NEWS IN BERLIN

Second-class refugees

It is a remarkable justification Berlin’s Senator of the Interior gives for why she wants to deport about 600 refugees from Moldova before Christmas: “We need the accommodation.” says Iris Spranger (SPD). The Senate is expecting many refugees from Ukraine and “we have to accommodate them.” With this, Spranger has reignited a debate, not widely reported, held shortly after Russia’s first attack on Ukraine: are there first, second and third class refugees, recognisable by the way the state deals with them? This attitude has infuriated her coalition partners, the Left and the Greens. Source: taz

Election and Referendum on the same day?

The fight against climate catastrophe is one of the most important issues of our time. A Berlin referendum, which would see Berlin carbon neutral by 2030, should be given all the attention it can get. It must therefore take place parallel to the rerun of the parliamentary elections being held on the 12 February. If postponed to after the repeat election, proponents worry about failing to reach the 25 percent quorum required. In view of the challenge posed by the climate crisis, the Senate and the state election administration must face up to this task. Source: taz

Berlin streets with colonial names to be renamed

Adolf Lüderitz and Gustav Nachtigal are considered pioneers of German colonialism. In Berlin-Wedding, a street and a square are named after them. Years of protests are now bearing fruit: they are to be renamed. The new names no longer celebrate the perpetrators, but the resistance fighters. The former Nachtigalplatz will become Manga-Bell-Platz, named in honour of the Duala royal couple who fought against German colonial rule in Cameroon. Lüderitz Street will be named after Cornelius Fredericks, a resistance fighter against German colonial rule in Namibia. On Friday, the new street signs are to be unveiled in the presence of the Cameroonian and Namibian ambassadors. Source: migazin

NEWS IN GERMANY

Chelsea Manning: whistleblower launches autobiography in Hamburg

Chelsea Manning is one of the most famous whistleblowers: she published 750,000 confidential documents of the US military. For this act she was sentenced to 35 years in prison. After serving seven years, Barack Obama finally pardoned her. Now she has written her autobiography titled “README.txt”. In Hamburg, at the release of her book, the internet expert reflected that war has changed, as we see with the conflict in Ukraine. She went on to say “I have more access to information today as a private person than I had back then as a data specialist for the United States Army. We live in an absolute information age.” Source: ndr

19 degrees – Germany freezes at the workplace

“EnSikuMaV” is the abbreviation for a lengthy German phrase translating to: the “Ordinance on Securing the Energy Supply via Measures Effective in the Short Term”. Since 1 September, and until 28 February, the whole country has been turning down the heating to save energy. And because the energy supply is threatened by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the lack of Gazprom gas, measures such heating to a maximum room temperature of 19 degrees in offices in public buildings have become reality. But it turns out 19 degrees in offices can cause problems related to health risks in the long run and productivity. Source: dw

Immigration by points

The German government wants to attract more workers from abroad and a new concept is supposed to help: a points system is supposed to take more into account than just education. There will also be opportunities for migrants without recognised qualifications. According to the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), there were 1.8 million vacancies in the third quarter of this year. “Without more skilled workers, we will not make progress in terms of economic policy” summed up Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) on Wednesday. Source: sz

49-euro ticket likely in May

The Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) announced the 49-euro ticket, the likely successor of the 9-euro ticket, may be delayed until May 2023. Oliver Wolff, VDV´s chief, said that administrative preparations were the cause for the delay, mostly related to the reorganisation of the VDV tariff system. There are also some uncertainties about how exactly the ticket will be financed. The leader of the Railway and Transport Union (EVG), Martin Burkert, stressed that six months after the “Deutschlandticket” is launched, the federal government much calculate the cost incurred and provide additional funds to federal states if necessary. Source: iamexpat

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Nursing strike starts in Lichtenberg

Staff shortages, wage disputes and the looming election campaign: Berlin’s health service is facing turbulent months. On the last days, with the support of ver.di at the Sana hospital in Lichtenberg, nursing staff have stopped work. According to the union, the nursing staff should receive at least 150 euros more basic salary per month as well as new shift bonuses. A tough round of collective bargaining is underway not only at Sana-Klinikum. The doctors at Charité, who are members of the Marburger Bund, are also demanding a wage increase and more reliable shift work. Source: Tagesspiegel

Election to the Berlin House of Representatives must be repeated

After electoral breakdowns and massive organizational problems during the elections in Berlin on 26 September 2021, the Berlin Constitutional Court has declared the elections for the House of Representatives and the district councils invalid. They will thus have to be repeated. The Constitutional Court had already considered such a repetition of the elections to the House of Representatives at an oral hearing on 28 September this year and justified this on the grounds of serious electoral errors. According to the new state election commissioner, Stephan Bröchler, the most likely date is 12 February. Source: Spiegel

Good climate for referendum

For a long time, many doubted that the supporters for radically more climate protection in Berlin would manage to gather enough signatures for a referendum. But exactly 261,968 signatures were collected within the past four months, said Jessamine Davis, spokesperson for the initiative Klimaneustart Berlin. “This is an incredible number”, she added. Werner Graf (“die Grünen”) was also pleased with the large number of votes collected. Nevertheless, according to Graf, the Greens will not support the draft bill of the Climate Start initiative, which will be put to a vote. This stipulates that Berlin must be climate neutral by 2030. Source: taz

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Can it get worse?

On 10 November 2022, a new and still little-noticed law was discussed in the Bundestag. On the surface, it is supposed to speed up asylum procedures and legal action – in fact, it will make it even harder for refugees to sue for their rights in court. PRO ASYL demands the abolition of the disadvantageous special asylum procedure law. Among other issues, it can be that, during the hearing, which is considered to be the heart of the asylum procedure, the persons concerned often have to talk about stressful and shameful experiences, for example, if they have been raped. Source: proasyl

Hanau victims allegedly mocked

Last week, the fire alarm went off during the Hanau enquiry committee in the state parliament, and everyone left the building. The issue was that an exit was closed in the Landtag. Many from the group which left the building laughed. The episode speaks of a disrespectful incident without a minimum of sensitivity. It was an allusion to the escape door in the Arena Bar. There, Hamza Kurtovic and Said Nesar Hashemi were killed, and several people were seriously injured. After the alarm episode in the latter days, those who were there, including the CDU parliamentary group, rejected the accusations of being discourteous. Source: fr

Majority of Germans want to boycott Qatar World Cup

An online survey has revealed 65 percent of Germans support a public screening boycott of the 2022 men’s World Cup, which is about to begin in Qatar. Over the weekend in Germany, football fans attended the penultimate weekend of the nationwide Bundesliga competition to demonstrate their opposition to Qatar hosting the quadrennial competition. Most notably, Hertha BSC fans in Berlin brandished a sign reading “15.000 dead for 5.760 minutes of football. Shame on you!” Fans also had pride flags. Also, on Tuesday evening, Qatar’s World Cup ambassador Khalid Salman made blatant homophobic comments, which has made the situation even more tense. Source: iamexpat

Something is moving on the left again

Health should not be organized according to profit logic. The increased prices for food, which should be “subsidised”. And the climate movement bloc was demanding a faster switch to renewable energies. All these problems and concerns have one thing in common: they need money. It is therefore only logical that the city’s left movement, in an alliance of more than 50 groups, took to the streets on Saturday, united behind the slogan: “Redistribute. From top to bottom.” Around 7,000 took part. Source: taz

Union blocks Hartz IV reform

The CDU and CSU made it clear they would not approve the “citizen’s income” bill from the traffic light coalition (“die Ampel”) in the Bundesrat. This plan did not receive the necessary majority in the state chamber, this week. Immediately after the meeting, Federal Labour Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) declared that the federal government has nonetheless decided to appeal to the mediation committee. The CDU and CSU once again emphasized what matters to them: they demand changes at the Job Centres such as lowering the limit of €60,000 on private assets, which was raised during the corona pandemic. Source: jW

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Sensors in the underground tunnel

Once a neighboring high-rise construction project had a negative impact on the tunnel, one track had to be closed at the Alexanderplatz underground station. Now it has become known that not only the U2 is under observation, but also the two other underground lines in this part of Mitte are being monitored. Sensors in the area reported the structure with the U2 station was moving. Such movement can lead to cracks in the structure. What about the U5 and U8? So far, no critical settlements or heave have been detected on the U5. This also applies to the measuring system at the U8 station Jannowitzbrücke. Source: Berliner Zeitung

Bundestag election to be repeated in 431 constituencies in Berlin

Due to numerous glitches in the elections in Berlin in September 2021, the Bundestag election is to be repeated in 431 of around 2,300 voting districts. This has been proposed by the parliament’s electoral review committee. The parliament’s approval is considered certain. Berlin has already set a date for the repeat election in February 2023. Recently, however, an expert report by the Senate’s internal administration revealed reservations – according to this report, the authority is convinced that the decision on the repeat election would first have to be confirmed by the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe. Source: rbb

9-Euro Social Ticket until the end of 2023

The Senate decided to reduce the sales price for the Berlin social ticket from 27.50 euros per month to 9 euros from 1 January 2023 to 31 March 2023, following a proposal by Social Affairs Senator Katja Kipping. “All Berliners with a Berlin pass will benefit from the 9-euro social ticket. This is a concrete and noticeable relief for people with little money who are particularly affected by the crisis. We, the Left Party, have been campaigning for this for a long time.°, explained the chairpersons of the Left Party in Berlin, Anne Helm and Carsten Schatz, as well as the spokesperson for mobility policy, Kristian Ronneburg. Source: Linksfraktion Berlin

Flat evictions in Berlin have not decreased

In Berlin, the number of flat evictions has remained almost stable despite calls for judicial leniency – for the current year there are even indications that it could be higher. Actual evictions have only been fully recorded statistically since the fourth quarter of 2019. At that time, 594 Berlin flats were evicted following a judgement. In the first half of 2022, 914 flats are now already affected. Last month, Senator Lena Kreck and Social Affairs Senator Katja Kipping (both Left Party) publicly called for a moratorium on evictions in October. The German Judges’ Association rejected the appeal as inadmissible political influence. Source: tagesspiegel

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Gas price brake may come sooner

The federal and state governments have reached an agreement on the gas and electricity price brake. Gas prices are to be at twelve cents per kilowatt hour, electricity prices at 40 cents, said Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). This will now be implemented together with other regulations. The resolution paper of the federal-state summit states the gas price brake will be “introduced on 1 March 2023” as proposed by the Gas Price Commission. However, “a retroactive effect to 1 February 2023 is being sought”. Agreements were also reached on the financing of the 49-Euro-Ticket and the support of the States and Municipalities in providing for refugees. Source: dw

Online retailer wants to take over 47 Galeria locations – Cottbus shop on list

The online retailer Buero.de wants to take over 47 branches of the department stores’ chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof in Germany, says its managing director, Markus Schön. The prospective buyer has made a corresponding offer to the insolvency administrator. The Cottbus branch is the only one from Brandenburg on the list of 47 locations. Currently it is not foreseeable when a transaction might take place. In any case, Buero.de is quickly ready to act. Should Buero.de win the bid to buy 47 Galeria shops, they would no longer be run under that name. Source: rbb

Lindner wants fracking in Germany, and geologists are for it

Finance Minister Christian Lindner is tired with the talking about extending the lifespan of nuclear power plants. What the FDP leader is suddenly keen on, however: fracking gas “made in Germany”. According to the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Resources, Germany has 2.3 trillion cubic metres of shale gas, the fourth largest resource within the EU after France, Spain and Romania. And Lindner´s party is not alone in its initiative: the Professional Association of German Geoscientists also advocates German fracked gas. On the other side, parties such as SPD and environmentalists criticize the alternative. Source: Berliner Zeitung

“Mehr Demokratie” welcomes lowering of voting age at state level

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is the sixth federal state in which 16- and 17-year-olds are now allowed to vote for the state parliament. In April, the Green-Black-governed state of Baden-Württemberg passed a corresponding constitutional amendment. “In NRW, the CDU and the Greens have written the voting age of 16 into the coalition agreement.” In Berlin, too, a constitutional amendment is pending, but it is now delayed by the rerun of the elections. The association “Mehr Demokratie” in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, welcomes this measure as a correct and necessary step and calls for a reform also on the federal level. Source: mehr demokatie

NEWS FROM BERLIN

“Last generation” at the Naturkundemuseum

Two climate protesters (“Last Generation”) stood in front of a 66-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton at Berlin’s Natural History Museum. Commenting on the action, the Last Generation protest group said, “Just like the dinosaurs back then, we are threatened with climate changes that we cannot withstand. If we don’t want to face extinction, we need to act now.” The police mentioned the 34- and 42-year-old women detached themselves from the poles at around 2:45 pm and were temporarily arrested. According to the police, the museum has filed charges of trespassing and damage to property. The hall where the skeleton is located was temporarily closed. Source: rbb

IG Metall continues strikes in Berlin

The industrial union IG Metall for the Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony district is continuing its series of warning strikes in Berlin. As a prelude, it called for action at the Mercedes engine plant in the Marienfelde district. According to the union, about 200 workers stopped working there. Later, 800 workers at the BMW motorbike plant in Spandau followed. There were also warning strikes at the offices and plants of Stadler Deutschland, Stadler Rail and GE Power in the Pankow district and at G-Elit Präzisionswerkzeug GmbH in Reinickendorf. IG Metall also called for warning strikes at companies of the Siemens Group. Source: tagesspiegel

NEWS FROM GERMANY

“Last generation”: “We have drawn attention to the issue”.

For months “Last Generation” acts have been met with anger from the population. And in politics, it feels like very little is happening. But a central demand of the “Last Generation” last summer was that no new oil drilling should be carried out in the North Sea. In mid-July, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate declared, in response to a request from NDR, that the federal government was not preparing any oil drilling or reviewing the possibilities for such drilling. A sign of success? “What we have managed to do is draw attention to the issue,” says Lukas Popp, a participant of the movement. Source: Berliner Zeitung

Baerbock employee becomes RWE lobbyist

The RWE coal compromise of the Greens is causing a lot of criticism from environmentalists: according to a report, a close confidant of Foreign Minister Baerbock (“die Grünen”), Titus Rebhann, is now moving to that energy giant. He is to accompany the “political opinion-forming processes on energy-related issues” there, and expected to be the head of the capital city representation from 1 March 2023. The Foreign Office assured that Rebhann had neither had professional contacts with RWE nor participated in projects directly related to RWE during his active time there. Source: n-tv

Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof: more difficult days to come

Germany’s last big department stores’ group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof wants to close more than 40 of its remaining 131 department stores. This was announced by company boss Miguel Müllenbach, in Essen. A few hours earlier, the company had sought rescue in protective shield proceedings for the second time in less than two years. The manager considers that “operational layoffs would be unavoidable.” In a letter to the staff, Müllenbach wrote the company would have to divest itself of those branches that “could not be operated profitably in the foreseeable future.” The retail giant with its 17,000 employees is still represented in 97 German cities. Source: morgenpost

Study proves: 9-Euro-Ticket strengthens social participation of people with low incomes

A new study by the Institute of Transport and Space at the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt shows that the 9-Euro-Ticket has significantly improved access to the transport system and thus the opportunities for social participation of people with low incomes. For the respondents, the ticket enabled increased social contacts, more activities outside the home, and improved accessibility to services of general interest, and thus led to a better quality of life for low-income people overall. In view of the study results, a successor regulation is suggested by the researchers to be oriented towards the needs of those beneficiaries. Source: idw

The German 49-euro ticket

Federal and state governments agreed about a successor to the nine-euro ticket. It is to be called the “Deutschlandticket”. The agreement by financial matters provides the Federal Government and the Länder will share the costs for the 49-euro ticket totalling three billion euros per year. Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) said the new ticket would be “digital” and “simple”. Whether the “Deutschlandticket” can be launched as planned on 1 January is still open, however. The nine-euro ticket, which was bought by millions, had made bus and train journeys possible for one month each in June, July and August. Source: rbb

Court sentences Boateng for assault

The Munich I Regional Court has convicted football world champion Jérôme Boateng of assault in his appeal trial. It imposed a fine of 120 daily sentences of 10,000 euros, or 1.2 million euros. This is a total of 600,000 euros less than the district court had imposed previously in the first verdict. The public prosecutor demanded a prison sentence of one and a half years for Boateng. He was to be sentenced for dangerous bodily harm, intentional bodily harm and insult. This prison sentence could be suspended, and the probation period should be set at three years. Source: spiegel