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TODAY IN GERMANY

Today in Germany: A roundup of the latest news on Friday

Cannabis legalisation law up for debate in Bundesrat, all-day strikes paralyse public transport in Saxony, tractor protests return to Berlin and more news from around Germany on Friday.

Published: 22 March 2024 08:38 CET
People attend a demonstration for the legalisation of cannabis in Berlin in August 2023.
People attend a demonstration for the legalisation of cannabis in Berlin in August 2023. The law allowing it is set to come into effect April 1st. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Annette Riedl

Cannabis Legalisation Act to be voted on in Bundesrat

The Bundesrat is due to meet on Friday to debate and vote on Germany’s forthcoming Cannabis Legalisation Act.

Karl Lauterbach, German Health Minister who supports the legislation, has warned that some members of the Bundesrat may jump on the chance to refer the draft law to a joint mediation committee, which could seriously delay or block it. 

Some opponents to legalisation have proposed to postpone entry of the law to October 1st. Others would rather see it severely reduced in scope, or even blocked indefinitely.

On February 23rd, the German parliament passed controversial legislation to legalise the recreational use of cannabis from April 1st with strict rules in place. The draft bill needs to be approved in the Bundesrat before it can be written into law.

READ ALSO: Could Germany’s cannabis legalisation law be delayed?

All day public transport strikes in Saxony

Trade union Verdi kicked off another strike of local public transport companies in the eastern state of Saxony.

All day on Friday employees in Chemnitz, Dresden, Leipzig, Plauen and Zwickau in particular are to stop work for the whole day.

Verdi has already announced that “massive cancellations” are to be expected. Only a few buses are set to run, as the companies renew their push for better wages and working conditions.

Leipzig tram

A tram drives through Leipzig earlier in March. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Jan Woitas

Tractor protests cause traffic jams as they return to Berlin

New protests by farmers have led to road closures and diversions in Berlin since Thursday. There are “considerable traffic disruptions”, especially around Straße des 17. Juni, the government district and the Bundesrat, according to local police.

Since Thursday morning, Straße des 17. Juni and other streets around the government district in Berlin-Tiergarten have been closed. There will also be closures on Leipziger Straße between Wilhelmstraße and Leipziger Platz through Friday.

The traffic is due to a planned rally on Friday with tractors and lorries – a rally has been announced between 12 pm and 5 pm at Platz des 18. March as part of a renewed action against the government’s agricultural policies.

It comes as relief measures – including reduced bureaucracy and tax relief for farmers passed by the government – go to the Bundesrat on Friday to be voted on as part of the Growth Opportunities Act.

However, farmers are still pushing for their original demand of fully keeping the agricultural diesel subsidy.

READ ALSO: Analysis: Why are German farmers so angry?

Highly endangered birds hatch at Erfurt Zoo

Special colourful chicks have recently hatched at Erfurt’s Zoo Park: Three young ‘balistars’ first saw the light of day there in mid-March, as the zoo announced on Thursday.

Balistars, – which have striking, snow white feathers – come from the Indonesian island of Bali and are considered to be threatened with extinction due to hunting and illegal trade.

According to the zoo, only a few dozen birds still live in the wild. European zoos are therefore running a breeding programme to strengthen the population.

Animals from the programmes are brought to Indonesia and released into protected areas there. According to the information, around 140 zoos in Europe keep the birds.

German minister to travel to Middle East in call for ‘humanitarian ceasefire’

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will travel to the Middle East on Sunday for her seventh visit since the outbreak of the Gaza war, she said in a speech to parliament.

The visit will focus on “how we can set all the levers in motion” towards a “humanitarian ceasefire… as difficult and as hopeless as it seems right now”, Baerbock told the Bundestag on Thursday.

The announcement came as government ministers from five Arab countries were meeting in Cairo with a Palestinian official to discuss the war ahead of talks with US top diplomat Antony Blinken.

The United States this week circulated for the first time a draft UN resolution calling for an “immediate” ceasefire, as warnings grow of famine  n besieged Gaza.

The bloodiest ever Gaza war broke out on October 7th after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, resulting in about 1,160 deaths, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Militants also seized about 250 hostages, of whom Israel believes 130 remain in Gaza, including 33 who are presumed dead.

Israel has since waged a relentless offensive against Hamas that has killed nearly 32,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

UN agencies have warned that Gaza’s 2.4 million people are on the brink of famine, and UN rights chief Volker Turk said Israel may be using “starvation as a method of war”.

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TODAY IN GERMANY

Today in Germany: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday

CDU calls for return of compulsory military service in Germany, German MEP's offices searched in China spying probe, police break up pro-Palestinian demos at Berlin university and more news from around Germany.

Published: 8 May 2024 07:50 CEST
Today in Germany: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday

CDU votes for return to compulsory military service

The Christian Democrats (CDU) have voted at their party conference for the return of compulsory military service in Germany. 

Conscription was suspended in 2011 by a government led by then Chancellor Angela Merkel of the CDU. But at its party conference in Berlin on Tuesday, the CDU called for a gradual return of the policy. 

They cited the lack of personnel in the Bundeswehr (German army) and concerns about Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The debate over conscription surfaces often in Germany. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, of the Social Democrats, said in an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung last year that getting rid of conscription in 2011 had been a “mistake”.

READ ALSO: Fact check – could Germany bring back military conscription?

The CDU are in opposition currently but have been flying high in the polls.

German Wahl-O-Mat out for European elections

The quiz that many Germans use to figure out who to vote for – the Wahl-O-Mat – has been released for European elections, coming up on June 9th in Germany.

Users respond to a series of questions, which can be weighted by priority – and then the quiz gives an assessment over which party the user sides with most.

Wahl-O-Mat: The quiz helping Germans make up their minds in elections

German MEP’s offices searched in China spying probe

Investigators searched the Brussels office of German MEP Maximilian Krah on Tuesday as part of a probe into his aide, who is suspected of spying for China, German prosecutors said.

AfD politician Maximilian Krah

Maximilian Krah, AfD top candidate for the European elections, during a recent press statement. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Michael Kappeler

Krah’s offices at the European Parliament, where the suspect named as Jian G. worked, was searched “on the basis of orders issued by the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice and a European Investigation Order”, prosecutors told the press.

Jian G., a German national, was arrested in April on suspicion of sharing European Parliament information with a Chinese intelligence service and of spying on Chinese opposition figures in Germany.

He was suspended from his position when the allegations came to light.

The allegations involving China are among a series of controversies to hit Germany’s AfD in recent months, including claims that some of its members have links to Russia.

German prosecutors said in April they had launched a preliminary probe into Krah over reports that he had received suspicious payments from Russia and China.

The 47-year-old has vowed to continue as the AfD’s top European Parliament candidate in spite of the scandal.

PODCAST: Berlin’s €29 travel pass relaunch, spy scandal and how attractive is Germany to foreign workers?

Former Berlin mayor injured after attack

In the latest of a spate of assaults on politicians and campaign workers in Germany, Berlin’s Senator for Economic Affairs, Franziska Giffey, was injured by an unknown assailant in Berlin.

The former mayor of the capital suffered head and neck injuries in an assault at a library in the district of Rudow on Tuesday afternoon, according to police.

A man suddenly attacked the SPD politician ‘from behind with a bag filled with hard contents and hit her on the head and neck’, they said. 

Franziska Giffey at Berlin press conference

Former Berlin mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) speaks at a press conference in Berlin. The state economics minister was injured in a recent attack in Rudow. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Britta Pedersen

Less than three hours later in Dresden, there was another attack on a Green Party politician – whose name was initially unknown – while the conference of interior ministers was meeting at the same time.

It was not initially stated whether the suspect, who was initially on the run, could later be arrested. The police also did not comment on possible motives when asked.

The attack on Giffey came on the heels of a special meeting of interior ministers to discuss the growing problem of violence against politicians in the run-up to the European elections.

Last Friday, the SPD politician Matthias Ecke was beaten up by four young men aged 17 and 18 while attempting to put up campaign posters in Dresden.

German exports up in March but weak orders spoil party

German exports picked up in March but industrial orders fell unexpectedly, official data showed this week, reflecting a mixed picture for Europe’s biggest economy.

Exports rose by 0.9 percent month-on-month after a decline of 1.6 percent in February, federal statistics agency Destatis said, defying expectations of a continued downward trend.

But new orders, closely watched as an indicator of future business activity, fell by 0.4 percent month-on-month.

ING bank analyst Carsten Brzeski said the figures confirmed “the return of the export-driven German growth model”.

Police break up pro-Palestinian demos in Berlin

Police on Tuesday broke up pro-Palestinian demonstrations at universities in Berlin and Amsterdam, which were inspired by similar demonstrations on campuses around the world.

Police cleared a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Berlin’s Freie Universität, after up to 80 people set up a protest camp in a courtyard of the campus early on Tuesday.

The protesters, some of whom wore the keffiyeh scarf that has long been a symbol of the Palestinian cause, sat in front of tents and waved banners.

They later tried to enter rooms and lecture halls and occupy them, according to the university, which said it then called in the police to clear the protest.

Videos on social media showed students being violently cleared from the makeshift camp by police, with some being carried away by officers.

Property was damaged and charges have been filed while teaching in some buildings was suspended for the day, the university said.

Berlin police said some arrests were made for incitement to hatred and trespassing.

Pro-Palestinian student demonstrations have generally been more muted in Germany than elsewhere. Germany is one of Israel’s most staunch backers and has instigated numerous crackdowns on expressions of support from Palestine in the aftermath of the October 7th attacks. 

The protests in Europe followed similar actions at universities around the world, notably in the United States, where some schools have cancelled graduation ceremonies.

The war in the Gaza Strip was sparked by the October 7th attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians.

Militants also seized around 250 hostages, with an estimated 128 remaining in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.  

Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched an offensive that has killed at least 34,789 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

The resulting destruction, including attacks on hospitals and key civilian infrastracture, has displaced millions from their homes and placed the population on the brink of starvation. 

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