NEWS FROM GERMANY
Anti-Semitism commissioner Klein sees Trump plan for Gaza Strip as positive
The German government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein, says he sees the American President Donald Trump’s highly controversial plan for the future of the Gaza Strip in a fundamentally positive light. In “some media reports,” Trump’s plans had been “exaggerated,” he told the NOZ newspaper. Israel had “not succeeded” in solving the problem in the Gaza Strip militarily after the major attack on 7 October 2023, Klein added. He therefore considers the “idea of an international administration for the area to be a sensible proposal.” Source: msn
Suddenly threatened with deportation
While the protection status for Ukrainian citizens in the EU has been extended until March 2026, the status for non-Ukrainian citizens, who have for instance studied in Ukraine, lived there as businesspeople or are recognised refugees, is about to expire. This means that they could soon receive official requests to leave Germany – either in the direction of Ukraine or to their original home country, such as Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Somalia, Vietnam, Thailand, Egypt and Syria. If they do not leave, the next step could be deportation. Those who have a Ukrainian family member are not affected by the expiry of their right of residence. Source: taz
Future CDU/SPD coalition promises to keep German dual citizenship law
Germany’s CDU and SPD parties have published an “exploratory paper” in which they pledge to retain the country’s dual and fast-track citizenship law. Following the CDU federal election win on February 23, the centre-right party has been in discussions with SPD representatives about forming a coalition government. The paper pledges other changes to migration policy. If all goes to plan in the coalition talks, German police will have further power to turn asylum seekers away at the German border, though details of this plan and whether it complies with EU asylum laws are still unclear. Source: iamexpat
New offensive against civil society
A survey conducted by the taz in the German federal states has revealed that the Christian Democratic parliamentary groups in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saarland have now submitted questions on the “political neutrality” of civil society organisations. The CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag itself recently mobilised against left-wing NGOs in 551 questions about the “deep state.” The CDU’s attack on critical civil society continues at various levels and is increasingly directed against democratic initiatives that are already under pressure in regions where extreme right-wing parties are at 30% and in some cases significantly higher. Source: taz
Only the sparks fly here
The ver.di union paralysed air traffic at 13 airports in Germany last Monday. With the walkout in the struggle for their collective agreement (TVöD) with the Federation of Municipal Employers’ Associations (VKA), workers demonstrated how much their commitment makes a difference: for example in Hamburg, not only were flights cancelled, but city cleaning services and municipal daycare centres also struck. In Berlin, as in large parts of North Rhine-Westphalia, the city cleaning strike will continue until the weekend. This is needed because the VKA has yet to make an offer in the current round of collective bargaining. Source: jw
No result yet, but there’s still hope
The Green party had previously made it clear that they do not want to agree to the CDU/CSU and SPD’s multi-billion euro defence and infrastructure package in its current form. However, the Greens did not slam all doors shut. Katharina Dröge, one of the Greens’ leaders, said that it would be right to convene the new Bundestag. However, she made it clear that her party wants a general reform of the debt brake. Die Linke also signaled their agreement with this point. A possible compromise for the Greens could be to split the proposals on infrastructure and defence. Source: tagesschau
