News from Berlin
German citizenship applications: around 5% rejected in Berlin
According to figures from the Berlin State Office for Immigration (LEA), cited by Interior State Secretary Christian Hochgrebe (SPD), the LEA’s naturalisation department rejected one in 20 citizenship applications in 2025: 39,034 Berliners were successfully naturalised last year, while 1,931 had their applications rejected. Hochgrebe said there were multiple reasons why applications might be rejected, for example, if information is missing, inconsistent or incorrect. In some applications, workers may suspect documents have been forged. Since operations were centralised at the LEA, staff numbers have nearly doubled, and the application process has been almost entirely digitised. According to Hochgrebe, digitisation means security standards are now “significantly higher”. Source: iamexpat
An example
On February 25, Bild announced that Berlinale festival director Tricia Tuttle was about to be dismissed, not only because of Syrian-Palestinian director Abdallah Alkhatib’s speech at the closing gala, but also because a photo taken before that shows her with the Alkhatib film crew and a Palestinian flag. However, making an example out of Tuttle did not work. Tuttle has received a great deal of solidarity: more than 600 filmmakers signed an open letter on the “Future of the Berlinale,” and the German Cultural Council, the Federal Association of Directors and a group of Israeli directors have expressed their support. Source: jW
EU: armaments instead of urban development?
The European Commission is urging member states to use funding from cohesion policy—funds intended for the social and economic development of regions—for the expansion of military infrastructure. The Commission is planning 4 multimodal corridors for “short-term and large-scale military movements” in Europe. For the period 2021 to 2027, Berlin is earmarked for approximately €680 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Whether Berlin and Brandenburg could also be directly involved in a “dual-use” infrastructure (i.e, for civilian and military purposes) is unclear: the Berlin Senate claims to have no knowledge about it. Source: BZ
“NOlympia” and the potential withdrawal from the Olympic bid
The Berlin Senate anticipates that withdrawing its bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games would incur administrative costs of “up to one million euros.” This is according to the official cost estimate from the Senate Department for the citizens’ initiative “For Berlin—Against the Olympics. We say no to a bid for the Olympic Games in 2036, 2040, and 2044.” The “NOlympia” alliance sharply criticized the Senate Department for the Interior for its calculations. “This cost estimate is a political smokescreen,” said Gabriele Hiller, spokesperson for the alliance. “The Senate is trying to convince the people of Berlin that it would be more expensive not to host the Games than to hold them.” Source: tagesspiegel
“Wing of Zion” at the Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER)
While fighting between Israel and Iran continues to escalate in the Middle East, the Israeli government plane has been moved from the crisis region to Berlin. The Boeing 767 used for government travel, known as “Wing of Zion,” is now safely parked on the tarmac at BER Airport, away from the fighting—apparently as a precautionary measure. BER declined to comment on the aircraft’s whereabouts when asked, and the Israeli embassy also did not initially respond to a request for comment. According to Israeli media reports, the aircraft had been moved out of the country during previous conflicts to protect it from missile attacks. Source: morgenpost
Protest against Görlitzer Park closure remains peaceful
After years of debate, Görlitzer Park in Berlin-Kreuzberg was closed for the first time at night on March 1. Earlier in the evening, around 300 people protested the closure at a demonstration, partly moderated by a representative of the Green Party. They gathered in the park for a concert under the motto “Rave against the Zaun” (Rave against the Fence). Approximately 200 police officers were deployed. According to reports, the protest remained peaceful, with one person arrested. In the future, the 16 entrances will be closed every evening with the newly constructed gates, as the Senate had announced. Exiting the park will still be possible via revolving doors. Source: rbb
News from Germany
AfD wins summary proceedings regarding classification as “right-wing extremist”
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) is not permitted to classify and treat the AfD as “confirmed right-wing extremist” for the time being. The Cologne Administrative Court has ruled that the federal authority must await the outcome of the main proceedings. The court noted that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution based its assessment exclusively on publicly available sources. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution must also refrain from publicly announcing such a classification. An urgent application by the AfD has thus been granted in essence. The decision can still be appealed. Source: jW
Tough measures against Left Youth spokesperson
Martha Chiara Wüthrich (Die Linke) was elected last November to the seven-member Federal Spokesperson Council of the Left Youth Solid, the party’s youth organization. However, according to a decision by the Thuringian State Arbitration Commission of Die Linke, all her membership rights have been revoked for two years, and she is no longer welcome in the party. She is alleged to have made “antisemitic” and “violence-glorifying” statements and to have relativized the Holocaust. Wüthrich intends to first examine the possibility of challenging the Thuringian decision on the grounds of “procedural errors.” She can also appeal to the federal arbitration commission. Source: nd
Fritz-Kola, a supporter of the CDU?
Fritz-Kola was one of the companies which sponsored the CDU Party Conference last month. Given the company’s background, it sounds strange. Such support caused many negative reactions online, even calling for a boycott of the beverage. According to a statement published on Instagram and Facebook by founder and CEO Mirco Wolf Wiegert, that was not an easy decision for the company but considered necessary in the interest of democracy and an open society. Nevertheless, some commentators accuse the Hamburg-based company of lobbying, since the sugar tax was discussed at the conference. Fritz-Kola is against it, advocating instead for conscious consumption. Source: mopo
Hennigsdorf CDU Votes with AfD for Citizens’ Militia
The Hennigsdorf city council (SVV) intends to establish a kind of citizens’ militia to strengthen the “subjective sense of security” near its train station. Five CDU councilors, four councilors from the “Citizens for Hennigsdorf” voters’ association, and the entire seven-member AfD faction voted in favor. The Brandenburg branch of the AfD is classified as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Police see no benefit from the initiative: the head of the Hennigsdorf police, Chief Inspector Gerald Bliß, had made it very clear how pointless he considered the project. He was familiar with such security partnerships from neighborhoods or allotment garden associations, Bliß said. But they “should originate from the grassroots.” Source: taz
