian gas, but they succeeded in causing major damage. The Americans and the Russians have since blamed each other, although media reports from Germany’s investigation point towards a pro-Ukrainian group. 

The second attack in October 2023 was first denounced by Finland as having been caused by “outside activity”, and various European leaders hinted at Russian aggression, only for some awkward information to come to light: a Chinese tanker ship was apparently to blame. It seems to have dragged its anchor along the sea bed and damaged the pipeline, although it’s unclear whether this was due to incompetence or done on purpose.

Again this week, before events were clear, European leaders pointed to sabotage. The day following Pistorius’ bravado statements, it was reported that a Chinese bulk carrier was at the site of both breaches at approximately the times they took place. The signs are once again pointing to an accident, although as of the time of writing, neither the accidental nature nor the Chinese ship’s responsibility have been confirmed.

It would be far from the first time an undersea cable was damaged by accident. According to the telecom data provider TeleGeography, there are around 100 breaks per year, and around two thirds of these come from fishing boats trawling the ocean floor, or inconveniently placed anchors. Add to that natural wear and tear, earthquakes, and the occasional knowledge-hungry shark, and there’s little space left for international intrigue.

The spine of the internet

Underwater telecables are of major structural importance in the modern world, and so perhaps forgiveness can be extended to politicians who panic and point fingers at the possibility of attacks. They were originally used to transfer telegraphs, then telephone calls and now today the internet as well. The cables themselves, alongside fears surrounding them, have a long history — the first international treaty on the matter included the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires among its original signatories.

The underwater cables that carry phone calls and internet traffic are surprisingly thin, about the width of a medium carrot, although notably longer. Closer to shore, they are thicker due to increased protective layers. While the landing points are generally considered the most susceptible to attacks, actual attacks have tended to target sections deep underwater, where there are fewer witnesses or risk of escalation than would come with attacking infrastructure located on foreign soil.

During the Cold War, the Americans and the Soviets engaged in a back-and-forth which showed that the underwater sections of telecommunications cables were more than weak enough to be targeted. In 1959-60, five transatlantic cables near the USA were cut one after another, leading to accusations of foul play. The American Navy seized a Soviet fishing trawler which was at the site of each of the cuts, but were unable to prove its responsibility. Then, throughout the 1970s and 80s, the American National Security Agency spied on Soviet communications by having a submarine tap Soviet cables.

More recently, American and other Western political commentators have continuously raised concerns that these cables are a weak point. In 2015, Forbes ran an article titled, “How Bad Would It Be If The Russians Started Cutting Undersea Cables? Try Trillions In Damage”. In 2019, a NATO-associated journal published a detailed piece outlining the risk. Just this summer, the Financial Times published another article warning of the possibility of attacks. 

There is a slight irony here, as despite all the alarming articles, the 2019 piece still feels the need to offer what feels like fairly basic advice to those who run the supposedly high-risk landing ports: they should implement “perimeter fences”, “video surveillance cameras” and “guard[s]”.

There are admittedly some good reasons to be afraid. Even today, upwards of 95% of internet traffic is run through these cables, despite all the attention given to satellites. The WhatsApp messages you send from your phone to family or friends abroad go to the nearest cellphone tower, and then straight into a cable. Add in work emails, the recipe you looked up on an Indian website, the German website you used that has servers in the USA for whatever reason, and of course, trillions of dollars in digital transactions swirling around the globe; everything from grandma sending you birthday money to grandpa’s tax-dodging offshore accounts.

All this information is primarily run through undersea cables. As seen on this map, most places have enough cables that just cutting one would be more of a costly inconvenience than an economic and security crisis, as data could be re-routed through other cables with little or no noticeable loss in service. 

This is true of the current situation in the Baltic Sea, although Finnish users may find their internet slightly slower than normal. Some geographically remote places like Australia or Patagonia are exceptions, though. The Black Sea is also surprisingly sparse on cables.

Serious outages, even short ones, would prove costly to the financial markets, not to mention the cost of repairing the cables. But in times of war, any damages to communication lines could have costs ranging well beyond the economic, interrupting the flow of communications to military forces — not to mention the psychological impact such an attack would have. Youth across Europe have already been struggling with the rising costs of bread since Russia invaded Ukraine. How would they manage if Putin shut down their internet?

Privatisation and confused jurisdiction

Despite their importance and the long-standing international agreements relating to them, the actual jurisdiction over undersea cables is still quite confused. This is made worse by the fact that most of these cables are privately owned, a fact as unsurprising as it is depressing. Major corporations like Google are becoming increasingly responsible for them as well, with industry insiders claiming just last month that Meta has plans for a new around-the-world cable.

In the Baltic Sea breaches, the shorter Lithuania-Gotland cable belongs to the Swedish company Arelion. The other cable leading to Rostock was the 1173 km long “C-Lion1”, owned by the Finnish company Cinia and originally built in 2016. Cinia has said that a ship is being dispatched, and repairs should be completed before the end of the month. 

The muddled political jurisdiction was shown by the response to the alleged attack on the Finnish and Swedish companies. Both countries launched inquiries from their respective national investigative bodies, although the Finnish allowed the Swedes to take the lead. This was presumably because at least one (but seemingly both) of the cuts was close enough to Swedish shores to be in the Swedish Exclusive Economic Zone, as Cinia said in its statement

This left Germany (not to mention Lithuania) in the awkward position of wanting to be outraged by an attack on their internet infrastructure, but having nowhere to funnel this anger. It was, after all, an attack on a Finnish-owned cable on Swedish territory. The only impact it had on Germany was on its internet, leaving the state with no investigations to launch or other practical ways of showing displeasure. Pistorius had to make do with an accusatory and potentially embarrassing statement. If news comes out confirming that it was an accident due to the Chinese ship, he may end up hoping more damaged cables prevent the news from spreading this close to an election.

As mentioned above, whether Putin is behind these latest cuts or not, it certainly isn’t the first time European governments have too quickly accused Moscow, nor is undersea sabotage a new tactic. But while the ringing of war bells is a cause for concern, the largest threat to internet infrastructure over the long term may be massive corporations seizing control of our means of communication by building and purchasing the cables that connect the world. With the growing monopolisation of these cables, the main threat to the freedom of the internet may be on a Meta-level as well as a physical one.

Unframe Festival

A Weekend of Socialism, Culture, and Community


21/11/2024

This weekend, Berlin’s Oyoun transforms into a hub of resistance and creativity with the Unframe Festival, running from November 22 to 24. This three-day event brings together lectures, panel discussions, workshops, theatre, and film in German and English to tackle themes like decolonization, anti-capitalism, intersectionality, and collective liberation. Unframe provides a critical space for confronting systemic oppression while imagining alternative futures through knowledge and cultural expression.

In a world where authoritarianism is rising, and inequality continues to deepen, Unframe offers a platform for activists, thinkers, and artists to reflect, strategize, and inspire. Through its diverse programming, the festival blends political engagement with cultural exploration, creating an opportunity for meaningful dialogue and action.

Challenging Colonial Narratives and Historical Legacies

Unframe opens with discussions that confront the lasting impacts of colonialism and imperialism. One standout session is “Is German guilt to blame for the oppression of Palestinians?”, which examines how Germany’s historical reckoning with the Holocaust has shaped its policies toward Palestine. This deeply reflective lecture highlights the tensions between historical responsibility and current political realities, offering a thought-provoking start to the festival.

The theme of colonial legacies continues with “Das Gewicht der Wörter” (The Weight of Words), a panel on Saturday featuring Moshtari Hilal and Sinthujan Varatharajah. This session dives into how language is wielded as both a tool of oppression and a medium of resistance, inviting participants to rethink how narratives shape power dynamics.

On Sunday, “Antizionistische JüdInnen unter Generalverdacht” (Anti-Zionist Jews Under General Suspicion) addresses the challenges faced by Jewish voices critical of Zionism. This session sheds light on the stigmatization and marginalization of these perspectives, framing them as an essential part of global liberation movements. “Decolonial Jewish Diasporism” expands on this by imagining Jewish identity beyond nationalist frameworks, emphasizing solidarity with decolonial struggles worldwide.

Intersectionality in Action

A key strength of Unframe is its ability to connect struggles across race, gender, class, and geography, highlighting the systemic forces that shape oppression. On Saturday a panel “(Un)Democratic Mechanisms” explores how modern democracies often fail to serve marginalized communities. Featuring Pauline Jaeckels, Lucas Febraro, and Alexander Gorski, and moderated by James Jackson, the discussion critiques democratic structures and their inability to uphold civil liberties.

For those drawn to feminist critique, “Imperialer Feminismus – eine marxistische Analyse” (Imperial Feminism – A Marxist Analysis) on Friday offers a sharp analysis of how capitalist and imperialist frameworks co-opt feminist movements, undermining their transformative potential. This session provides a critical lens on how gender equality is often commodified within global systems of power.

Saturday also offers unique opportunities for collaboration and creativity through workshops. “Imaginative Justice” by Salma Said and Miriam Coretta Schulte stands out as it is conducted in three languages – English, German, and Arabic. This interactive session challenges participants to imagine a world free of borders, surveillance, and exclusion, blending accessibility with radical creativity. It exemplifies Unframe’s commitment to fostering inclusivity and collective participation.

Climate Justice and Resistance

The intersection of climate justice and anti-imperialism is another major theme at Unframe. On Saturday, “Klimagerechtigkeit, Antiimperialismus & die Klimabewegung” (Climate Justice, Anti-Imperialism, and the Climate Movement) critiques the neoliberal co-optation of climate activism. Speaker Hasan Özbay calls for a return to anti-imperialist principles, urging activists to address the global inequalities at the heart of the climate crisis.

On Sunday, the panel “The unity of our struggles, the diversity of our tactics” emphasizes the importance of solidarity across movements, focusing on the connections between environmental justice and liberation struggles worldwide.

Cultural Expression and Storytelling

Unframe’s cultural programming underscores the power of art and storytelling in resistance. The “Memories Carried” art exhibition runs throughout the weekend, showcasing works that explore themes of migration, displacement, and resilience. Guided tours provide deeper insights into the artists’ processes, making this an essential experience for attendees.

The festival also features a carefully curated selection of films. Friday’s screenings include “From Ground Zero” by Tutku Efe, a narrative on resilience after systemic destruction, and “Uncle, Give Me a Cigarette” by Jamen Abu-Khatir, which reflects on longing and loss amidst displacement. On Sunday, “Taste of Cement” by Ziad Kalthoum offers a visually stunning exploration of Syrian construction workers in Beirut, caught between rebuilding a foreign city and mourning the destruction of their homeland. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Ziad.

Saturday’s “Bleib ängstlich – bleib sicher” (Stay Fearful – Stay Safe) combines German and English storytelling in an experimental theatrical performance. The show explores how fear shapes individual and collective identities, providing a powerful commentary on the ways we navigate security and uncertainty in modern life.

Why Unframe Matters

Unframe Festival stands out for its ability to weave together intellectual debate, grassroots activism, and cultural expression. Its programming not only confronts systemic injustices but also celebrates the resilience and creativity of those fighting for liberation. For someone like me, drawn to the intersections of politics, storytelling, and activism, sessions like “Das Gewicht der Wörter”, “Eye witness report from West Bank”, and “Imaginative Justice” exemplify the festival’s capacity to inspire and connect.

Whether you’re interested in the global implications of climate justice, the intricacies of democratic systems, or the role of art in resistance, Unframe has something to offer. It’s more than a festival – It’s a call to action, inviting us to imagine and work toward a better world. This weekend at Oyoun is an opportunity to learn, connect, and reflect on the movements shaping our future. Join the conversation and be part of the change.

For more information, visit their Instagram or official website.

Check the timetable here.

Film Review – No Other Land

Accusations of antisemitism are nonsense. This is a groundbreaking film


20/11/2024

Directors: Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal (Occupied Palestinian Territory, Norway).

Summer 2019, the West Bank. A line of bulldozers enters one of the villages belonging to the community of Masafer Yatta, South of Hebron. In a short space of time, they destroy some of the village’s stone houses. Local residents complain, but they are told by the soldiers accompanying the bulldozers that this is all legal, the houses are being removed to make way for a closed military training zone. The soldiers are armed and aggressive. The villagers are not.

Flash back 20 or more years to Basel Adra’s first memory. He was woken by a flashlight carried by an Israeli soldier coming to arrest his father, not for the first time. Within a couple of years, Basel was accompanying his activist parents on demos, and soon he was filming them. He first trained as a lawyer, but what can you do in the Israeli courts? He is now a social media activist who documents the daily brutalisation of Masafer Yatta by soldiers, tanks, and armed settlers.

Early on in the film, Basel meets Yuval Abraham, an anti-Zionist Israeli journalist. Many villagers are suspicious of Yuval – the only Israelis they have met so far have been those who terrorise them. But Basel and Yuval strike up a friendship. As well as documenting the horror of living in the West Bank, No Other Land also shows their growing Bromance. At one point, Basel jokingly suggests that they leave and go to the Maldives. At another, one asks the other when they are going to get married.

Such moments of levity stand in stark contrast to the random daily terror which is inflicted on the locals. One villager says that his family has lived here since the 1830s. This does nothing to stop Israeli soldiers razing people’s homes to the ground. Villagers are not allowed to rebuild them, as that would require a building permit. And to get a building permit you need to apply to an Israeli court. So they rebuild their homes at night until the bulldozers return. Many people are now forced to live in caves.

Basel asks Yuval why, unlike so many of his countrymen, he cares about basic human rights for Palestinians. Yuval attributes his activism to learning Arabic – something which caused the Israeli secret service to offer him a job, which he declined. Maybe Yuval’s radicalisation was down to more than just learning a language, but he has remained true to his beliefs. He spends increasing amounts of time in the village, helping rebuild buildings and trying to motivate himself to write more about the resistance.

The villages are filmed over a period of years, over which the Israelis – led by an obnoxious arsehole in mirrored sunglasses called Ilan – get increasingly confident. After a while, they do not just demolish homes, they confiscate building tools and even power generators. When one young man, Harun Abu Aram, tries to stop the soldiers taking away his generator, they shoot him in the neck, rendering him quadriplegic. They then tear down his home, forcing him to live in a cave. Harun later dies of his wounds.

We actually see the footage of the shooting of Harun, well some of it at least. As with much of the footage here, we first see an altercation filmed on handheld cameras, then the soldiers threatening the people taking the film. As the soldiers get more aggressive, we see more pictures of stony ground as the person holding the camera runs away. In this case, these pictures are accompanied by the sound of  a shot, followed by a woman screaming: “what have they done to my son?”

Many scenes remain uncommented, as there is honestly nothing to say. Children are first locked into their classrooms, then forced out at gunpoint. A playground is destroyed. Basel’s father is arrested and taken to a military prison – again. As a bulldozer approaches a house, a woman shouts out: “my daughters are still in there!” A soldier impassively says “doesn’t matter!” Even if the soldiers are just obeying orders, as they claim, there is no justification for such malevolent indifference.

Basel proudly tells the story of how his school was built – the only one in the village. Normally, any building works were disrupted by Israeli soldiers, but Basel’s mother had a plan. In the daytime, the women and children would work on the building site, and at night, the men would come out and get the job done. Surprisingly, the plan worked, and soon the school was built. Unsurprisingly, the Israelis condemned it to be torn down. And then Tony Blair arrived.

I hate to give any credit to the soulless war criminal, but for once Blair’s actions had a positive effect. He was in Masafer Yatta for just 7 minutes (we see footage of him surrounded by burly bodyguards), and yet his appearance shamed the Israeli government into letting the school stay. Basel ruefully says “This is a story about power.” Even this victory was short-lived. Later footage shows the school being demolished after the television cameras had moved elsewhere.

Basel teases Yuval for wanting a quick solution. When Yuval is worried that an article he wrote did not generate enough clicks, Basel replies: “You want the occupation to end in ten days, and then you go home … You have to get used to being a loser.” Basel accuses his friend of having too much enthusiasm. He says that Yuval thinks that this conflict can be solved by a nice article, but Basel has to live through all this and cannot afford such self-indulgence.

Earlier footage shows that Basel was not always so cynical. We see him early on saying that if his footage of Israeli atrocities could reach an international audience, maybe the US authorities would understand and get Israel to stop. Watching the film in late 2024, when the atrocities have become much worse and much more public, and the USA and Germany continue to fund the destruction, it is easy to understand why Basel has become much less hopeful of any diplomatic solution.

For most of the time, Basel is indefatigable, but occasionally he too feels defeated. At one point, he says he doesn’t want to end up like his father, not because he isn’t proud of his parents’ activism, but because he isn’t sure whether he has his father’s staying power. He considers stepping back from activism, as he is tired, and after his father’s arrest someone’s got to look after his petrol station (in truth, a single pump) and ensure that the family has the money it needs to survive.

You’d be forgiven for asking if Basel’s activism is worth it. We see several scenes of him telling IDF soldiers that he’s filming them, but they don’t care. They know the courts are on their side. In one scene, Basel shouts out that he has press ID, but this does not protect him from a vicious beating. And yet, however futile it may seem, Basel says that the fact that the villagers are still there is proof of their resilience. Their very existence is valid and necessary resistance.

Despite their camaraderie, the film shows the asymmetry of Basel and Yuval’s relationship. At the end of the day, Yuval can drive home and take a shower. Basel cannot do this for a number of reasons. Firstly, the authorities have banned cars with Palestinian number plates in Masafer Yatta. Secondly, Basel also has a personal driving ban. And even if he could drive away and leave his home, he would not get far because of the checkpoints. He certainly could not drive along the roads which only allow Israeli drivers.

Besides which, even taking a shower at home is becoming increasingly difficult. Emboldened by the previous repression and by a government – and a society – which supports them, Israeli soldiers destroy not just houses but all sources of water. Concrete is poured into the main well, hoses are chopped up, pipes and any other source of water are physically attacked. The villagers look on helplessly. One says “they are trying to starve us”. Or as Basel later says: “they destroy us slowly”.

If the constant attacks by soldiers aren’t enough, then the settlers arrive, armed with guns and baseball bats. Unlike the protesting Palestinians, the settlers are not attacked by the army – indeed we see soldiers accompanying them as they go on the rampage. In one of the final scenes, we see them shooting someone in the stomach, resulting in immediate death. A soldier watches on indulgently. We later learn that the victim was Basel’s cousin.

Why is all this happening? Why does Israel need to expel Palestinians from their traditional homelands? The official excuse is that the Israeli army needs room to train (how much space do you need to practise shooting unarmed civilians at point blank range?). We even see Israeli news coverage implying that the villagers are encroaching on military land – that is, that the army was always there and the villages which have existed since the early 19th Century are just a myth.

Towards the end of the film, leaked documents explain what is really going on. The expulsions are aimed at stopping “Arab expansion”. This is a topsy-turvy world in which “expansion” is used to describe staying where you are. The aim is to force the villagers into cities like Ramallah, where they are easier to control. And the sad fact is that these policies are starting to take effect. Later, we hear that many villagers cannot take any more brutality and have indeed moved out.

In amongst the grainy handheld footage, some scenes are beautifully shot, especially evening scenes from inside the village after the Israeli soldiers have gone. In the background, we see glorious landscapes, in the foreground ordinary people trying to get on with their lives in an impossible situation. If it wasn’t for the occupation, these lives could be idyllic. This film is about the relentlessness of the occupying forces but it is also about Palestinian indefatigability.

The film’s title is taken from what one of the villagers says to the soldiers who try to evict her from her home: “We have no other land.” And yet, I don’t know if it’s intentional, but it has a second meaning. Is there another country on Earth which could carry out such barbarities with impunity, while other governments, including our own, do not just ignore what is going on, but continue to provide Israel with the weapons and bulldozers used to destroy people’s lives?

Although No Other Land won both the jury and audience awards for Best Documentary at the Berlinale, it was recently used as the justification for a new “antisemitism resolution” passed by virtually all parties in the German Bundestag (the other justification was the Indonesian art collective Taring Padi, who exhibited at the most recent Documenta exhibition. In a country where the second most popular political party is full of fascists, it is not a good look to blame antisemitism on foreigners).

Before the film was screened today, a message from the cinema owners, Yorck Kinos, flashed up. It wasn’t on long enough for me to read it all, but it said something like: “we hope no Jews are offended by this film, blah blah, German history, blah blah, please don’t be antisemitic”. I don’t know whether the statement was voluntary or the result of government pressure, but the idea that your main take-home point from this film could be antisemitic says much more about Germany than about the film itself.

No Other Land was supposed to wrap in early October 2023. There is a cautionary post script in which we are told that since 7th October, things in the villages have got worse. But the villagers remain resilient. As Basel says, “We have to raise our voices, not be silent as if no human beings live here.” This film is part of this resistance, it allows us to hear the voices that are usually silenced, particularly in Germany. It isn’t showing in many cinemas, but the one I saw it in was full. Try and see it if you can.

Unframe Festival

A weekend of socialist ideas, culture, and connection

Unframe festival is more than just an event—it’s a vibrant cultural and political space happening at Oyoun Berlin, bringing together people eager to explore and engage with transformative ideas. Rooted in socialist thought, the festival is dedicated to discussing and “unframing” key topics concerning socialism, marxism, decolonialism, anti-racism, and the pressing political developments shaping our world today.

We believe in the power of dialogue and shared learning to inspire change. That’s why we’ve curated a diverse program designed to spark thought-provoking conversations and foster meaningful connections. Whether you’re already immersed in these topics or just beginning to explore them, unframe festival is a welcoming space for everyone.

Across the weekend, you can dive into a wide range of lectures, panel discussions and workshops led by activists, scholars, and organizers who are shaping these movements. Engage with critical questions about justice, equality, and liberation, and exchange ideas with others who share your curiosity and passion.

Unframe festival isn’t just about discussion — it’s also about culture, creativity, and community. Enjoy live music and DJ sets from inspiring artists, watch theatre plays, film screenings and see exhibitions that offer fresh perspectives, as well as a bazaar where you can discover books, merch and more. Savour delicious food that fuels the body and the spirit, and take a moment to connect with others in a cozy atmosphere.

Join us for a weekend that challenges, inspires, and connects. Together, we can imagine and work toward a better world — one conversation, one idea, and one moment of solidarity at a time.

News from Berlin and Germany, 20th November 2024

Weekly news round-up from Berlin and Germany

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Right-wing extremist demo wants to march through Rigaer Straße

An announced right-wing extremist demonstration through Berlin-Friedrichshain has provoked left-wing counterdemonstrations. The right-wing extremist event for December 14, registered with the police for some time, is to start at Ostkreuz, passing through Rigaer Straße. According to the police, 50 to 100 participants are registered. The planned counterdemonstrations are called “Against fascism, queer-hate and misogyny – for a colourful Berlin instead of a brown one” and “Put child Nazis to bed.” The demonstrations’ routes could still be changed due to the potentially dangerous situation, as announced by Senator of the Interior Iris Spranger (SPD). Source: rbb

Thousands protest against cuts to Berlin’s cultural scene

Berlin government has to make substantial savings – and will not spare the cultural sector. This includes theatres, opera houses, libraries and clubs. Their representatives protested in Berlin on Wednesday. According to the organisers, around 3,000 people took part in the demonstration at the Brandenburg Gate. A police spokeswoman gave the figure of 1,000 demonstrators when asked by rbb. Actress Katharina Thalbach and her colleagues Lars Eidinger and Alexander Scheer also took part in the protest. The Berlin Senate wants to cut 10% from all departments, and this will also affect the cultural budget. Source: tagesschau

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Germany to hold snap federal election on February 23

Following the traffic-light (“Ampel”) coalition’s collapse, Germany’s Federal Returning Officer has announced that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will face a no-confidence vote on December 16, 2024. The process will run then as following: in case Scholz loses the vote, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD) will dissolve parliament 11 days afterwards, on December 27. Once parliament has been dissolved an election must be held within 60 days. In that situation, February 23 has been selected as the date Germans might return to the polls. Source: iamexpat

Germany’s health-care sector: skilled labor shortage

Around 47,400 positions in Germany’s health-care sector were unable to be filled by suitably qualified applicants in 2023 and 2024. This problem has been exacerbated by the increased health demands of an aging population, with Germany’s public health agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), predicting that the percentage of people aged 65 or older will grow from the current 21% to 29% by 2030. “An aging population leads to an increasing demand for health-care services. This increases the burden on existing skilled labor,” according to the authors of the study, carried out by the Competence Centre for Securing Skilled Labour at the German Economic Institute (IW). Source: dw

More than 3 million pensioners at risk of poverty in Germany

Sahra Wagenknecht, the leader of the new left-wing BSW party, lamented a “dramatic increase in old-age poverty” in an interview with the German dpa news agency published on Saturday. The BSW had issued a formal request for information to the European Union’s statistical agency Eurostat, which found that around 3.2 million people aged 65 or over in Germany were at risk of poverty. The figure had risen slightly in 2023, to 3.245 million, from 3.157 million the previous year. In 2013, only 2.4 million were at risk of poverty. Source: dw

Already 31,000 postal complaints

The Federal Network Agency has once again received significantly more complaints about the postal service. As the Bonn-based authority explained in response to an enquiry from dpa, it received around 31,700 complaints in the first nine months of the current year, 25% more than in the same period in 2023. Even if the complaints also concern other logistics companies in the postal and parcel sector, 90% of them were made against the former state-owned Deutsche Post, now DHL. From 2025 on, letter post may become a whopping 10.48% more expensive, and a normal letter will cost ten cents more. Source: jW

Warning strike phase thwarted

Negotiations between the Industrial Union for Construction, Agriculture and the Environment (IG BAU) and the Federal Guild Association of Building Cleaners (BIV) lasted a full 16 hours in Cologne last Thursday. In the end, they agreed on a wage increase of around 11% for the approximately 700,000 employees over a period of two years. In addition, there will be an increase in trainee pay, which will rise to up to 1,300 euros depending on the year of training. Around 800 employees from all over Germany took part in the demonstration to increase the pressure on the employers’ association. Source: nd

Bundeswehr prepares companies for the event of war

The German economy might face massive restrictions in the event of defence or tensions against other states. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Bundeswehr has started training companies based on the “Operation Plan Germany.” The first version of the strategy paper is 1,000 pages long and the details are allegedly undisclosed. Nonetheless, such a document apparently lists all buildings and infrastructure facilities that are particularly worthy of protection for military reasons. Also, in the event of an emergency, companies are advised to draw up a concrete plan of what is expected of which employees. For self-protection, it is important that the entire workforce gets a feel for security issues. Source: n-tv