NEWS FROM BERLIN

Another public transport strike announced

The trade union ver.di has called for warning strikes in local public transport throughout Germany this week. The first warning strikes take place in Brandenburg on Wednesday, February 28th. In Berlin, the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) is on strike all day on Thursday, February 29th, and until 2 pm on Friday, March 1st. This will affect underground trains, buses, trams, and ferries. Most S-Bahns in Berlin and Germany are not affected. In parallel to the warning strikes, “Fridays For Future” (FFF) is organising numerous demonstrations against the climate crisis on March 1st. Source: rbb24

Deutsche Wohnen: data protection dispute continues

A legal dispute against the real estate group Deutsche Wohnen SE regarding a million-euro fine over a data protection breach has been brought back to court, as reported by the Berliner Zeitung. At the centre of the case are questions about what kind of data real estate companies are allowed to store on their tenants. Lawyers from Deutsche Wohnen, which has been part of the Vonovia real estate group since 2021, are getting ready for a lengthy legal process. Back in 2019, a similar case was issued against Deutsche Wohnen, eventually making its way to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Source: exberliner

Fast mobile phone network soon to be available on Berlin U-Bahns

After years of waiting, a fast mobile phone network is to be available on all Berlin underground lines this spring. The expansion of the mobile phone technology should be completed by the end of March. By January, already 90 per cent of underground routes had been equipped with 4G/LTE. Further work “to increase density and capacity” will then be carried out on the most recently upgraded sections by September. The mobile phone company Telefónica is responsible for the expansion of the technical infrastructure with an LTE network. The new and even faster 5G network should then be available nationwide by the end of 2025. Source: rbb24

Accusations of antisemitism after Berlinale awards ceremony

Following political statements on the Middle East conflict at the Berlinale awards ceremony, Berlin’s Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) has called for measures to be taken by the new Berlinale festival management to prevent relativization about Israel. Senator for Culture Joe Chialo (CDU) also wrote that “Culture should offer space for diverse political expressions of opinion, but this year’s Berlinale awards ceremony was characterised by self-righteous anti-Israeli propaganda that does not belong on Berlin’s stages.” Among the festival’s winners was “No Other Land,” a film about the expulsion of Palestinians in the West Bank. The documentary’s Palestinian director, Basel Adra, referred to the current armed conflict in the Gaza Strip in his acceptance speech, while his co-director, the Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, spoke of “apartheid” in the West Bank. Source: tagesschau

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Tesla: victory for democracy and nature conservation

The majority of citizens in Grünheide voted against Tesla’s expansion plans for its car factory. The turnout of over 70% shows that the issue is politically explosive, and the community has been deeply divided since the emergence of Elon Musk, explained Thomas Löb, state leader of the Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP) in Brandenburg. The outcome is not legally binding but is considered an important basis. The water board demanded that the municipal representatives vote on the development plan at the next meeting on 14 March as planned. Source: n-tv

Hesse Finanzamt and judicial trainees under investigation for racist party song

Students interning as judicial officers at the Finanzamt in Hesse were accused of singing a racist song at a party in the Rothenburger Study Centre for Financial Administration and Justice. According to other students, who were present at the party and later filed complaints, the song included the lyrics “Ausländer raus, Deutschland den Deutschen” (“Foreigners out, Germany for the Germans”). The public prosecutor’s office in Hesse has announced it opened an investigation on suspicion of “incitement of hatred.” The parliamentary secretary Miriam Dahlke (Greens) said that people training to become civil servants must “guarantee that they firmly stand for our free democratic basic order at all times.” Source: iamexpat

Cannabis in Germany: what is now allowed, what is not?

With the votes of the governing coalition, the Bundestag has decided to partially liberalise the use of cannabis in Germany. This means that from 1 April 2024 people of legal age in Germany will be allowed to carry up to 25 grams of cannabis. Hashish enthusiasts will also be able to grow three cannabis plants and store up to 50 grams of dried cannabis in their own home. However, commercial shops, such as those in some states in the USA, will not be allowed for the time being – even though this was envisaged at the beginning of the government’s deliberations. Source: dw

Digitalisation for the climate

Faster digitalisation could reduce Germany’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by up to 73 million tonnes in 2030. This is the result of a study by the Bitkom association, which primarily represents companies from the technology sector. The authors looked at the areas of energy, building, industry, transport, and agriculture. The greatest potential lies in the energy sector with the building sector following in second place. However, other studies are less optimistic about the role of digitalization. The large-scale study “Digital Reset,” for example, takes into consideration the rebound effect: when efficiency improves, the use of the technology also increases, and energy usage rises. Source: taz

AfD soon to be “confirmed right-wing extremist”?

The entire AfD might soon be classified as “confirmed extremist.” So far, the AfD has only been listed as a so-called suspected case of right-wing extremism. But according to research by the Süddeutsche Zeitung, a team from the Federal Office has been working on a new report for months. The newspaper relies on internal emails and notes from the domestic secret service. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution did not want to comment on the report. Source: tagesschau

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Berlinale management disinvites AfD politicians from opening gala

Following criticism for inviting AfD politicians to the Berlinale opening, the festival management has once again disinvited the party representatives. Particularly in view of the revelations of anti-democratic positions in recent weeks, it was considered important to take an unequivocal stand in favour of democracy, the Berlinale management announced. “We have therefore today disinvited all previously invited AfD politicians,” said the management duo Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian in a statement. In the last days, there have been numerous calls for the invitations’ withdrawal. Among others, around 200 filmmakers expressed their criticisms in an open letter. Source: rbb24

What’s going on at the BVG?

The new head of Berlin’s public transport company (BVG) faces a Herculean task. Henrik Falk must make sure that punctuality and reliability increase again. Passengers’ perception is now confirmed by objective data from the Senate: transport politician Tino Schopf (SPD) requested official data on delays and train cancellations for 2023, that the situation for the state-owned company and its passengers has declined. The proportion of delayed journeys rose to a record high in 2023, as did the number of cancelled kilometres. But there will be no strikes at BVG for the time being – at least not until next Thursday. Source: berliner zeitung

On Sonnenallee, unregistered pro-Palestine demo gathers to protest against Rafah bombing

On Monday evening, demonstrators came out onto the streets of Neukölln for an unregistered protest after the Israeli army launched an attack on the area of Rafah. Since the protest was unregistered, police came to break it up, which led to scuffles in which stones and bottles were reportedly thrown at officers. Among the various slogans chanted by protestors, there were some which have been subject to bans by the German state such as “Stop the Genocide.” However, two courts in Germany (Cologne and Munster) recently ruled that these slogans were not illegal and should be protected under the right to freedom of expression. Source: exberliner

Berlin repeat-election results: a slight defeat for Germany’s ruling coalition

Last Sunday saw Berlin repeat its 2021 federal election in a fifth of the city’s electoral districts, and while there were slight losses for Germany’s ruling coalition, there was no change in the twelve direct mandates. More worryingly, though, the far-right AfD party increased its vote share by one per cent. In fact, all the major parties of opposition saw some gains, with the CDU gaining 1.3% and Die Linke growing 0.1% compared to the 2021 outcomes. Those figures came at the expense of the ruling “traffic light” coalition of the SPD (-1.2%), the Greens (-0.3%), and the FDP (-0.9%). Source: exberliner

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Largest NATO exercise since the end of the Cold War

A massive manoeuvre threatens a continent-wide escalation of the conflict. According to reports, more than 90,000 soldiers, 50 warships and several squadrons of fighter jets from 31 member states and Sweden are taking part in Steadfast Defender 2024, which began on 22 January. The German government doubled its arms donations to Kiev this year to almost eight billion euros, while cuts are being made in the areas of education, health and pensions. The manoeuvre is scheduled to last until 31 May 2024. Under the banner of the NATO exercise, Germany also tries to increase its military presence in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. Source: internationale friedensfabrik

“Millions of people we can’t do without”

According to the head of the Federal Employment Agency (BA), Andrea Nahles, the German labour market is in urgent need of workers. “We now have 5.3 million people working in Germany without a German passport, and we couldn’t do without them,” she said in an interview on SWR’s Interview of the Week. The German labour market cannot afford a policy that relies on so-called remigration. Right-wing extremists use the term “remigration” to trivialise expulsions and forced departures. According to BA figures, people from outside the European Union were the largest group who came into employment in Germany in 2023. Despite this, there are still almost 700,000 unfilled vacancies. Source: tagesschau

Willingness to donate declines in Germany

The German Donations Council “Balance of Help” is concerned about the declining number of donors. Last year shows the lowest level since the survey began in 2005. On average, each donation was around 40.30 euros. According to the survey, the most generous donors are in the over-60 age group. However, the proportion of donors aged between 30 and 39 has also increased. Donations for emergency and disaster relief summed up to 929 million euros. The “Balance of Help” researcher Bianca Corcoran-Schliemann spoke nevertheless of a “super result” when weighing up inflation and the increasing willingness of Germans to save money. Source: tagesschau

Commemoration and vigils on the anniversary of the attack in Hanau

On the next February 19, the fourth anniversary of the racist attack in Hanau that left nine people dead, the victims will be remembered with a memorial service at Hanau’s main cemetery. Hesse’s Deputy Prime Minister Kaweh Mansoori, Mayor Claus Kaminsky and Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (all SPD) plan to lay wreaths at the memorial plaque in the cemetery. An imam will pray for the victims at the cemetery at 10.30 am. At 11:00 am, there will be a silent moment, at which there will reportedly be no political speeches “at the express wish of the victims’ relatives,” and which will be open to the public. Source: islamiq

Right-wing disinformation against trans people in Germany

“Under the current government, there is no money for pensioners, schools and the railway. But they now want to introduce nationwide counselling centres for everyone who doesn’t know whether they are male or female,” said Beatrix von Storch (AfD) in the German Bundestag last November. Such attacks are “deliberate strategic decisions” by the far right according to Sascha Krahnke, an expert on transphobia and the far right at the Amadeu Antonio Foundation in Berlin. The problem is also getting worse because hate speech and disinformation from social media are increasingly being taken up by the mainstream media. Source: dw

Memorial plaque to “euthanasia” murders scratched

The faces shown at the memorial plaque for the victims of the National Socialist “euthanasia” murders in the neighborhood of Tiergarten were found scratched. Security staff found the damage on Friday, according to the Berlin police. The state security service is investigating “malicious damage to property”. The information board provides information about the “Aktion T4”, in which National Socialists murdered around 70,000 hospital patients between January 1940 and August 1941. Last Wednesday, there was an official service held at the memorial plaque, remembering those with disabilities killed by the Nazis. Source: rbb

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Berlin and culture funding: anti-discrimination clause dropped

For some time, the Berlin cultural scene has seen bitter division over how to respond to the conflict in Israel and Gaza. A new phase started when Joe Chialo (CDU), the Berlin Senator for Culture and Social Cohesion, signed a new anti-discrimination clause, adhering to the IHRA definition of antisemitism. But now, it seems, the state has backtracked. On January 22nd it was announced that the clause would be repealed with immediate effect. Chialo commented that this decision was made in order to “take seriously the legal and critical voices that saw the clause as a restriction on artistic freedom.” Source: exberliner

Berlin’s agency warns of neo-Nazi party

The Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution warned against the neo-Nazi party “Der III. Weg” (“The Third Way”). It is the most active group on the spectrum of classic right-wing extremism. Members of the “National Revolutionary Youth,” the party’s youth organisation, already committed several violent attacks on political opponents, according to the police and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Around Christopher Street Day, for example, they displayed a poster near the Television Tower with the slogan “Homos = Volkstod” (“homos = death of the people”). Source: berliner zeitung

AfD benefits from secret meeting with right-wing extremists

Tens of thousands of people recently demonstrated against right-wing extremism. However, the AfD is the only party in the Berlin House of Representatives that made significant gains in membership in 2023. It also benefited from the secret meeting with right-wing extremists: since January 10th, the date of the meeting, 63 membership applications have been received. This is almost a quarter of all new AfD memberships from 2023.  Wolfgang Schroeder, from the University of Kassel, is not surprised by the fact that the AfD is growing despite the protests: “It’s a strategy of closing ranks.” Schroeder nevertheless stresses that the demonstrations were not in vain: by protesting, the centre of society has shown that right-wing extremists do not speak for the majority of the population. Source: rbb24

NEWS FROM GERMANY

A rebellion of seniors

On Saturday, the new “Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance” held its first party conference in Berlin, and a whiff of GDR nostalgia was wafting through the former Kosmos cinema in the eastern part of the city. Many speakers emphasised the need for more social justice and a different foreign policy that relies more on diplomacy than on arms deliveries. Other themes such as migration and climate policy were only touched on in passing. The team consists mainly of former members of the Left Party, often from Wagenknecht’s inner circle. Oskar Lafontaine also announced he was joining his wife’s party. Source: taz

Laurie Anderson willnot take up Pina Bausch professorship

The announcement is at the top of the website of the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen: the internationally renowned artist Laurie Anderson will not take up the Pina Bausch Professorship on April 1st, as previously planned. In 2021, Anderson publicly positioned herself as a supporter of the “Letter Against Apartheid,” published by Palestinian artists. Anderson was reportedly asked in Essen about her political stance on Israel. But for her, the question is not whether her political opinions have changed. “The real question is: why is this question being asked at all?” Source: berliner zeitung

“Strike Germany:” Judith Butler signs call for a cultural boycott of Germany

Judith Butler is now one of the more than 1,000 signatories of the “Strike Germany” appeal. The appeal calls for a boycott of German cultural institutions on the grounds that Germany’s policies are too pro-Israel, that Palestinians are discriminated against in Germany and that artistic freedom is restricted. Until now, French Nobel Prize winner Annie Ernaux was considered the most prominent signatory of the boycott call. According to her German publisher Suhrkamp, however, Ernaux’s books will continue to be sold in Germany and her theatre plays will continue to be performed. Source: berliner zeitung

ver.di announces local transport warning strikes for Friday

The trade union ver.di has called for extensive warning strikes, including at the Berlin public transport company (BVG). There had previously been reports of strike plans for Berlin. It is now clear that there will be restrictions almost throughout Germany, including in Brandenburg. ver.di wants to ensure that all employees receive, among other things, 33 days’ holiday, without tiering. The union also insists on 500 euros holiday pay per year. According to the union, more than 130 municipal companies and 90,000 employees are affected. The state of Bavaria, where strikes are not yet permitted due to the current collective labour agreement, will not be affected. Source nd

East Germans feel left behind more often

According to a new study by the University of Jena, the residential environment is decisive for the development of political attitudes. A key finding of the so-called Germany Monitor is that those who see their immediate surroundings and themselves as disadvantaged are more likely to feel that politicians might not be sufficiently interested in their region. Some cliches do not hold: there is hardly any difference in how people in the East and West rate their quality of life, or between the perceptions of rural and urban residents. Nevertheless, one in five East Germans feels “left behind,” compared to only 8 per cent of West Germans. Researchers argue that this is because they live in regions there that are severely affected by emigration and an ageing population. Source: tagesschau