Germany 'concerned' for far-left activist held in Hungary
Maja T., who identifies as non-binary, was handed over to Hungary by Germany last summer -- a decision that was severely criticised by the German constitutional court.
The judges said the extradition order had failed to take account of potentially dangerous prison conditions in Hungary, especially for LGBTQ people.
Maja T.'s Hungarian lawyer, Tamas Bajaky, told AFP his client was transferred to a hospital on July 1.
The activist has lost 14 kilograms and is threatened with "permanent organ damage", the TAZ newspaper reported on Thursday, citing Maja T.'s family.
"Of course there is great concern," foreign ministry spokeswoman Kathrin Deschauer said.
The German government is in "close contact" with Maja T.'s family, and the German embassy in Budapest was able to visit the activist in hospital, Deschauer added.
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The attacks in February 2023 happened in the days preceding the so-called annual "Day of Honour" commemoration in Budapest, where European far-right groups gather to mark a failed attempt by Nazi forces in 1945 to break out of the city during the Soviet army's siege.
Several activists have since been prosecuted in Hungary and could face prison sentences for the attacks as nationalist premier Viktor Orban vows to clamp down on "far-left violence".
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DW
2 hours ago
- DW
Club World Cup final: A win for Chelsea, FIFA and Trump – DW – 07/13/2025
A sensational display from Cole Palmer and Chelsea stunned Paris Saint-Germain, with a 3-0 win securing the Club World Cup title. FIFA boss Gianni Infantino and watching US President Donald Trump also made gains. "The golden era of global club football has started," said FIFA President Gianni Infantino at Trump Tower in New York on Saturday. "We can say definitely this FIFA Club World Cup has been a huge, huge, huge success." It's the kind of hyperbole favored by the owner of Trump Tower, where FIFA have recently rented an office. Donald Trump and Infantino have grown ever closer this year, ostensibly because of this revamped and expanded tournament and next year's World Cup, to be hosted in the USA, Canada and Mexico — an event many feel will be used by Trump to further push his message. "He loves the game," Infantino said of the man who sat next to him at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday. "You cannot organize a competition like this without the full support of the government. Great thanks to President Trump – he has been fantastic." So too was Chelsea's Cole Palmer. The English attacking midfielder scored twice and made a third goal for Brazilian striker Joao Pedro to put European champions Paris Saint-Germain to the sword before halftime. PSG had no answer in the second half, as Chelsea cruised to victory. Infantino's main measure of success for the Club World Cup, though, appears to be financial. He reported revenues of over $2 billion (€1.7 billion) and average earnings of $33 million per match for FIFA. Not bad for an organization whose remit is organization and promotion of the sport, rather than pure profit. FIFA aside, the biggest financial beneficiaries were the two teams that contested the final. Chelsea will get $40 million for the final alone while Paris Saint-Germain gets $30 million for the match, plus both get their share of the overall $1 billion prize pool. It's a sizable chunk, even for a team owned by an American private equity firm who bought it from a sanctioned Russia oligarch and one owned by the oil-rich nation state of Qatar. A $250 million solidarity payment was also promised by FIFA "to club football across the world." The fact that the final contained European teams who won two of three continental competitions in the season just finished is evidence of the primacy of European football. Three of the four semifinalists were European, as were the majority of the quarterfinalists. It remains to be seen how much a solidarity payment split between the rest of the teams in FIFA's 211 member states will impact the inequalities in the global game. Though Infantino has been effusive in his praise, many in the game have found failings with the first edition of a revamped competition pushed through by the FIFA boss. "The Club World Cup is the worst idea ever implemented in football in this regard," German coach Jürgen Klopp, who coached Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund said during the tournament. "People who have never had or do not have anything to do with day-to-day business anymore are coming up with something. There is insane money for participating, but it's also not for every club. "Last year it was the Copa [America] and the European Championship, this year it's the Club World Cup, and next year the World Cup. That means no real recovery for the players involved, neither physically nor mentally." The issue of exhaustion, echoed by many players, coaches and fans throughout the tournament, was exacerbated by the extreme temperatures in some of the matches. "Honestly, the heat is incredible. The other day I had to lie down on the ground because I was really dizzy," said Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez on the eve of the final. "Playing in this temperature is very dangerous, it's very dangerous." Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovac, meanwhile, described conditions for his team in Charlotte as being like "a sauna" in the group stage. While there are mandated cooling breaks, Infantino has now said indoor air-conditioned stadiums will be used as much as possible for daytime kickoffs across the 16 venues that will host 2026 World Cup matches. But only Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Vancouver (which has the coldest average temperatures of any venue at the relevant time of year) have such facilities in place. FIFA also made a surprise player welfare announcement on Saturday. An agreement has been made for a mandatory 72-hour minimum gap between games and a three-week period of rest in the off season, with global players' union, FIFPRO, among those who have been pushing hard for similar measures. The amount of long haul trips taken by players will also be considered in future. All that may well have been some distance from the Chelsea players' minds as, after a brief scuffle on the pitch with PSG players and staff, they celebrated a win that clearly meant something to them. As he headed from the stands to hand medals to those victorious players, a beaming Infantino was likely reflecting favorably on the beginning of his "golden era". The next stage will be the biggest one of all, the World Cup. Infantino seems well disposed to let Trump bask in some of football's light there too.
Int'l Business Times
9 hours ago
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EU Chief Delays Retaliation For US Tariffs In Search Of Deal
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday that Brussels will continue to hold off on hitting back at US steel and aluminium tariffs, as it seeks a deal to avoid broader 30-percent levies. US President Donald Trump on Saturday threw months of painstaking negotiations into disarray by announcing he would hammer the 27-nation bloc with the sweeping tariffs if no agreement is reached by August 1. "The United States has sent us a letter with measures that would come into effect unless there is a negotiated solution, so we will therefore also extend the suspension of our countermeasures until early August," von der Leyen told journalists. "At the same time, we will continue to prepare for the countermeasures so we're fully prepared," she added. The European Commission president insisted that the European Union has "always been very clear that we prefer a negotiated solution. This remains the case, and we will use the time that we have now till August 1". The move by von der Leyen will spur hope that Trump's latest threat -- in which he also targeted Mexico -- has not killed off the progress made in negotiations so far between Brussels and Washington. The European Union's current suspension of its retaliation over US steel and aluminium tariffs had been set to expire overnight Monday to Tuesday. Brussels has readied duties on US goods worth around 21 billion euros ($24 billion) in response to the levies Trump slapped on metal imports earlier this year. But it announced in April it was holding off on those measures to give space to find a broader trade agreement with the Trump administration. "Since the very beginning, we have worked and now are ready to respond with countermeasures. We've prepared for this, and we can respond with countermeasures if necessary," von der Leyen said. EU trade ministers are set to meet Monday in Brussels to discuss the bloc's response to Trump's latest move -- and crucially how strong a line to take with Washington. Germany's finance minister Lars Klingbeil said on Sunday that "serious and solution-oriented negotiations" with the United States were still necessary, but added that if they fail, the European Union would need "decisive countermeasures to protect jobs and businesses in Europe". "Our hand remains outstretched but we won't accept just anything," Klingbeil told daily newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung. That came after French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday urged the European Commission -- which negotiates on behalf of all EU countries -- to "resolutely defend European interests". Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has unleashed sweeping stop-start tariffs on allies and competitors alike, roiling financial markets and raising fears of a global economic downturn. But his administration is coming under pressure to secure deals with trading partners after promising a flurry of agreements. So far, US officials have only unveiled two pacts, with Britain and Vietnam, alongside temporarily lower tit-for-tat duties with China. The European Union, alongside dozens of other economies, had been set to see its US tariff level increase from a baseline of 10 percent on July 9, but Trump pushed back the deadline to August 1. In a letter published on Saturday, Trump cited the United States's trade imbalance with the bloc as justification for the new 30-percent levies. The EU tariff is markedly steeper than the 20-percent levy Trump had unveiled in April -- before hitting pause as markets went into meltdown.
DW
11 hours ago
- DW
Bundestag boss wants rainbow flags out of German parliament – DW – 07/13/2025
Bundestag President Julia Klöckner has said rainbow Pride flags must be removed from deputies' offices. Bundestag President Julia Klöckner, of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), has been engaging in fiery debates with deputies from the opposition Left and Green parties about whether political and cultural symbols have a place in the German legislature. The Bundestag's administration, which Klöckner oversees, has ordered deputies to immediately remove rainbow flags displayed in and around their parliamentary offices. The flag represents the LGBTQ+ communities. The reason given by the Bundestag's administration is that displaying flags in parliament is "fundamentally prohibited, regardless of their symbolism." A spokesperson added that there had been reports from deputies that rainbow flags displayed in office windows were clearly visible from outside. Paragraph 4 of the Bundestag's house rules states that "posting notices, in particular posters, signs, and stickers on doors, walls, or windows in generally accessible buildings of the German Bundestag, as well as on windows and facades of these buildings visible from the outside, is not permitted." In the past, flags were generally permitted. Now, Left party member Stella Meredino reported that federal police were called in because of a rainbow flag in her Bundestag office. Klöckner, a former agriculture minister who has been the Bundestag president since late March, is a combative conservative. She holds the second-highest office in the country and is expected to chair Bundestag sessions as independently as possible — free from party interests — to ensure that debates are held in a factual and calm manner. She also represents the Bundestag at large, and thus all of the deputies within it. Klöckner has, however, been known to make provocative statements against the Greens and Left, as well as against the Social Democrats, the junior partner's in the government led by her CDU. She drew the ire of LGBTQ+ deputies and those who consider themselves allies queer communities when she opposed the rainbow flag's being flown above the Bundestag on Christopher Street Day, as pride is known in Germany. Raising the flag for CSD had become a tradition since 2022. Klöckner justified her refusal on grounds of neutrality. From now on, the flag will be raised on May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia. This is although traditionally, CSD marks the most important date of the year for the queer community. This year, CSD falls on July 26. No flag will be flying above the Bundestag. Not even a petition signed by some 220,000 people calling for a rethink changed Klöckner's mind. Critics say Klöckner fails to recognize the pressures facing queer communities at this moment. Green Party member Lamya Kaddor told DW that Klöckner shows a "bigoted understanding" of neutrality. "At a time when queer people, and thus liberal society, are increasingly targeted by attacks and hateful rhetoric, we cannot afford such a formalistic notion of neutrality. Political responsibility means protecting the freedom and dignity of all people." Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a fellow member of the CDU, has expressed support for Klöckner. On the well-known talk show aired by public broadcaster ARD, Merz said "the Bundestag is not a circus tent" where any flag could be raised at will. He said there was one day a year, May 17, when the rainbow flag would fly from the parliament building. On Wednesday, however, Merz spoke out in support of queer communities in the Bundestag. "We are doing everything we can to enable queer people to live a good and safe life in our society," Merz said. He added that "I am personally committed to ensuring that this is the case and improves." Hostility toward queer people, Merz said, is "no trivial offense and is not appropriate for cheap jokes." Like Klöckner, her deputies are all new to the job. One of them, Josephine Ortleb of the Social Democrats, recently told German weekly Zeit that she too had a rainbow flag displayed in her Bundestag office. She said "it should not seem like queer symbols are now being suppressed." Ortleb, Omid Nouripour of the Greens, and another of Klöckner's deputies will speak at this year's CSD in Berlin on July 26. Bundestag employees will also be present. Unlike last year, however, there will be no Bundestag float at the parade. This, too, has been prohibited by Klö you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter, Berlin Briefing.
