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
