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Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Analysis-Isolated and fearing a ban, Germany's far-right tones down the rhetoric
By Thomas Escritt and Sarah Marsh BERLIN (Reuters) -Last weekend, Germany's far-right lawmakers vowed to dress smartly, minimise parliamentary cat-calling, and signed up to a short manifesto notably omitting a call for repatriation of some immigrants that helped fuel their February election success. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is trying a tactical pivot away from the mix of attention-grabbing shock policies and provocative rowdiness that helped it become the second-largest parliamentary party, in a bid to go more mainstream and translate popularity into power, political commentators and a party insider said. Being the largest opposition party has conferred privileges like being able to respond first to the government in parliament, but in Germany power comes from being in coalitions, and every other party rules out governing with the AfD. Other parties have also prevented it from taking key positions on parliamentary committees as calls grow across the political spectrum for a ban on the AfD on account of its extremism. So far, conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz has opposed such a ban, which must be requested by either house of parliament or the government, and then examined by the Constitutional Court. The court has only banned a party twice in 1952 and 1956. A senior party official who declined to be named said the new rules were all about "professionalising" the party - although some, especially founding figures in the party's eastern heartlands who are not members of the national parliament, oppose changing a successful formula. At stake is the 2029 election, which the party, four points behind Merz's conservatives in some polls, could have a credible shot of winning. In the weeks following February's election where it won 20.8 percent of the vote, it briefly surged to first place. The AfD leadership hopes to follow hard-right parties like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy into the political mainstream, from where they could reshape the politics of Germany and Europe. Far-right essayist Goetz Kubitschek, a mentor and close ally to Bjoern Hoecke, leader of the party's most radical wing from the eastern state of Thuringia, said on his podcast: "I don't understand why a party polling at 20% should change its agenda." The manifesto or position paper agreed to by all 152 legislators omitted the word "remigration" - used heavily by leader Alice Weidel in the election campaign and widely understood as a call for unassimilated non-ethnic-German citizens and migrants to leave the country. The word was cited as evidence by a court that recently upheld a security service assessment that the AfD might be an extremist and therefore an unconstitutional party. To be banned in Germany, a political party must not only be deemed to take a position that undermines the functioning of Germany's democratic order, it must also be acting on it with a chance of success. The remigration phrase had become "toxic", said one legislator present at the weekend gathering, who did not want to be named, adding that averting a ban was another goal. An official spokesperson for the AfD did not immediately respond to a request for comment on any connections between the policy document and a desire to professionalize or head off a ban. "The word remigration has been found to be unconstitutional and has no future," wrote AfD legislator Maximilian Krah, once considered one of the party's most radical figures. "Case closed. The court has spoken." Nevertheless, Weidel still lashed out at Germany's migration policies in parliament this week. A REAL CHANGE? Many commentators are sceptical that the shift is any more than cosmetic. "This ongoing discourse about a possible ban is getting under their skin," said political scientist Oliver Lembcke, adding: "They are trying to be more palatable to other parties: it's about getting a share of the power and seeking not to be marginalised." The AfD reorganised its youth organisation last year when its campaigns were criticised for being racist. The regional politician Matthias Helferich, who was shown in leaked emails to have used language associated with the Nazis, was expelled from the party this week. He said he was a victim of a "show trial" by the party tribunal that expelled him. He denied being an extremist. Merz's conservatives remain committed to a policy of never governing with the AfD, but conservative parliamentary leader Jens Spahn suggested it was time to treat the AfD as an "ordinary" opposition party, which could see it get more access to non-partisan steering committees. Merz, having concluded that former Chancellor Angela Merkel's strategy of ignoring them was a failure, has started attacking Weidel in parliament directly, on Tuesday accusing her of trying to spread "bitterness" and "despair". It is unclear if all members will follow the party through its pivot. Hoecke pointedly posted an essay on remigration the day after the new strategy document was floated. "The AfD has given up the fight against population replacement," wrote Paul Brandenburg, a prominent activist, on Telegram. "This is causing uproar among sympathisers." (Additional reporting by Andreas RinkeEditing by Alexandra Hudson)
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Germany scraps funding for sea rescues of migrants
By Thomas Escritt BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany is cutting financial support for charities that rescue migrants at risk of drowning in the Mediterranean, saying it will redirect resources to addressing conditions in source countries that spur people to leave. For decades, migrants driven by war and poverty have made perilous crossings to reach Europe's southern borders, with thousands estimated to die every year in their bid to reach a continent grown increasingly hostile to migration. "Germany is committed to being humane and will help where people suffer but I don't think it's the foreign office's job to finance this kind of sea rescue," Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told a news conference. "We need to be active where the need is greatest," he added, mentioning the humanitarian emergency in war-shattered Sudan. Under the previous left-leaning government, Germany began paying around 2 million euros ($2.34 million) annually to non-governmental organisations carrying out rescues of migrant-laden boats in trouble at sea. For them, it has been a key source of funds: Germany's Sea-Eye, which said rescue charities have saved 175,000 lives since 2015, received around 10% of its total income of around 3.2 million euros from the German government. Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives won February's national election after a campaign promising to curb irregular migration, which some voters in Europe's largest economy see as being out of control. Even though the overall numbers have been falling for several years, many Germans blame migration-related fears for the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), now the second largest party in parliament. Many experts say that migration levels are mainly driven by economic and humanitarian emergencies in the source countries, with the official cold shoulder in destination countries having had little impact in deterring migrants. Despite this, German officials suggest that sea rescues only incentivise people to risk the sometimes deadly crossings. "The (government) support made possible extra missions and very concretely saved lives," said Gorden Isler, Sea-Eye's chairperson. "We might now have to stay in harbour despite emergencies." The opposition Greens, who controlled the foreign office when the subsidies were introduced, criticised the move. "This will exacerbate the humanitarian crisis and deepen human suffering," said joint floor leader Britta Hasselmann. ($1 = 0.8547 euros)
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia has plans to test NATO's resolve, German intelligence chief warns
By Thomas Escritt BERLIN (Reuters) -Russia is determined to test the resolve of the NATO alliance, including by extending its confrontation with the West beyond the borders of Ukraine, the Germany's foreign intelligence chief told the Table Media news organization. Bruno Kahl, head of the Federal Intelligence Service, said his agency had clear intelligence indications that Russian officials believed the collective defence obligations enshrined in the NATO treaty no longer had practical force. "We are quite certain, and we have intelligence showing it, that Ukraine is only a step on the journey westward," Kahl told Table Media in a podcast interview. "That doesn't mean we expect tank armies to roll westwards," he added. "But we see that NATO's collective defence promise is to be tested." Germany, already the second-largest provider of armaments and financial support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, has pledged to step up its support further under the new government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, promising to help Ukraine develop new missiles that could strike deep into Russian territory. Without detailing the nature of his intelligence sources, Kahl said Russian officials were envisaging confrontations that fell short of a full military engagement that would test whether the U.S. would really live up to its mutual aid obligations under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. "They don't need to dispatch armies of tanks for that," he said. "It's enough to send little green men to Estonia to protect supposedly oppressed Russian minorities." Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea involved occupation of buildings and offices by Russian soldiers in unmarked uniforms and civilian clothes, who came to be known as the "little green men" when Moscow initially denied their identity. Kahl did not specify which officials in Moscow were thinking along these lines. Merz, who visited Donald Trump in Washington last week, pushed back against the U.S. president's assertion that Ukraine and Russia were like two infants fighting, telling Trump that where Ukraine targeted Moscow's military, Russia bombed Ukraine's cities. Kahl said his contacts with U.S. counterparts had left him convinced they took the Russian threat seriously. "They take it as seriously as us, thank God," he said.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Antisemitic incidents in Germany almost double in 2024, report says
By Thomas Escritt BERLIN (Reuters) - The number of antisemitic incidents in Germany almost doubled last year, at a time of continued war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, the semi-official German body that tracks antisemitism reported on Wednesday. The Federal Research and Information Point for Antisemitism (RIAS) said it had registered 8,627 incidents of violence, vandalism and threats against Jews in Germany last year, almost twice the 4,886 recorded in 2023, and far ahead of 2020's 1,957. "Objectively, the risk of being persecuted as a Jew in Germany has increased since October 7, 2023," Benjamin Steinitz, head of RIAS, told a news briefing on the report, referring to the start of the Gaza war. "But debates about what counts as an expression of antisemitism seem to take up more space than empathy for the victims." The largest category of incidents reported by RIAS - about 25% of the total - fell within the category of "anti-Israeli antisemitism", which covers criticisms of Israeli policy that some regard as legitimate political expression in a democracy. In a report published last month, Jewish activist group Diaspora Alliance questioned what it said was RIAS methodology equating such criticism with antisemitism. Alliance activist Jossi Bartal said RIAS' approach "delegitimises criticism of the Israeli state, marking every expression of Palestinian identity as suspect", alluding to Israeli policy towards Palestinians in occupied territories. Steinitz told the briefing in response to questions that the Diaspora Alliance report distorted RIAS' work. "I think the aim of publishing the report now was to present our work as somehow controversial and discredit the experiences of victims." Antisemitic violence, vandalism and threats have surged in recent years, with far-right Germans responsible for around three times as many incidents as Islamists, RIAS reported. For Germany, tracking such incidents and countering antisemitism is central to its post-war project of atoning for the Nazi-era Holocaust of Europe's Jews.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Gaza war testing Germany's long unconditional commitment to Israel
By Thomas Escritt and Andreas Rinke BERLIN (Reuters) -A photograph of Zikim Beach in southwestern Israel near Gaza, attacked by Hamas militants in boats in both the 2014 and current Gaza wars, hangs on the wall of new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's office. The idyllic shot of a row of beach huts restored after the Hamas raids attests to the arch-conservative being a passionate supporter of Israel, in keeping with Germany's long-time solidarity in atonement for the Nazi-era Holocaust. So Merz's rebuke of Israel on Tuesday over its widening military operations in Gaza was a remarkable turnabout for many. "What the Israeli army is doing in the Gaza Strip, I no longer understand the goal," he said. "To harm the civilian population in such a way, as has increasingly been the case in recent days, can no longer be justified as a fight against terrorism." Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul then said there could be unspecified "consequences" in a sequence of conservative remarks coordinated with Social Democrat coalition partners, marking a rhetorical break from decades of unconditional German backing for a country to which Berlin feels committed by history. Separately, Merz's fellow German conservative, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, said deaths of children in the Gaza war have been "abhorrent", reflecting the breadth of disquiet in German elite circles. Alongside membership of NATO and the European Union, backing for Israel was the third pillar of Germany's quest for international rehabilitation after the Holocaust against Europe's Jews in World War Two. While some antisemitism lingered - Konrad Adenauer, post-war Germany's first chancellor, justified restitution payments for Israel that laid the foundation of German-Israeli relations by the need to appease "the power of the Jews" - the commitment to Israel's security shaped generations of German politicians. But the intensity of Israel's war in Gaza, which has killed over 53,000 Palestinians and was triggered by Hamas' October 7, 2023 cross-border attack that killed around 1,200 people, has contributed to a pronounced shift in German public opinion. Only 36% of Germans now have a positive view of Israel, a 10 percentage point fall from four years ago, a survey for the Bertelsmann Foundation found. Germans under 40 consider themselves less informed about Israel than the over-60s, and are also less likely to believe relations should be shaped by memory of the Holocaust. This shift has imposed a dilemma on Merz, who on winning February's national election had promised Benjamin Netanyahu he would help the Israeli prime minister defy an International Criminal Court arrest warrant if he visited Germany. "They understand they have two opposing obligations and have to choose between them," said Moshe Zimmermann, an eminent historian of Germany at Israel's Hebrew University. "In the past they would have said our obligation to Israel is primary. Now they have to weigh the alternatives differently." 'TIMES CHANGE' Germany and other European countries condemn Russia for violating international law with its invasion of Ukraine and have imposed unprecedented punitive sanctions on Moscow, seeking backing for isolating it from countries as diverse as South Africa, Brazil and Saudi Arabia. Western powers have not taken the same approach to Israel amidst steady accusations by rights and humanitarian groups of international law violations in its conduct of the war in Gaza, with many Palestinian civilian deaths, widespread devastation of infrastructure and a rising famine risk under Israeli blockade. "Times change," said Zimmermann. The trigger for German leaders' rhetorical shift came when a May 25 deadline passed without Israel heeding a European call to completely lift a blockade of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Wadephul said there could be now no "obligatory solidarity" with Israel, while Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, the Social Democratic leader, said human rights standards were being violated in the Gaza Strip. The shift brings Germany into line with major European partners that have also been loath to pointedly criticise Israel over Gaza. France and Britain, joined by Canada, aired a similar message last week. Italy echoed it on Wednesday. In response, Netanyahu has accused British, French and Canadian leaders of being "on the wrong side of history". At a conference on antisemitism in Jerusalem on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel was "the most attacked and threatened country in the world", adding: "The attempt to deny Israel its right to defend itself is horrific." Israel has denied violating international law in Gaza, saying it is targeting only Hamas militants and accusing them of using civilian buildings for operational cover. Hamas denies this. CULTURAL CHANGES IN GERMANY The change in Germany's tone also reflects a country that is far more ethnically and culturally diverse than in decades past. Fully a quarter of Germany's 80 million people now have a migration background - meaning at least one parent is an immigrant - and many of them are of Middle Eastern or Muslim heritage with an affinity for the Palestinians. "If you're asking a German-Syrian to come to terms with Germany's responsibility for the Holocaust, that's really strange," said Omer Bartov, a Holocaust historian at Brown University in the U.S. The consequences for German policy are unclear, Bartov said. Germany continues to sell weaponry to Israel, remains its largest European trade partner as well as on Israel's side in South Africa's genocide case against Israel in the International Criminal Court in The Hague. "It's a rhetorical shift and it could be very significant," Bartov said. "But the Israeli navy is made in Germany and right now the Israeli navy is firing shells into Gaza. "As long as they (Germany) don't take some (concrete) step, Netanyahu has no reason to worry right now."
