Latest news with #Grötsch


DW
6 days ago
- Politics
- DW
German police complain about bad working conditions – DW – 07/10/2025
Since Germany introduced border controls, police have seen their workload increase. This adds to stress over racism, sexism and even sanitary facilities. The federal police commissioner helps find solutions. For months, there has been a heated debate about border controls. They are meant to be a rare exception within the European Union and the so-called Schengen area. But in reality, things look rather different at present. Germany has been among the first countries to tighten them, with the government aiming in this way to limit immigration, which is seen as a problem, especially by the rising far right. However, the rejections at the border of people seeking asylum, amid the stricter controls, have been a source of legal controversy. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, who is in charge of domestic security, feels that his course of action has been justified in view of the falling numbers of people seeking asylum in Germany. Federal police who are turning people back at border crossings have seen a dramatic increase in working hours. According to the Federal Police Commissioner Uli Grötsch, as of May 2025, this task alone had cost police more than 720,000 hours of overtime. The official number of 285 rejections at the borders by the end of June is now offset by 2.8 million overtime hours for the Federal Police, the police union GdP told the newspaper. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Grötsch was chosen for this newly created position as federal police commissioner by the German parliament in March 2024. Since then, he has visited more than 30 border control points to get as complete a picture as possible of the workload imposed on the 14,000 police that are carrying out the checks. The police commissioner deals with the Federal Police (Bundespolizei), which is responsible for border protection, railway police duties, aviation security, and the protection of federal agencies and buildings. The 16 German states, meanwhile, each have its own police force tasked with investigating crime and ensuring public security. Grötsch's first annual report presented on July 9, 2025, mentions the consequences that this workload has for family and profession. The increase in police at the borders takes resources from the federal riot police. Many of the officers deployed at the borders to Germany's nine neighboring countries leave gaps in regular services provided by police elsewhere. Grötsch also sees room for improvement in the provision of equipment and infrastructure. He said his first impressions had been "alarming." He cited the example of one checkpoint he visited between Germany and the Czech Republic, where there were still only portable toilets available to officers — the kind of plastic toilets otherwise found in long lines at open-air concerts or when a marathon takes place somewhere. Even last winter, federal police personnel had been forced to use these temporary toilet facilities, Grötsch said. "The Institute for Federal Real Estate, together with the state building authority in Bavaria, was not up to fixing a building already located at the site so that the sanitary rooms could be used again." The federal police commissioner said he also expected officers who are sending back people at the borders on orders from the interior minister to at last be given guarantees on the legality of their actions. Alexander Dobrindt has upheld his directive despite the fact that the administrative court in Berlin has ruled the practice of turning asylum seekers back at the border to be illegal under European law. "This is a question that must be dealt with by parliament and the federal government," Grötsch said. He said the apparent contradiction between the court ruling and the orders from politicians put the officers at the borders in a situation they found difficult to reconcile. Another focus in Grötsch's annual report was the issue of racial profiling, where people are stopped for spot checks only because of their appearance, mostly their skin color. In his report, Grötsch said he had had to do with 19 cases, often in connection with accusations of racism. He called for more sensitivity and empathy from all involved. He said police had to manage a difficult balancing act: "On one hand, they are being used to combat irregular immigration. And on the other hand, there is the very delicate matter of spot-checking people whose external appearance makes them seem to have come from the main countries of origin," he said, adding that these were indeed mainly countries in the Global South. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video The federal government's commissioner for migration, refugees and integration, Natalie Pawlik, has also highlighted the enormous strain put on federal police at the borders. At the same time, however, she stressed that "We have to work against racist incidents." She said public trust in the police was fostered by transparency and respect for all people. For this reason, Grötsch is seeking dialogue with the general public and also with researchers, an approach supported by Green parliamentarian Irene Mihalic. "His exchange with academics is making a significant contribution to remedying structural problems," said Mihalic, herself a trained police officer. Grötsch says he wants to help explain government actions, especially those of security agencies, to promote transparency. When he receives petitions from citizens who feel discriminated against or treated unlawfully by federal police authorities, Grötsch said he realizes how useful it is to have an independent body like the police commissioner for people to turn 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.


DW
7 days ago
- Politics
- DW
Germany updates: Police commissioner slams migrant pushbacks – DW – 07/09/2025
Germany's federal police commissioner says tougher border controls are stretching police forces thin. And Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government faced opposition scrutiny at a parliamentary budget debate. Follow DW. The commissioner of Germany's Federal Police has said migrant pushbacks at the German border are a burden on police forces. Meanwhile, the government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz faced intense questioning in parliament over its draft budget and performance so far. Merz has given his first speech as chancellor at a so-called general debate, defending his migration policy and rejecting accusations of having broken promises made before taking office. And special German police units have been searching a number of properties in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia as part of a probe into suspected plans for an Islamist terror attack, arresting one man, officials said on Wednesday. A 27-year-old man with Bosnian-Herzogovinian citizenship has been detained on suspicion of financing the planned attack through fraudulent commercial activities and will appear before a has rejected an allegation by the German government, repeated on Wednesday, that a Chinese vessel had aimed a laser at a German military jet over the Red Sea. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Wednesday in Beijing that the information provided by Germany did not correspond with the facts as known to China. She said Chinese naval vessels had been carrying out escort duties in the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters, "contributing to the safety of international shipping lanes." The German Foreign Ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador over the alleged incident, which occurred on July 2, according to the mass-circulation daily. Berlin said the reconnaissance aircraft targeted had been flying over the Red Sea as part of the EU's ASPIDES military operation to help protect merchant ships from attacks by Yemen's Houthi militia. It said the aircraft had been forced to abandon its mission and returned to a base in Djibouti. Federal police commissioner Uli Grötsch has criticized the German government's policy of turning back migrants, including asylum-seekers, at the border, saying its dubious legality under EU law was causing some confusion among those entrusted with carrying it out. Grötsch, a member of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), said it went against his understanding of the rule of law that the directive could remain in place even though it had been found incompatible with European law by a German court. He said he rejected the argument put forward by Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt that the June ruling applied only to one specific case, saying Dobrindt must "find a regulation that complies with European law." Grötsch also said the intensified border controls had meant much more overtime for German police, although working conditions had improved in recent weeks. The enormous workload at the borders also has a "noticeable impact on regular police work," as many of the officers deployed are "absent from their regular duties elsewhere," warned the commissioner. The new German conservative-led coalition government introduced the measure, along with tighter border checks, shortly after taking office in May. Poland responded this week with border checks of its own. The federal commissioner for the police is a position created in 2024 that aims to give officers and citizens a place to report misconduct or structural shortcomings within the federal police force. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video German supermarket chain Lidl has been ordered by a Paris appeals court to pay €43 million to French rival Intermarche for deceptive advertising that constituted unfair competitive practices. The court found that many television spots that Lidl ran between 2017 and 2023 were likely to deceive consumers, as the discount retailer had not ensured that the promoted items were available in all of its shops at the advertised price for a period of 15 weeks. The court ruled that small print and brief off-screen information in the ads telling viewers to consult the Lidl website to find participating stores were "likely to go unnoticed by the consumer or at the very least be misunderstood." According to the court, the fact that Lidl knew that the products were not available at all branches for a sufficient period elevated the chain's actions from mere deceptive practices to unfair competition, justifying the payment of compensation to its rival. On day 64 in office, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz may still be well within the 100-day grace period — but budget week in Germany is known for offering no grace. It's the moment the opposition gets to tear into the government's performance so far. And on Wednesday, that got ugly, fast. As leader of the largest opposition party, far-right AfD leader Alice Weidel got to fire the opening shots, accusing Merz of lying to voters by taking on record debt against his own election promise and touring the world instead of taking care of business back home. In response, Merz boldly stated that he had already delivered on the leadership he vowed for Europe, tearing into Weidel for not even mentioning Ukraine, where he sees the "diplomatic means" exhausted. Germany will triple defense spending by 2029, a move that he claims saved NATO. On migration, he warned AfD leader Weidel that he "will solve this problem" and take away the AfD's political "ammunition."Crucially, on trade, he appeared hopeful to find a compromise trade deal with the US by August, the new deadline to avoid punishing 25% tariffs on the German car the big crisis facing humankind — climate change — wasn't mentioned by Merz at all. The aim of climate neutrality had previously been labeled as a "delusional idea" by Weidel. This saw the Green parliamentary group leader Katharine Dröge — who helped Merz get the billions in extra debt he can now spend on defense and infrastructure — thrown into a state of exasperation. Merz' priority list of solving crises is clearly defense and the economy, with migration a close second. Climate is part of the rest — unless it becomes a security threat, that is. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has given an upbeat assessment of his government's performance in the some two months since it took power, while saying more needed to be done. "We have taken on a lot, we have achieved some things, but there is still very much to do," he said in his speech to parliament during a budget debate. Noting that some people in Germany were still worried about their futures, Merz said, "We want to convey to all people in Germany the courage and confidence that is is worthwhile working in our country, that it is a pleasure to live in Germany and that we, above all, are very lucky to live in a country in liberty and in peace." In a veiled reference to the far-right AfD, whose parliamentary group leader, Alice Weidel, had just delivered a blistering attack on the chancellor, Merz said his government would not be distracted by those who wanted to foment dissatisfaction. The coalition "will continue its work with courage and confidence," he said. The Bundestag is debating the government's budget plans for the years 2025 to 2029. The draft budget, which was presented on Tuesday, includes record expenditures and debt, with the government hoping massive investment will set the faltering economy on a stable course. DW has this analysis: Defense, infrastructure: Germany plans record investment A so-called general debate on the budget in the German Bundestag has opened, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz giving his first speech as German leader at such a parliamentary discussion. The debate, which focuses on the draft budget put forward on Tuesday, is traditionally used by the opposition to give a critical review of the government's performance. The debate began with a fiery speech by the leader of the parliamentary group of the anti-immigration far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Alice Weidel, who was allowed to speak first as the head of the largest opposition group. Weidel was not sparing with personal insults directed at Merz, calling him a "paper chancellor" and "chancellor of lies" while slamming him for allegedly breaking campaign promises and for his migration policy In his ensuing speech, Merz responded by saying that although a government needed to face opposition criticism, "no one in a democracy had to simply accept without contradiction half-truths, defamations and personal denigrations." More on Merz's comments to follow. The allotment of parental allowance in Germany in 2024 differed greatly according to the gender of the recipient, figures from the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) showed on Wednesday. In 2024, fathers received €1,337 ($1,568) per month on average, while mothers received just €830. Destatis named two reasons for the difference, the first being that more fathers (96%) than mothers (76%) were in paid work before the birth of the child. The second was that working fathers on average were earning more (€2,344) than working mothers (€1,789), which, as the amount of parental allowance is based on income, led to higher payments. However, the statistics showed that mothers on average received more parental allowance overall than fathers: €11,462 as compared with €4,185. That difference is explained, according to Destatis, by the fact that fathers tend to receive the allowance for a much shorter period (3.8 months on average) than mothers (14.8 months). Germany's biggest police union has said the tighter border controls put in place two months ago are costing officers a great effort for few results, while also warning of likely traffic jams as the summer vacation period begins. "The number of rejections of people seeking asylum and protection is really very small, but the effort put in by federal police is huge," GdP head Andreas Rosskopf told the daily on Tuesday. "Overtime is increasing dramatically," he said, saying there had been just 285 rejections at the border up to the end of June, while federal police had put in 2.8 million hours of extra work. While conceding that the border controls were not the only factor, Rosskopf said that they had "massively accelerated the increase." "This is putting an enormous strain on the motivation and health of workers," he said, calling for a rapid reduction in "the current intensity of the border controls." Rosskopf also warned of likely huge disruption to holiday traffic, saying that vacationers should prepare for "massive traffic jams" caused by the controls, particularly when returning to Germany. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video One man has been detained on suspicion of trying to finance a planned Islamist terror attack with fraudulent commercial activities as police carried out searches of six properties in the state of North Rhine-Wesphalia on Wednesday, officials said. They said the raids in the cities of Essen, Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Soest were being conducted as part of a "comprehensive investigation into suspected organized commercial fraud." According to a joint statement from the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor's Office and Essen police, the investigation had turned up evidence that money gained through commercial fraud was intended to go toward financing an Islamist terrorist attack. Wednesday's raids aimed to hinder any further planning of the suspected attack and its execution, as well as clarifying the circumstances surrounding it, the statement said. The detainee, a 27-year-old man with Bosnian-Herzegovinian citizenship, was due to come before an investigating judge on Wednesday, officials said. The DPA news agency cited a senior prosecutor as saying it was believed the suspect resold expensive electronic devices that he had ordered but not paid for to generate funds. North Rhine-Westphalia is Germany's most-populous state, with a population of some 18 million people. from DW's newsroom on the Rhine in Bonn! The continuing threat of Islamist terrorism in Germany is on focus on Wednesday as police carry out raids in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia aimed at preventing a suspected planned attack. The situation at Germany's borders amid tighter controls is also under scrutiny as summer holidays approach, with officials warning of possible long queues of vehicles waiting to cross frontiers. This DW blog will bring you up-to-date news, analysis and explainers on these and other stories. We wish you enjoyable and informative reading!


Local Germany
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Local Germany
Are German police racially profiling people at the border?
Since the introduction of stationary border controls last September, the federal police commissioner has received an increasing number of complaints from German residents who say they are unfairly being checked more often. Federal police commissioner Uli Grötsch told the DPA that the number of formal complaints about unjustified checks on the basis of external characteristics - or alleged racial profiling - has "increased sharply". Grötsch says he understands why people feel discriminated against. Some commuters with darker skin have reported being checked on ten out of twelve trips across the border. As the federal police commissioner, Grötsch is tasked with helping to ensure that the federal police proceeds sensitively on this issue. "No one should be checked just because they have a migration background or black skin," said Grötsch. German law forbids police from checking people based on their skin colour - but, especially during border checks, many suspect that they do, and the rule is hard to enforce. Complaints about racial profiling at border checks are not new Karla Magazine, which covers the city of Constance on the Germany-Switzerland border, reported on alleged racial profiling at border checks in September of last year. "The objective of border controls, namely the reduction of migration, reinforces the use of racial profiling," Samuel Hofer, member of the board of the Green party in the city of Constance, told the magazine. "How else is this mandate supposed to be implemented by the federal police in practice?" Johannes Siegel, who is working on a doctoral thesis on racial profiling at the University of Constance, explained in the report that police get a lot of leeway when they conduct checks. "It's difficult to prove [racial profiling] legally," ," he said. "You can't look into the heads of police officers." In 2022, Left Party MP Clara Bünger asked a parliamentary question about racial profiling at the German-Czech border near Dresden. She alleged that, "apparently without exception, people of colour and black people" have been checked on trains coming from Prague and then taken off trains in the Saxon capital. Germany's Ministry of the Interior countered that federal police were "required to carry out the checks according to objective criteria" and that characteristics like skin colour or ethnicity were not considered. However, there have been some documented cases where illegal profiling was proven - such as the 2022 case of Guinean man who was forcefully detained after refusing to cooperate with a police check in Chemnitz. The Administrative Court of Dresden underlined the illegality of racial profiling in its ruling that the check and detention of the man was unlawful. Controls at all land borders since September Since September 16th, Germany's federal police have been carrying out checks at all of it's borders with France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark. Controls have been in place at the borders with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland since mid-October 2023, and they were introduced at the German-Austrian land border in autumn 2015. Not every single traveller is checked at the border sections, but everyone must expect to be controlled. Foreign nationals who are travelling through, or near to, Germany's borders should carry both their residence permit and passport. Long-term controls at Europe's internal borders are generally not supposed to take place within the Schengen area. However, they can be registered with the EU Commission and temporarily ordered if there is a terrorist threat, or for major events or to put a stop to smugglers and limit irregular migration.