NEWS FROM BERLIN

Right-wing extremist demonstration in Berlin ends early with 32 arrests

Accompanied by counter-protests and sit-in blockades, a right-wing extremist demonstration marched through Berlin city centre last Saturday. According to police reports, a total of 32 people were temporarily arrested on both sides, 27 of them men. The far-right protest was organised by the vague right-wing alliance “Together for Germany”. The Hitler salute was seen and ‘Sieg Heil’ was shouted and media representatives was obstructed. The police were deployed with 500 officers, and four officers were attacked during the blockade. In the meantime, the police counted almost 1,000 protesters on both sides of the demonstration, with the number of counter-demonstrators outweighing far-right. Source: tagesspiel

Trump policy also affects BER Airport

The economic and foreign policy of the new US President Donald Trump is also making itself felt at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport BER. Demand for flights is falling. According to surveys, almost one in three people who had travel plans for the USA are considering changing them. Reservation systems are responding to lower demand with falling ticket prices – tickets are suddenly available at discount prices: flights from Germany to New York and back are available for less than 300 euros. Another reason for this is the weaker dollar. Turbulence on the global market is also putting a strain on BER’s financial planning. Source: rbb

Property tax: Berlin clubs facing the end?

The districts and the Senate have not yet found a solution as to how Berlin clubs can be exempted from property tax (which is due in next month). In some cases, the tax has been increased by over 1,200% – as for the club “Yaam”. Marcel Weber, Chairman of the Berlin Club Commission, is concerned: “This is definitely an existential threat, if not a destruction. We are currently enquiring with the other clubs – but many of them don’t even know what’s in store for them yet. I just hope that the contradictions will be heard and solutions found.” Source: rbb

NEWS FROM GERMANY

German Red Cross remembers deceased paramedics in the Gaza Strip

On April 23, the German Red Cross today remembered the death of eight paramedics from the Palestinian Red Crescent, which happened a month before. To express its grief and sympathy, flags on Red Cross buildings throughout Germany were flown at half-mast. There was a minute’s silence at 3 pm. Those actions were accompanied by requests concerning the attacks´ investigation, the expectation the German government will “play a pioneering international role in the protection of humanitarian aid workers at all times and everywhere”, as well as the observance that “international humanitarian law must be consistently observed”. Source: drk

Senator defends controversial “Nazi” statement about Tesla

In a post on X, Berlin Labour Senator Cansel Kiziltepe (SPD) described the vehicles of US car manufacturer Tesla as “Nazi” cars and was harshly criticised for it. The post has since been deleted. However, she continued to criticise Tesla boss Musk, defending her comments. “I expressly stand by my assessments of Elon Musk,” explained Kiziltepe in a post on X. “Of course, this does not mean that I hold Musk’s employees or customers responsible for his political positions.” Kiziltepe yet emphasised: “Tesla is currently experiencing a slump in sales because customers are attributing the far-right positions of its shareholder Elon Musk.” Source: rbb

Few consequences after Sylt video with racist chant

Almost a year after the scandal surrounding racist chants in a bar on the island of Sylt, most of the proceedings have been dropped. According to the Flensburg public prosecutor’s office, the investigations against three of the four people involved have now been dropped. Only one 26-year-old was “publicly charged”. A penalty was issued to him due to a “waving greeting” with an outstretched arm and the suggestion of a “Hitler beard”, according to the statement. The gestures can also be seen in a video from the bar that went viral at the time. Gigi D’Agostino, whose song was used, made it clear that it was exclusively about love. Source: dw

Germany: will it stop taking in local Afghan labourers?

Does Germany, and above all the future government of conservatives and social democrats, no longer feel bound by the promise to grant refuge to particularly vulnerable people from Afghanistan? The spokesperson for the acting Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens), Sebastian Fischer, answered this question saying it has to be addressed to the new government when it takes office – probably in around two weeks’ time. For the time being, however, Mr Fischer countered reports that two more aircraft would be arriving in Germany before then. Almost 3,000 refugees from Afghanistan are waiting in Pakistan to be allowed to travel to Germany. Source: dw

Accused of campaigning for a transport revolution

Climate activists in Wolfsburg have been campaigning for a transport revolution for years. With camps, information stands, creative actions and blockades of the VW Group’s infrastructure, they are calling for it to be socialised and for production to be converted to more environmental manufacturing, such as trams and e-buses. Since last Thursday, one of those involved, Ruben G., has been on trial. Among other things, the 28-year-old is accused of “dangerous interference with rail traffic”. After the indictment was read out, Ruben G. spoke about his motives, mentioning “the urgent need to convert automobile companies”. The next hearing is scheduled for 15 May. Source: nd-aktuell

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Police clear lecture theatre at Humboldt University

Last Wednesday, the police evacuated the Emil Fischer lecture theatre occupied by pro-Palestinian activists on the North Campus of Humboldt University. The police used battering rams to get into the building and filed dozens of charges. Slogans such “Yallah Intifada” and “Zionists are fascists” were sprayed on the walls of the lecture theatre. The university’s president affirmed that “the red lines had been crossed. And we then quickly decided together as the Presidential Board that evacuation was the only right course of action in this case.” According to a police spokesperson, the occupiers did not pose any resistance during the eviction. Source: tagesspiegel

Protests against arms race on Easter in Germany

Over the Easter weekend, the 43rd Berlin Easter March against war and militarization was organized in Kreuzberg. Under the motto “Yes to peace,” the demonstrators marched through the neighbourhood behind the dove of peace. The organisers estimate 6,000 participants, while the police estimate 1,800. The Berlin march is one of around 100 across the country, whose central theme was he advancing rearmament in Germany. Compared to the heyday of the peace movement in the 1980s, the protests are small today. Source: nd

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Reservist association wants to reintroduce “tank signs”

Until 2009, yellow “tank signs” used to be installed along roads of military relevance in West Germany to indicate whether military vehicles could use them. The chairman of the reservists’ association, Patrick Sensburg, is calling for their reintroduction on motorway bridges because the Bundeswehr does not know the condition of many of them. Sensburg also criticised that information such as the load-bearing capacity of bridges must be retrieved from a database. He warned that, in case of an emergency: “If the planned route has to be changed, the soldiers in charge will find it difficult to access centrally managed databases, and a stalled convoy would be an easy target.” Source: n-tv

Second death within a week: police shoot man in Constance

A man died after being shot by police in Hilzingen, in the district of Constance. There was no further danger to the population, a police spokesman said later. According to the Südkurier, the man is said to have threatened several people beforehand. He is also said to have hit a car, in which a girl was reportedly sitting, with an axe. The State Office of Criminal Investigation has taken over the investigation. Last week, a man was killed by police in the neighbouring town of Schramberg. The 48-year-old had previously threatened the police officers and ignored their request to put the axe down. Source: bz

Queer people called “Satan’s spawn” by AfD politician

AfD politician Leyla Bilge has been convicted of incitement to hatred by the Magdeburg district court and sentenced to a fine of 2,700 euros. Two years ago, the 42-year-old made a vile incitement against queer people in a party conference speech. Bilge had applied for a place on the list for the European elections at the AfD party conference at the Magdeburg Exhibition Centre in July 2023 and in her candidacy speech, she referred to queer people as “paedophiles,” “disturbed” and “Satan’s spawn.” Source: queer.de

Bundestag President Julia Klöckner wants to mediate

After their election success, the AfD has a large parliamentary group in the new Bundestag. What does this mean for parliamentary business and important offices? Bundestag President Julia Klöckner (CDU) joins the debate on how to deal with the far-right party AfD in parliamentary procedures and functions. “No parliamentary group, no MP will be treated differently from others by the Presidium.” Klöckner also announced that she would mediate in contentious organisational issues. Jens Spahn (CDU) had also spoken out in favour of dealing with the AfD in parliament in the same way as with other opposition parties. Source: taz

Majority of employees take a critical view of Germany as a business location

Many employees have doubts about Germany as a business location. More than half of them (56%) believe that Germany’s competitiveness has deteriorated over the past five years, according to the latest job study by the auditing and consulting firm EY. The company declared that more than 2,000 employees in Germany were surveyed by an independent market research institute. Respondents rated the future viability of Germany as a business location as rather negative (43%). Younger employees up to the age of 35 were much more positive about the future viability of the location than those aged between 36 and 65. Source: welt

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