NEWS FROM BERLIN

Activist can stay in Germany for the time being after pro-Palestinian protest

An Irishman who was ordered to leave Germany because he was involved in pro-Palestinian protests in Berlin can stay for the time being. This was decided by the Berlin Administrative Court in summary proceedings. The Berlin State Office for Immigration had revoked the man’s EU freedom of movement rights, along with those of an Irish woman and a Polish woman and also wanted to expel an American person. In the view of the Administrative Court, the State Office for Immigration did not “sufficiently fulfil its official duty of investigation” when deciding to revoke EU freedom of movement rights. Source:  rbb

When a civil servant says no

The Berlin Administration wants to deport 4 people who were involved in the occupation of a university in the context of Palestinian protests. However, the immigration authorities initially refused to comply with such an instruction. Emails between the Senate Interior Administration and the head of department at the “Landesamt für Einwanderung” (LEA) show the conflict, where the latter said she could not comply with the instruction of deportation, mentioning “legal reasons”. According to the right of remonstration, civil servants are obliged to object to instructions that they consider to be potentially unlawful. Source: Frag den Staat

Wage dispute at Charité in Berlin escalates

At Charité, the wage dispute between the service company Charité Facility Management GmbH (CFM) and the trade union ver.di appears to be escalating. While the union holds out the prospect of further strikes, the CFM has applied to the labour court to impose an administrative fine on the union – or, alternatively, an administrative detention order against the union secretary Gisela Neunhöffer, who is leading the negotiations. At the heart of the current dispute is the extent to which emergency service staffing can deviate from normal staffing during a strike. Source: nd-aktuell

Fewer and fewer car drivers in Berlin

People in Berlin seem to be taking the demand from some environmental organisations seriously: there are fewer car owners and fewer car drives. This is shown by a study by the Technical University of Dresden. Between 2013 and 2023, the proportion of so-called motorised private transport (MIV), which mainly consists of cars, fell from 30 to 22 percent. During the same period, the proportion of people walking increased from 31 to 34 per cent. There was hardly any change in local public transport, which accounted for 26 per cent in 2023. The share of cycling increased by five percentage points to 18 per cent in a ten-year comparison. Source: rbb

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Regressive coalition against human rights and humanity

“The coalition results clearly show a dangerous departure from human rights achievements – there is a threat of a regressive coalition against human rights and humanity,” warns Karl Kopp, Executive Director of PRO ASYL, Germany’s largest pro-immigration advocacy organisation. This is particularly evident in the planned turning away of people seeking protection at German borders – contrary to European law and the constitution. The coalition agreement provides a massive tightening of this asylum procedure, with the principle of official investigation to be replaced by the principle of production of evidence; this places the burden of proof on those seeking protection. Source: proasyl

A CDU district association calls for an end to the firewall against the AfD

The CDU/CSU is apparently on the verge of a coalition agreement with the SPD, but frustration is growing at its grassroots level. A CDU district association is now calling for more toughness and an end to the firewall against the AfD. “The CDU has clearly lost the election in the east,” reads the resolution of the Harz district association. The district association apparently sees cooperation with the AfD as a possible solution. However, the state association of the wider CDU in Saxony-Anhalt made it clear: “No cooperation with the AfD and Linke,” announced state executive director Mario Zeising. Source: Spiegel

New federal government wants to cancel citizens’ allowance for Ukrainians

Until now, Ukrainian refugees have been able to receive citizen’s allowance. However, this is set to change: the newcomers, according to plans of the new coalition, will receive the same social benefits as all asylum seekers. That new regulation will apply to refugees who entered the country after 1 April 2025. Natalija Bock, who herself came to Germany from Ukraine more than 20 years ago and is committed to helping the war refugees, criticises that this regulation treats future Ukrainian refugees differently to those who arrived earlier. Source: mdr

Jusos speak out against coalition agreement

The SPD youth organization (“Juso”) is against the coalition agreement with the CDU/CSU. “Our vote is to reject it,” said Juso leader Philipp Türmer in the RTL/ntv programme Frühstart. The decisive question for the Jusos is: “Is the content of this coalition agreement sufficient for truly different policy? Unfortunately, we have to say: it’s not enough for us,”he added. Particularly in the areas of asylum, migration, labour and social affairs, the Jusos believe that the agreement is “going down the wrong path.” In other areas, such as taxes and finance, it is too unambitious, said Türmer. Source: Zeit

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Four Berlin residents threatened with deportation on political grounds

The Berlin Senate has issued deportation orders to four residents, each of whom have been targeted by authorities following their involvement in pro-Palestine actions. The orders are set to take effect in less than a month. None of the four have been convicted of any crime. The news, first reported in The Intercept, is even more surprising since three of the activists come from EU countries: two are citizens of Ireland, while the other is a Polish national. The fourth is an American citizen. Lawyers for each of them have filed a formal appeal challenging the legality of the deportation orders. Source: theberliner

Berlin and Tel Aviv agree on city partnership

Berlin has a new twin city, the Israeli metropolis of Tel Aviv, as announced by Berlin’s Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU). The twinning agreement will be officially signed during Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai’s visit to Berlin on May 5. Tel Aviv will thus become Berlin’s 19th twin city in total. As the city in which the Shoah was planned and carried out, Berlin has “a special responsibility and obligation towards Israel and to protect Jewish life,” Wegner declared. He added that the two cities have a great deal in common socially, historically, culturally and economically. Source: tagesspiegel

Mediators present proposal for collective bargaining agreement at BVG

Mediators Matthias Platzeck (SPD) and Bodo Ramelow (Die Linke) have worked out a proposal for an agreement between the parties to the collective bargaining dispute at Berlin’s public transport company (BVG). Among other things, the proposal now provides 430 euros more basic salary over a period of two years. In addition, bonuses for shift work and driving duties as well as the Christmas bonus will be increased. The salary in some occupational groups will increase by just over 20%, mentioned Platzeck, mediator for the BVG. Ramelow, who acted as mediator for the ver.di trade union, described the pay rise as necessary to make BVG fit for the future. Source: rbb

NEWS FROM GERMANY

DB: another huge loss and record low punctuality rate

Deutsche Bahn (DB) posted a loss of around 1.8 billion euros in 2024. DB now sits on top of a total debt of some 32 billion euros, some of which it hopes to pay off by selling the high-performing logistics subsidiary DB Schenker to its Danish competitor DSV. At the same time, punctuality in long-distance transport in Germany hit a historic low in 2024, with just 62.5% of trains arriving on time. DB CEO Richard Lutz – who took home a significantly increased salary of 2.1 million euros in 2024, including bonus payments – said that the railway company was facing its “biggest crisis since the railway reform.” Source: iamexpat

EU: People in Germany should stockpile 3 days of emergency supplies

As part of its new Preparedness Strategy, the European Commission said it wanted to encourage residents in all 27 member countries, including Germany, to begin stockpiling essential goods and resources. They encourage everyone to take “proactive measures to prepare for crises.” Specifically, every resident should have a 72-hour “resilience kit,” equipped with food, water, medicine, matches, a radio, essential documents like passports and tools like a Swiss Army knife. Germany has been ramping up its preparedness amid the ongoing global turmoil. Alongside relaxing the historic debt brake to increase defence spending, the government announced plans to reintroduce a network of public bunkers last year. Source: iamexpat

Philosopher Omri Boehm not allowed to speak at Buchenwald memorial service

The 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp threatens to be overshadowed by a scandal. Israeli-German philosopher Omri Boehm, who is critical of the Israeli government and memory culture, was initially asked to give a speech at the ceremony that will take place in Weimar. The request was however withdrawn. Jens-Christian Wagner, director of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora memorials, confirmed the incident. A conflict had been brewing between the memorial and representatives of the Israeli government over Boehm’s invitation, and Wagner declared that he wanted to protect the survivors from being, in the worst case, instrumentalised. The memorial centre affirms that it still appreciates Boehm’s “integrity and his outstanding academic achievements.” Source: spiegel

Several schools in Duisburg closed

There were no regular classes at many schools in Duisburg on Monday. The police have confirmed that the reason was several threatening messages received by the Gesamtschule Duisburg-Mitte. The school had already received a right-wing extremist threatening email on Friday, and another one on Sunday added a list of other schools under threat. Even though the authorities do not believe there is an acute threat situation, those schools remained closed on Monday. Source: tagesschau

Bielefeld: headmaster denounces pupils singing fascist chants

Pupils from Bielefeld travelled to the memorial site of the former Bergen-Belsen concentration camp (Lower Saxony) in 2024 – the place where Anne Frank died in 1945. Some pupils sang a rewritten version of Gigi d’Agostino’s hit L’amour toujours on the memorial’s central square. The version had previously been sang in videos of a Whitsun party in the luxury resort of Kampen on Sylt, where partygoers chanted the racist message “Deutschland den Deutschen.” The supervisory staff at the memorial heard the chants and stopped it. When the incident reached the headmaster in Bielefeld, he reacted, imposing disciplinary measures against the pupils. Source: rtl

Germany no longer the main destination for asylum applications in the EU

For the first time in years, Germany is no longer the leader in asylum applications within the European Union. This was reported by Welt am Sonntag, citing a report by the EU Commission dated 2 April 2025, marked as confidential and with data from the 1st quarter of 2025. According to “Report No. 460” from the European Union Asylum Agency (EUAA), France is now in the first place, with 40,871 asylum requests. Spain follows in second, with 39,318 applications. Germany, where 37,387 people applied for asylum in the first quarter of the year, comes in third. Source: dw

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Berlin MPs want rapid partnership with Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv is to become Berlin’s 19th twin city. All parliamentary groups spoke in favour of this at the most recent session of the state parliament. The CDU and the SPD had tabled a motion calling on the Senate to press ahead with talks already underway. For many MPs, this is not going fast enough. Jian Omar (Green Party) called for words to be followed by actions and communicated to Kai Wegner (CDU) that town twinning was not a ‘trophy colleting’. In the past, the Senate had often announced partnerships without bringing them to life. Source: tagesspiel

“Pain grip”: climate activist wins legal dispute against Berlin police

Berlin police officers unjustly used the so-called “pain grip” (schmerzgriff) on a climate activist during a sit-in blockade. This was decided by the Berlin Administrative Court. The presiding judge Wilfried Peters explained the decision, considering the behaviour of the police officersas disproportionate. The plaintiff Lars Ritter had taken part in a sit-in blockade by the “Last Generation” climate group on 20 April 2023. The court said that the police officers could have simply carried him off the road and that he was not expected to resist. The police intervention was filmed at the time and video clips were published on the internet. Source: tagesspiel

Employees of Charité subsidiary CFM go on indefinite strike on Wednesday

CFM employees no longer want to be the “piggy bank of the Charité”, going on indefinite strike from Wednesday. This was announced by trade union ver.di. The CFM (Charité Facility Management) is responsible for patient transport, cleaning, catering and technology, among other things. Ver.di demands the pay of the CFM employees to be harmonised with that of Charité staff, stating additionally that they works under significantly worse conditions. The employees of the Charité subsidiary had gone on warning strike several times in recent weeks. The indefinite strike will begin with the early shift this Wednesday. The union is expecting restrictions in patient care. Source: rbb

 

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Expatriation because of anti-Semitism?

The coalition negotiations between the CDU/CSU and SPD are said to have repeatedly led to heated arguments. Particularly in dealing with migration and integration issues, the negotiating partners’ positions were apparently very far apart. Dirk Wiese (SPD), himself part of the “Home Affairs, Law, Migration and Integration” working group, affirmed the SPD had managed to ensure that the possibility of dual citizenship remained in place. This topic has generated many discussions. In future, being identified as a “terrorist supporter” or “anti-Semite” might be enough to revoke a German passport. But how are these terms even defined? Source: dw

Racism in Germany: the norm, not the exception

In Germany, more than half of Black people and Muslims have experienced discrimination, according to a new study by the National Discrimination and Racism Monitor. In one of the most comprehensive data surveys on racism and discrimination in Germany, researcher surveyed almost 10,000 people across the country. The results of the latest report from March 2025 show that those who are seen by others as being immigrants or Muslims are most affected — regardless of whether they actually are or not. “Experiences of discrimination do not happen randomly,” said Aylin Mengi, co-author of the study. Source: dw

Anti-Palestinian repression in German companies: the case of Zalando

On December 5, 2024 the labour court in Berlin (Arbeitsgericht Berlin) settled the case of Mohamad S. supported by the European Legal Support Center (ELSC). Mohamad is marketing professional and was working at Zalando SE in Berlin as a Senior Media Testing manager but received a termination of his contract following his expression of solidarity with Palestine. Before his dismissal, Mohamad suffered moral harassment and was also repeatedly pressured to resign from the company. When the attempts to push him out of the company failed, he finally received a termination letter in June 2024 and decided to file a lawsuit. Furthermore, Mohamad filed an anti-discrimination complaint case. Source: ELSC

Egyptian in Göttingen has no right to naturalisation

Göttingen rejected the application for naturalisation of an Egyptian, because the Ministry of the Interior of Lower Saxony had expressed security concerns, pointing out that, according to information from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the applicant had been active for several years in communities and organisations with links to the Muslim Brotherhood. The plaintiff did not accept the decision and took the matter to court. He stated he avoided any group which opposed the basic order of the Federal Republic of Germany. The applicant travelled to Germany in 2000 to study, followed a few months later by his family. Source: hna

Lauterbach wants to equip healthcare system for “military conflicts”

Federal Health Minister KarlLauterbach (SPD) wants to better equip the German healthcare system against crises and military conflicts, according to the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. He expects a draft bill to be presented in the summer. Lauterbach added: “We also need a turning point for the healthcare system. Especially as Germany could become a hub for the care of injured and wounded people from other countries in the event of an alliance.” The Association of Democratic Doctors stated that the organisation would oppose “further militarisation of the healthcare system with a loud no”. Source: Ärzteblatt

Cannabis could be banned in Germany again

A year after the start of the partial legalisation of cannabis in Germany, its withdrawal is apparently still an issue in the coalition negotiations between the CDU/CSU and SPD. The Bavarian CSU in particular is piling on the pressure to abolish that partial legalisation of cannabis: “We want to reverse the traffic light government’s mistake and ban cannabis again,” Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann told the newspaper “Augsburger Allgemeine”. The state of Bavaria is currently the only federal state without any legal cannabis cultivation outside of private residences. Source: mdr

NEWS FROM BERLIN

BVG strike: no buses, no trams, and no U-Bahn for 48 hours

The fourth BVG strike of the year will halt buses, trams, and U-Bahns for 48 hours in Berlin. The dispute over wages remains unresolved, and BVG workers will walk out this Wednesday and Thursday. The strike will begin at 03:00 on Wednesday morning and will continue until 03:00 on Friday. Further talks are scheduled to take place between ver.di and the public transport provider on Friday, immediately following this action. If no agreement is reached, the union has threatened to call a vote on an open-ended strike among its members, which could paralyse the city’s transport indefinitely. Source: theberliner

Neo-Nazi demo in Berlin ends prematurely after counter-protests

A right-wing extremist demonstration with around 850 participants ended prematurely last Saturday. The march was supposed to start at 1 PM at Ostkreuz, but the start was delayed because the police had to intervene several times. In total, around 2,000 people gathered for loud protests against the neo-Nazi demonstration, organised by former Aachen AfD politician Ferhat Sentürk. According to a police spokesperson, several arrests were made because the participants in the neo-Nazi demonstration did not comply with the ban on wearing masks or displayed banned symbols. Right-wing extremist music was also played. Source: rbb

Dilapidated motorways in Berlin: things will get even worse

In the 1960s, an average of 20,000 cars travelled on the A100 Motorway, one of the busiest motorways in Germany (and the most important road in Berlin); today, there are more than 200,000 on some stretches. And now a crack has appeared in a 240-metre-long concrete bridge, which is getting bigger. This, together with its extension, turns the city motorway from Charlottenburg to Heiligensee into a major construction site. The problem is not so much that it is becoming increasingly difficult to get around Berlin by car, but rather that it has been so easy and convenient for decades. Source: BZ

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Thousands of Tesla factory workers demand immediate relief

Over 3,000 Tesla employees in Grünheide have signed a petition calling for longer breaks, better staffing, and an end to workplace harassment. The request is organised by the IG Metall union. “Despite pressure from above, Tesla workers are standing their ground. Management must act,” said IG Metall district leader Dirk Schulze. The union has previously accused Tesla of intimidating workers, particularly regarding sick leave policies. While an IG Metall survey from last autumn reported that 83% of workers often feel overworked, Tesla countered with its own internal poll, claiming that 80% of employees are satisfied in the company.  Source: theberliner

Discrimination destroys trust in the state

From hateful comments to physical attacks: more than half of those who belong to an ethnic or religious minority regularly experience discrimination in Germany. As the new report by the National Discrimination and Racism Monitor (NaDiRa) shows, such experiences often go hand in hand with psychological problems and shake trust in the state and society. The 68-page report, presented in Berlin last Tuesday, provides a whole series of worrying findings. For instance, 54% of those surveyed between 2022 and 2024 who had experienced racism stated that this had happened at least once a month. Muslim and Black women and Black men are particularly affected. Source: taz

Southwest AfD loses against the Office for the Protection of the Constitution

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution may continue to categorise and monitor the southwest AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist organization after the Stuttgart Administrative Court rejected a complaint by the party. The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution has been monitoring the AfD state association as a so-called suspected case since 2022. Source: t-online

Gigantic militarisation package agreed – collective bargaining round in the public sector fails

Almost at the same time as unprecedented and unlimited debt was being enshrined in the constitution to ensure the “war capability” and militarisation of our society, collective bargaining in the public sector broke down. Despite several rounds of negotiations, in which ver.di offered various compromises, the representatives of local and federal government were not prepared to make a corresponding offer. The millions of employees in the public sector do not even have an offer of 0.01% of the spending agreed in the Bundestag. The signs are clear: there is money only for tanks, bombs, drones, and so on. Source: gewerkschaftlichelinkeberlin

Right-wingers demonstrates in several cities

Several people took part in demonstrations organised by the right-wing scene across Germany during the weekend. Thousands also protested against the rallies. In Stuttgart, for example, there were 1,500 demonstrators and 2,500 counter-demonstrators. The protests took place under the slogan “Together for Germany.” In cities such as Nuremberg and Mainz, the police reported hundreds of participants and counter-demonstrators. In some cases, the police intervened against the threat of clashes. Source: taz

Rheinmetall considers takeover of VW plant

Rheinmetall is planning to take over a VW plant for tank production. Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said the Volkswagen plant in Osnabrück was “well-suited” for the manufacture of military vehicles, but not to produce ammunition. The Osnabrück plant is one of three VW plants that are to be shut down over the next 2 years due to the decline in sales in the European car market. Papperger emphasised that the decision to acquire decommissioned car factories depended on securing larger tank orders. Rheinmetall is currently benefiting greatly from the global security situation. “An era of rearmament has begun in Europe,” said Papperger. Source: telepolis

Five activists from Last Generation charged with forming a criminal organization

The Munich Public Prosecutor General’s Office has charged 5 climate activists from the former Last Generation climate group with forming a criminal organisation. The defendants include the spokesperson for the group, Carla Hinrichs. “The Munich Public Prosecutor General’s Office had already carried out house searches with guns drawn, confiscated funds, blocked the website and tapped the press telephone in connection with the same proceedings,” says the Last Generation on Platform X. The climate activists plan to defend themselves against the charges with a petition. Source: BZ

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Next warning strike at BVG

The Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) will once again be on strike. The trade union ver.di announced on Friday that it calls on employees to go on a two-day warning strike on March 19 and 20. The strike will take place before the next round of negotiations, on March 21. The ver.di negotiator Jeremy Arndt said that the BVG’s latest offer was “completely inadequate.” It ignores the massive price increases that employees have to contend with on a daily basis. If no agreement is reached by next Friday, Arndt mentioned the prospect of a ballot for indefinite strike action. Source: rbb

Mohamed Amjahid: “The police have ‘carte blanche’ to beat up in Berlin”

Several videos from the Berlin demonstrations on Women’s Day instances of police violence, such as a woman on the ground with an officer pressing her head down into his genitals. Journalist Mohamed Amjahid has been researching themes such as sexualized police violence in Berlin for more than 10 years. Amjahid’s research shows that it makes a difference which demonstrations one participates in, and that the police tend to protect right-wing demonstrators. “Women and queer people are particularly affected”, he added. The researcher believes that the police have “carte blanche” to violently crack down on protesters. Source: berlinerzeitung

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Tesla sales fall, anger at Elon Musk grows

Sales figures show that it is increasingly difficult for Tesla to find buyers in Germany. Musk’s controversial policies seem to make it hard for potential customers to decide in favour of a Tesla e-car. The manufacturer points to a planned pause in the production of the model “Y.” As André Thierig, plant manager at Tesla Grünheide, points out: “We completely overhauled the Model Y at the beginning of this year”. However, the American manufacturer’s sales are collapsing not only in Germany, but also in China and in the rest of the European Union. Experts say that the Tesla crisis is home-made, by the boss himself. Source: rbb

Right-wing groups attack refugee accommodation

An investigation is underway against three individuals suspected of attacking a refugee center in Stahnsdorf, south of Berlin, according to the spokesman for the Potsdam public prosecutor’s office, Christian-Alexander Neuling. The public prosecutor’s office has so far not offered details about the events and the victims, citing the ongoing investigation. The Brandenburg’s Interior Minister Katrin Lange (SPD) declared that “such attacks on refugee accommodation are completely unacceptable and must firmly be condemned. People seeking protection must be able to live safely in Brandenburg without violence and threats.” Source: islamiq

Billions approved, credibility damaged

After more than three hours of debate, the CDU/CSU, the SPD and the Greens reached a majority in a special session of the Bundestag, amending the Basic Law at the last minute in order to take on billions in additional debt. The funds will go to infrastructure, defense, and investments by the federal states. The path to a majority was painful for future Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), who had run his electoral campaign against such billion-euro programmes and had to listen to accusations of insincerity from AfD and FDP members during the special session. Now all eyes are on the Bundesrat, where representatives of the federal states have to approve the Budestag’s decision. Source: tagesschau

Guns, butter, war credits

The German debt brake is being reformed to allow boundless loans for armaments in the future. Exactly how much money is needed for armaments is uncertain. The governments of the USA, China and the UK are also planning loans totalling thousands of billions for the large-scale purchase of weapons and equipment. The states’ lenders are the financial markets. Their judgement determines how much armament a state can afford and how much it will cost, with obviously serious consequences for the population. Source: nd

Bavaria wants to vote in favour of financial package in the Bundesrat

The Bavarian state government does not have the intention of blocking the federal government’s financial package in the Bundesrat, according to State Chancellery Leader Florian Herrmann (CSU) after a crisis meeting of the coalition partners CSU and Free Voters (Freie Wähler) in Munich. However, the state will set out its position in a protocol declaration, making clear that climate neutrality should not be defined as a state objective and that the financial equalisation between the federal states must be reformed. Source: tagesschau

AfD MP employed in Thuringian BSW ministry

Lydia Funke has vilified political opponents as “journeymen without a fatherland” and affirmed that criminal “foreigners” would be “thrown out.” The AfD politician has been attracting attention with slogans of this kind for almost ten years, including five years as a member of the state parliament in Saxony-Anhalt. Now the 42-year-old has a new job: as a consultant in the Thuringian Ministry of the Environment, which is run by BSW member Tilo Kummer. The matter is explosive because the AfD has long been classified as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in both Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. Source: taz

Employers’ side sees compromise in wage public sector dispute

Unions and employers seem to come closer together in talks about the wage dispute for federal and municipal public sector employees. “The gap has narrowed considerably,” said Karin Welge, chief negotiator for the Federation of Municipal Employers’ Associations, in Potsdam. However, there is no end in sight to the third round of wage negotiations, which began last Friday, and yet no official assessment from the trade unions. It is also conceivable that one side could declare that the negotiations have failed. Then there would be arbitration – and no further warning strikes for the time being. Source: rbb