Tag: germany

Ukraine signs French security pact after similar agreement with Germany | Russia-Ukraine war News

Deal with France promises $3.23bn in military aid to Ukraine, while pact with Germany secures $1.22bn support package.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a new long-term security pact with France, hours after securing a similar deal and aid from Germany.

France and Ukraine signed a bilateral security agreement seeking to help Kyiv in its war against Russia, the Elysee said on Friday.

Signed by Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron, the pact includes pledges from Paris to deliver more arms, train soldiers in Ukraine and send up to three billion euros ($3.23bn) in military aid.

The pact is set to run for 10 years and will not only strengthen cooperation in the area of artillery but also help pave the way towards Ukraine’s future integration into the European Union and NATO, Macron and Zelenskyy said.

“Our cooperation yields results in the protection of life in Ukraine and our entire Europe,” Zelenskyy said on his social media platforms, shortly before meeting Macron.

Earlier on Friday, the German Ministry of Defence announced that a deal had been signed between Zelenskyy and Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The German security pact, which will last for 10 years, commits Germany to supporting Ukraine with military assistance and hitting Russia with sanctions and export controls, and ensuring that Russian assets remain frozen.

Berlin also prepared another immediate support package worth 1.13 billion euros ($1.22bn) that is focused on air defence and artillery.

“The document’s importance cannot be overestimated. It makes clear that Germany will continue to support an independent Ukraine in its defence against the Russian invasion,” Scholz said.

“And if in the future there is another Russian aggression, we have agreed on detailed diplomatic, economic and military support,” he added.

Avdiivka

Zelenskyy’s visit to France and Germany is part of his mini-European tour where he was attempting to secure much-needed aid for Ukraine as Russia’s war in the country rages on, edging closer to its third year.

On Friday, Ukrainian troops were trying to hold back Russian forces closing in on the eastern town of Avdiivka.

The Ukrainian army said it was pulling back from a position on the southern outskirts of the front-line city, but that its forces were taking up “new positions”.

Avdiivka, which Russia has been trying to capture since October, is a main target for Moscow ahead of the second anniversary of the start of the Ukraine war.

To tackle battlefield challenges, Ukraine has been facing a shortage of ammunition stockpiles amid delays in Western military assistance.

“We are doing everything we can to ensure that our warriors have enough managerial and technological capabilities to save as many Ukrainian lives as possible,” Zelenskyy said on arriving in Germany.

In January, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also signed a security accord with Ukraine.

Meanwhile, across the pond in Washington, DC, US President Joe Biden has repeatedly been stressing the importance of sending more aid to Ukraine.

On Tuesday, the US Senate passed a $61bn aid bill for Ukraine. But the bill still faces an uncertain fate with several right-wing US Republicans in the House already saying they will block it as the money should be spent on domestic issues.

On Friday, Biden highlighted that the reported death of Russian anticorruption activist Alexey Navalny brings new urgency to the need for Congress to approve funds for Ukraine to stave off Moscow’s invasion.

“The failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will never be forgotten,” Biden said. “And the clock is ticking. This has to happen. We have to help now.”



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At least 150,000 protest in Berlin against Germany’s far right | Protests News

Mass demonstrations are taking place in Germany in the fourth week of protests against the far right.

Approximately 150,000 people took to the streets of the capital Berlin on Saturday, police said.

Similar protests were also taking place in cities including Dresden and Hanover, in a sign of growing opposition to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

On Saturday, Berlin police said people were still flocking to the Reichstag parliament building, where protesters gathered under the slogan “We are the Firewall” to protest against right-wing extremism and to show support for democracy.

“Whether in Eisenach, Homburg or Berlin: in small and large cities across the country, many citizens are coming together to demonstrate against forgetting, against hatred and hate speech,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on the social media platform X.

He said the protests were “a strong sign in favour of democracy and our constitution”.

The AfD’s success has stoked concern among Germany’s mainstream parties, who fear it could sweep three state elections in eastern Germany in September, even though recent polls have shown a slight decline in AfD support.

Earlier this week, a Forsa poll showed that backing for the AfD dropped below 20 percent for the first time since July, with voters citing nationwide demonstrations against the far right as the most important issue.

According to the poll, the AfD remains in second place behind the main opposition conservatives on 32 percent, while Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats polled third at 15 percent.

The mass protests began following a report last month that two senior AfD members had attended a meeting to discuss plans for the mass deportation of citizens of foreign origin. The AfD has denied that the proposal represented party policy.

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German upper house approves bill easing citizenship rules | Demographics News

Lawmakers in the upper house of parliament passed the legislation that will simplify the process of naturalisation.

German lawmakers have passed a bill that makes the process of obtaining citizenship easier, and moved to simplify repatriations.

The naturalisation reform, approved by the upper house of parliament on Friday, allows people to become German citizens while keeping their original citizenship.

People will be able to apply for citizenship after living in Germany for five years rather than eight years. Children of parents from abroad will also be granted German citizenship at birth if one parent has been legally residing in Germany for five years rather than eight.

If applicants demonstrate “special integration achievements” through particularly good performance at school or work or civic engagement, they may be able to be naturalised after only three years.

One important aspect of the new law is that people who obtain their German citizenship will not have to give up the citizenship of their native country, previously only possible for residents from other EU countries in Germany.

This will allow tens of thousands of German-born Turks to become voters.

Likewise, Germans who wish to become citizens of another country will no longer need special authorisation from German authorities.

The bill was put forward by centre-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s socially liberal coalition. The main centre-right opposition bloc had criticised the project, and argued it would cheapen German citizenship.

The bill was approved by Germany’s lower house two weeks ago. At the time, Scholz hailed the legislation and said it was for those who had lived and worked in Germany for “decades”.

“With the new citizenship law, we are saying to all those who have often lived and worked in Germany for decades, who abide by our laws, who are at home here: You belong to Germany,” Scholz said.

Filiz Polat, a Green Party migration expert, welcomed the prospect of dual citizenship and slammed parties opposing the law as failing to understand the “modern immigration society that has long existed in Germany”.

Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane, reporting from Berlin, said there were “speeches in favour and there were speeches against” the bill in the state’s house of parliament.

“But in the end, the house decided not to vote in favour, but also, not to vote against,” Kane said. This means that the law goes through because of Germany’s constitution.

“The elected house of parliament had already voted in favour of it,” he explained.

The legislation still has to be approved by Germany’s upper chamber of parliament, and by the president as a formality, before it becomes law.

It will come into effect by mid-May at the earliest, Kane said.

Hundreds of thousands of people are already in the system, meaning there will likely be a massive backlog before new applications are processed, our correspondent added.

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Hundreds of thousands protest against far-right in Germany | Protests News

Rallies to protest against the Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party are held in Berlin, Munich and other cities.

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across towns and cities in Germany to protest against the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

On Sunday, rallies against the AfD were held in Berlin, Munich and Cologne, as well as in more traditional AfD voting strongholds in eastern Germany such as Leipzig and Dresden.

While national polls show AfD in second place behind the main centre-right opposition bloc and ahead of the parties in the government, demonstrations against the far-right party gained momentum after a January 10 report from investigative news website Correctiv revealed that migration policies including mass deportations of people of foreign origin were discussed at a meeting of German right-wing extremists in Potsdam.

Among the participants at the talks was Martin Sellner, a leader of Austria’s Identitarian Movement, which claims there is a plot by non-white migrants to replace Europe’s “native” white population.

The AfD has denied the reported migration plans are party policy.

On Sunday, demonstrators outside the German parliament in Berlin carried signs that said “no place for Nazis” and “Nazis out”.

In Munich, protest organisers said 200,000 people attended, adding that they were forced to end the demonstration early due to overcrowding.

Katrin Delrieux, 53, told AFP in Munich that she hoped the protests against the far right would “make a lot of people rethink” their positions.

“Some might not be sure whether they will vote for the AfD or not, but after this protest, they simply cannot,” she said.

In Frankfurt, protester Steffi Kirschenmann told the news agency Reuters that the rallies are “a signal to the world that we won’t let this happen without commenting on it”.

Meanwhile in Dresden, the capital of the eastern region of Saxony, where the far-right party is leading in the polls, authorities had to alter the course of a protest march.

The procession was lengthened to make space for an “enormous number of participants”, police in Dresden said on the social media platform X.

Politicians, businesses take a stand

Business leaders have also voiced their concerns, with Siemens Energy supervisory board chairman Joe Kaeser telling Reuters the reports [revealed by Correctiv] trigger “bitter memories”.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has also come out in support of the rallies across Germany and views them as a sign of strength against right-wing extremism.

In a video message on Sunday, Steinmeier said: “You are standing up against misanthropy and right-wing extremism; these people encourage us all.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who joined a demonstration last weekend, highlighted that any plan to expel immigrants or citizens alike amounted to “an attack against our democracy, and in turn, on all of us”.

He urged “all to take a stand – for cohesion, for tolerance, for our democratic Germany”.



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Tens of thousands protest in Germany against the far-right | The Far Right News

Public outcry followed revelations that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party had discussed plans to mass deport immigrants.

Tens of thousands of people have gathered across Germany to protest against a far-right political party and its stance against migrants.

People protested in several cities and small towns on Saturday, with some mocking the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party with signs saying “Facism is not an alternative”, German media reported.

The protests come following an outcry after it was revealed that AfD members held a meeting with far-right activists and discussed plans to mass deport foreigners.

Police said some 35,000 people joined a call under the banner “Defend democracy – Frankfurt against the AfD”, marching in the financial heart of Germany.

A similar number, some carrying posters like “Nazis out”, turned up in the northern city of Hanover.

Protests were also held in cities including Braunschweig, Erfurt and Kassel and many smaller towns, mirroring mobilisation every day over the past week. Some 50,000 people demonstrated in Hamburg, Germany’s second-largest city, on Friday, police said.

In all, demonstrations have been called in about 100 locations across Germany from Friday through the weekend, including in Berlin on Sunday.

Politicians, churches, and Bundesliga coaches have urged people to stand up against the AfD.

On January 10, a report by investigative outlet Correctiv, revealed that AfD members had discussed the expulsion of immigrants and “non-assimilated citizens” at a meeting with other far-right activists.

Among the participants at the talks was Martin Sellner, a leader of Austria’s Identitarian Movement, which subscribes to the “great replacement” conspiracy theory that claims there is a plot by non-white migrants to replace Europe’s “native” white population.

‘An attack against our democracy’

News of the far-right gathering sent shockwaves across Germany at a time when the AfD is polling second in nationwide surveys, just months before three major regional elections in eastern Germany where their support is strongest.

The anti-immigration party confirmed the presence of its members at the meeting, but has denied taking on the “remigration” project championed by Sellner. Co-leader Alice Weidel parted ways with one of her advisers who participated in the talks.

But leading politicians, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who joined a demonstration last weekend, said any plan to expel immigrants or citizens alike amounted to “an attack against our democracy, and in turn, on all of us”. He urged “all to take a stand – for cohesion, for tolerance, for our democratic Germany”.

Members of the country’s business industry also voiced their concerns.

“If everything is true as reported, then that is absolutely disgusting,” said Siemens Energy’s supervisory board chairman Joe Kaeser in an interview with Reuters published on Saturday,

Kaeser’s comments come after leaders of German companies, including chip manufacturer Infineon and chemicals maker Evonik voiced their concerns earlier this week.

Highlighting lessons from Germany’s history, Kaeser warned of the damage to Germany’s image around the world and called on German businesses to publicly warn of the consequences.

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South Africa seeks to stop auction of historic Nelson Mandela artefacts | Nelson Mandela News

About 75 items are to go under the hammer in a deal between Mandela’s family and a New York-based auctioneer.

The South African government has said it will challenge the auctioning of dozens of artefacts belonging to the nation’s anti-apartheid stalwart Nelson Mandela, saying the items are of historical significance and should be preserved in the country.

The 75 items belonging to Mandela – the country’s first democratically elected president who spent 27 years in jail for his anti-apartheid struggle against white minority rule – are to go under the hammer on February 22 in a deal between New York-based auctioneers Guernsey’s and Mandela’s family, mainly his daughter Makaziwe Mandela.

But South Africa’s Ministry of Culture said it has filed an appeal to halt “the unpermitted export” of the objects.

“Former president Nelson Mandela is integral to South Africa’s heritage,” Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa said in a statement.

“It is thus important that we … ensure that his life’s work and experiences remain in the country for generations to come.” Mandela passed away in 2013.

The items include the late leader’s iconic Ray-Ban sunglasses and “Madiba” shirts, personal letters he wrote from prison, as well as a blanket gifted to him by former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

Nelson Mandela, left, was known for wearing his iconic ‘Madiba’ shirts, some of which are up for auction. A champagne cooler that was gift to him from former US president Bill Clinton, right, is also up for auction [File: Scott Applewhite, Pool/AP]

A champagne cooler that was a present from former President Bill Clinton is also on the list, with bidding on it starting at $24,000. Among the items is also Mandela’s ID “book”, his identification document following his release from prison in the 1990s.

Last month, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria gave the go-ahead for the auction after dismissing an interdict by the South African Heritage Resources Agency, which is responsible for the protection of the country’s cultural heritage.

‘Almost unthinkable’

On its website, Guernsey’s says the auction “will be nothing short of remarkable”, and that proceeds will be used for the building of the Mandela Memorial Garden in Qunu, the village where he is buried.

“To imagine actually owning an artefact touched by this great leader is almost unthinkable,” it says.

In an interview with US media published on Thursday, Makaziwe Mandela said her father wanted the former Transkei region where he was born and raised to benefit economically from tourism.

“I want other people in the world to have a piece of Nelson Mandela – and to remind them, especially in the current situation, of compassion, of kindness, of forgiveness,” she told the New York Times.

Reports of the auction have sparked heated debates on social media platforms in South Africa, with many criticising the auctioning of what they consider to be the nation’s cultural heritage.

The planned auction has come as many African countries seek to have treasured African artworks and artefacts that were removed from the continent during colonial years returned to Africa.

Most recently, Nigeria and Germany signed a deal for the return of hundreds of artefacts known as the Benin Bronzes.

The deal followed French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision in 2021 to sign over 26 pieces known as the Abomey Treasures, priceless artworks of the 19th century Dahomey kingdom in present-day Benin.

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Germany’s parliament approves easing citizenship laws | Politics News

Legislation allows people to become eligible for citizenship after five years and opens up possibility of dual nationalities.

German lawmakers have approved legislation to ease the rules on gaining citizenship and end a ban on holding dual citizenship.

The bill, put forward by centre-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s socially liberal coalition, passed parliament on Friday by a 382-234 vote with 23 lawmakers abstaining.

The legislation will allow people to become eligible for citizenship after five years in Germany or three in case of “special integration accomplishments”, rather than the eight or six years at present.

German-born children will automatically become citizens if one parent has been a legal resident for five years, down from eight.

Dual nationality, customarily allowed only for citizens of other European Union countries, will be permitted, letting tens of thousands of German-born Turks become voters.

In a video welcoming the citizenship law, Scholz said the legislation was for those who had lived and worked in Germany for “decades”.

“With the new citizenship law, we are saying to all those who have often lived and worked in Germany for decades, who abide by our laws, who are at home here: You belong to Germany,” Scholz said.

The main centre-right opposition bloc criticised the project and argued it would cheapen German citizenship.

People who have moved to Germany wait to be naturalised as German citizens during a ceremony at a townhall in Berlin [File: Thomas Peter/Reuters]

“Two passports is the most normal thing in the world in 2024 and has long been reality in most countries,” said Social Democratic legislator Reem Alabali-Radovan.

“We, the 20 million people of migrant backgrounds, we are staying here. This country belongs to us all, and we won’t let it be taken away,” she added of the legislation, which President Frank-Walter Steinmeier must sign for it to become law.

The citizenship overhaul was one of a series of social reforms Scholz’s coalition agreed to undertake when it took office in 2021.

Germany previously had one of the world’s most restrictive naturalisation laws with citizenship available only to people who could show German ancestors.

But progressives have long demanded a citizenship law that acknowledges that Germany has been ethnically diverse and multicultural since the arrival of guest workers from Italy and Turkey to ease labour shortages in the 1960s.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a target of protests after senior members were caught discussing plans to deport “unassimilated” German citizens, opposed the law and, along with opposition conservatives, warned against “devaluing” the German passport and importing division.

“You want to create new votes for yourselves with this law,” conservative legislator Alexander Throm told coalition politicians. “But careful: Most [Turks] who live here vote for AKP [Turkey’s ruling party] and [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan. … You’re bringing the conflict to us.”

But surveys have shown that German Turks, many of whom are of ethnic Kurdish or Arab backgrounds, vote for the full range of Turkish parties, none of which runs in German elections.

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Why is Namibia furious at Germany’s ICJ intervention supporting Israel? | Genocide

Namibia criticises Germany for seeking to appear at court against South Africa’s genocide allegations.

Namibia has condemned Germany’s backing of Israel against genocide allegations at the International Court of Justice.

It says, given Germany’s colonial past, that it should not support Israel.

So, what’s behind this diplomatic dispute – and why now?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Mutjinde Katjiua – Paramount chief of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority

Henning Melber – Associate at the Nordic Africa Institute

Matthias Goldmann – Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute

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Thousands of tractors block Berlin traffic over plans to end diesel subsidy | Agriculture News

Farmers gather in German capital to join a giant rally demanding a rethink of the government’s plans to tax them more.

Thousands of German farmers, truck drivers and agricultural workers have gathered with tractors and other heavy equipment in front of Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate for another demonstration by farmers angry at the government’s plans to end tax breaks on diesel.

Police on Monday estimated that at least 3,000 tractors had already arrived for the protest and an estimated 2,000 more were on the way in a climax to their weeklong protests.

The tractors blocked traffic in parts of the city and Berlin’s public transit agency reported major service delays. About 10,000 people had registered for the demonstrations against Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s plans to cut subsidies, but Berlin police expect even more to attend.

A total of 1,300 police officers have been deployed to accompany the farmer protests, Berlin police chief Barbara Slowik told city leaders on Monday.

German farmers protest against the cut of vehicle tax subsidies [Liesa Johannssen/Reuters]

In addition to representatives of the farmers’ association and trade unions, Finance Minister Christian Lindner is also expected to address the protesters.

On Sunday evening, police were stopping tractors from entering the demonstration area in the capital’s governmental district. “It can’t take any more,” said a police spokesperson.

Over the past week, farmers have blocked highway entrances and slowed down traffic across Germany, dissatisfied with concessions the government has already made.

Berlin announced plans to cut subsidies and tax breaks on diesel and agricultural vehicles after a court ruling tore a multibillion-euro hole in the government’s budget, forcing Scholz’s coalition to find savings.

The government, which has already partially walked back on the plans, defended the reductions by pointing to increases in farmers’ income in recent years.

In the financial year 2022-23, farms made a record profit of 115,400 euros ($126,000) on average, a 45 percent increase on the year before, according to industry figures.

On January 4, the government said tax exemption for farming vehicles would be retained and cuts in diesel tax breaks would be staggered over three years.

Scholz said in a video message on Saturday that “we took the farmers’ arguments to heart”, adding that he believes the government came up with “a good compromise”.

But the farmers, with the vocal backing of the opposition conservatives and far-right parties, say the government’s concessions do not go far enough.

“Farmers will die out,” said farmer Karl-Wilhelm Kempner on Sunday as he boarded a bus in Cologne to head to the demonstration. [which agency quoted him?]

“The population must understand that far more food will be imported” if subsidies are not restored.

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Nobel winner joins push to boycott German cultural institutions over Gaza | Israel War on Gaza News

Berlin, Germany – More than 500 global artists, filmmakers, writers and culture workers have announced a push against Germany’s stance on Israel’s war on Gaza, calling on creatives to step back from collaborating with German state-funded associations.

Launched this week, the campaign, backed by French author and Nobel Prize for literature winner Annie Ernaux, and Palestinian poet and activist Mohammed El-Kurd, alleges Germany has adopted “McCarthyist policies that suppress freedom of expression, specifically expressions of solidarity with Palestine”.

Other artists involved are the American actress, Indya Moore, British Turner Prize winner Tai Shani, and Lebanese alternative rock singer Hamed Sinno of the popular disbanded group Mashrou’ Leila.

The German authorities’ actions over the past 97 days of war, the signatories say, have had a chilling effect throughout the nation, especially in the arts.

“At a time when Palestinians are being slaughtered by a Germany-backed army at an unprecedented rate, and at a time of rising totalitarianism in German institutions, it is more important now than ever that good people reject anti-Palestinian racism assertively and publicly, and boycott the organisations that spread or give cover to that racism,” El-Kurd told Al Jazeera.

“There can be no business as usual during genocide and there can be no collaboration with those who deny, justify or partake in the Israeli genocidal campaign currently waged on the Palestinian people in the besieged Gaza Strip. It’s our moral responsibility.”

Annie Ernaux of France, Nobel laureate in literature in 2022, during a press conference in Stockholm, Sweden [File: Anders Wiklund/EPA-EFE]

Called Strike Germany, the protest is in response to the continuing brutal Israeli assault on Gaza that since October 7 has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians, nearly 10,000 of them children. It aims to bring attention to Germany’s alleged crackdown on pro-Palestinian advocacy, which has been widely reported amid the latest escalation of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Symbols of pro-Palestine support have been banned, authorities in Berlin have banned rallies, and, in a move that was widely condemned as discriminatory, the German president has called on Arabs to distance themselves from Hamas.

The artist-led coalition demands that German authorities should protect artistic freedom.

“Cultural institutions are surveilling social media, petitions, open letters and public statements for expressions of solidarity with Palestine in order to weed out cultural workers who do not echo Germany’s unequivocal support of Israel,” organisers said.

It also calls on German institutions to combat structural racism, referencing Germany’s 2019 resolution against the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign.

Should a swath of artists heed the call, German cultural events such as the upcoming Berlin Film Festival, as well as associations like the Goethe-Institut, and museums like Gropius Bau stand to be affected.

“Strikes and boycotts are often effective in instigating political change,” Phillip Ayoub, a professor of political science at University College London, told Al Jazeera.

“They disrupt existing power structures, and if done effectively, mobilise public support. At a minimum, they raise awareness around social problems and amplify the voices of those advocating on their behalf.”

He said in the case of Germany’s “imbalanced and increasingly isolated response to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza”, the latest campaign could challenge an “entrenched status quo that scholars and artists increasingly criticise as blind to Palestinian suffering and dehumanising of their lives”.

Fearing personal or professional reprisal, one striking artist who requested anonymity said the withdrawal of artists represents “the refusal to comply with Germany’s absolute and unquestioning support for the Israeli state”.

“The generous public funding for culture has been a trap. It has allowed the German state to censor, control and punish those it deems ideologically beyond the pale’,” said the artist. “Withdrawing means refusing to be an ornament to a state that fancies itself open-minded and a centre of progressive culture – but bans expressions of support with a people facing genocide. A genocide armed, in part, by the German state itself.”

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