News Germany: Presented by a Regional Expert

About the author : Leopold Stoeger holds a master in international affairs. He tells you what is happening in Germany.

23 february 2025 : Parliamentary Elections in Germany

The chart below shows the elections results. Read the full report and comparison with previous elections by clicking here . 

30 january 2025 : Financial Aid for Ukraine by Germany (Update)

Since 2022 the german government has provided 44 billion EUR for the Ukraine. The amounts are used for military material, reconstruction projects and other purposes.

According to the german Job Center, there were 1,3 million ukrainian refugees in Germany in december 2024. About 300 000 of them have a job. 706 000 refugees are on social welfare (Grundsicherung). In 2023, about 90% of the refugees were women and young people under 18 years.

The newspaper Ukrainian Business News informs about the latest news in the local retail sector. In Kiew, Mc Donald’s has opened a new restaurant with 465 square metres. In 2025, a new big shopping mall is expected to open too in the capital. In the « Ocean Mall » with its 300 000 square metres over 800 stores will welcome their clients.

Sources : German  Government and German Job Center   and  Ukrainian Business News

27 december 2024 : German trade associations pessimistic for 2025

The annual suvey among 49 german trade associations realized by the economic research institute « Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft (DIW) » reveals scepticism about the economic growth in 2025.

31 trade associations judge the current situation worse than one year ago. 4 inform about an improvement.

Concerning the evolution of the production in 2025, 20 expect a decline, 13 expect unchanging values, 16 think there will be an increase.

The perspectives for employment : 25 trade associations anticipate dismissals of staff, only 7 consider new recruitments.

The big economic research institutes in Germany (DIW, IFO Institut and Leibniz Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung) expect a GDP growth of 0 to 0,4% in 2025.

Source : ARD 

20 december 2024 : Rampage in Magdeburg (5 fatalities)

5 persons got killed and 200 injured (of which 41 with serious wounds) after a car attack on a christmas market in Magdeburg (Sachsen-Anhalt). The market had not been protected on each side by bitts, the car could speed through a free lane reserved for emergency vehicles. What is known about the presumed perpetrator, who got arrested and taken into pre-trial custody :

The man is a psychiatrist who came from Saudi Arabia. His recent behaviour seemed disordered. Taleb Al A. (*1974) came to Germany in 2006 and got asylum in 2016, as is reported by the german newspaper « Die Welt ». He lived in Bernburg close to Magdeburg, and worked as a prison psychiatrist with drug addicts. Since several weeks he had been on a sick leave.  

The german federal police (Bundeskriminalamt) is currently excluding an islamistic terror attack. The physician is said to be a strong detractor of the Islam and of the political situation in Saudi Arabia. Apparently he helped female asylum seekers from his home country too, and ran even an own website for this purpose.

At the moment, the presumed motive for the attack is « discontentment with the refugee management of Germany ». Apparently the physician accused the german administration to treat non-muslim asylum seekers from Saudi Arabia in an inequitable way.

The presumed assailant was initially known as an activist. In 2019 he was interviewed by the high profile german newspaper FAZ. The exact date, when the strange behaviour of the man became obvious, is not known. Already in 2013 he got a sentence for threats to commit a crime. On X (Twitter) he published posts such as :

« Germany desires the islamisation of Europe (…) If Germany desires war, we will get it. If Germany wants to kill us, we will slaughter them … » (Taleb Al A, Psychiatrist in Germany)

The newspaper FAZ informs, that the german police addressed the man’s behaviour in personal discussions (Gefährderansprachen) before the crime.  

The christmas market was closed after the car attack. Several german politicians (among them chancellor Olaf Scholz and president Frank-Walter Steinmeier) came to a memorial service in the city’s cathedral. The french minister for Europe, Benjamin Haddad, announced as well to visit Magdeburg, in order to express the solidarity of France with the german population. The newspaper FAZ informed too about demonstrations in the city, by far right extremists, and by the political party AFD.

Sources : Magdeburger Volksstimme  and NZZ and FAZ  and ARD and Welt

15 september 2024 : The german chancellor Scholz says No to Taurus missiles for Ukraine             

According to the german newspaper FAZ, Ukraine got already long distance missiles with a range of up to 300 km from the USA, the UK and France. There is currently an ongoing discussion, if such weapons can be used on russian territory.

Taurus missiles can reach targets in up to 500 km distance. This is the distance from the north-eastern part of Ukraine to Moscow. The german chancellor informed that his government will not deliver Taurus missiles to Ukraine. Olaf Scholz strengthened that such a shipment would lead to the risk of a major escalation of the conflict.  

The russian president Vladimir Putin has explained, that the use of such long range weapons in russian zones would be considered as a military participation of the NATO countries.    Source : FAZ 

30 august 2024 : Expulsion of 28 offenders to Afghanistan          

One week after a terror attack commited by a Syrian in Solingen, and one day before the regional elections in Saxony and Thuringia, the german government has expulsed 28 afghan citizens, which all have penal condemnations and the obligation to quit Germany. It’s the first expulsion done after the regime change by the Taliban in august 2021.

Each of the felons got as well a cash amount of 1000 EUR. The ministries of the interior of the concerning german regions argue, that this sum has the purpose to « guarantee the subsistence in Afghanistan during several months » and to « avoid a reject of an expulsion by a court ».

The legal texts to be considered in this context are article 60.5 of the german residence law (Aufenthaltsgesetz) and art.3 of the european convention on human rights. There is as well a decision of the german federal administrative court from 2022 (BVerwG 1 C 10.21) that stipulates that expulsions to Afghanistan are principally possible, if the concerned person has the financial means to cover its needs during a certain period.

The german media ARD informs as well by quoting the german ministry for foreign affairs, that a worker in Afghanistan earns between 100 and 200 EUR per month.

The lawyer of one of the expulsed criminals informed, that he works on getting his client back from Afghanistan. The rapist has a pregnant girlfriend in the region of Ulm.  Sources : ARD Tagesschau  and Welt 

23 August 2024 : Terror Attack in Solingen (NRW) ? 3 people got killed

During a city festival a man attacked visitors with a knife. 3 persons were killed (2 men, 1 woman), eight were wounded (4 or 5 of them with serious wounds). The offender could escape the scene. About 24 hours later, a 26-year-old Syrian surrendered to the police and admitted the crime. The Syrian came to Germany in december 2022. After his demand for asylum was rejected, he had been under the obligation to leave Germany.

The german police received a claim of responsibility for the attack by the terror group « Islamic State », whose authenticity is currently analyzed.

The formal classification of this crime is not totally resolved on 25 august 2024. If the categorisation « Terrorism » should be definitively attributed, a special prosecutor in Germany (the Generalbundesanwalt in Karlsruhe) will be in charge of the investigation.

The festival, which should last for three days, was cancelled after the attack. Solingen is a city with about 162 000 inhabitants between Cologne and Düsseldorf, in the german region North Rhine Westphalia. The assault reminds the knife attack in Mannheim in may 2024 (check the chronology below in this article).

In Austria, a big Taylor Swift-Concert was cancelled in august 2024, after the arrest of a terror suspect in whose house explosives were found (see the details in the blog article “News from Austria”, link at the bottom of this page).

Source : Spiegel   and Focus  

14 July 2024 : Football European Championship 2024 in Germany – Spain is the winner

The national team of Spain , coached by Luis de la Fuente, won the final match against England 2 :1 . The spanish scorers are Nico Williams (* 2002, current club : Athletic Bilbao) and Mikel Oyarzabal (*1997, current club : Real Sociedad in Donostia San Sebastian). The goal on the british side was done by Cole Palmer (* 2002, current team : Chelsea).

Spain won the UEFA Championship for the fourth time in history. Since 2008, the Spanish are on a remarkable success track : they won the FIFA World Cup 2010, and became European Champion in 2008, 2012 and 2024.

Spain defeated various major teams during the 2024 competition, that took place in 10 german cities :

On 9 july the french “Bleus” of Didier Deschamps lost in the semi-finals 1 :2 against Spain. Kolo Muani (current club : PSG Paris) made the only goal for France.

On 5 july the german « Nationalmannschaft »  under coach Julian Nagelsmann had seen the same result : 1 :2 after the prolongation period of the quarter finals match. The one and only goal for Germany was achieved in the 89th minute by the midfielder Florian Wirtz (currently at Bayer 04 Leverkusen). 

The team of Turkey, who lost 1 :2 against the Netherlands in the quarter finals, caused some special disconcertment. Its player Merih Demiral used a controversial jubilance gesture : the so-called « grey wolf salute » is considered to be a far right nationalist symbol.

Further interesting links for you :

Blog Article: Does a player of the national team have to hold the citizenship of the country for which he plays ? 

UEFA European Championship 2024 : All matches & results 

10 June 2024 : Rapper Xatar (sentenced to 8 years in prison) works as Fake News Checker for the German Government

The rapper Xatar (civil name Giwar Hajabi) was born in 1982 in Iran, as child of a kurdish family that later got asylum in Bonn. In 2009, he was part of a 6 person gang that dressed as policeman to attack a gold transport. They stole gold with a value of 1,8 mio EUR, that was never found again. Xatar flew to Irak, where he was arrested and tortured. After his extradition to Germany he was sentenced to 8 years in prison, but was released already after 5 years.

He will now appear in the video series “Fake Train” of the Federal Office For Political Education destinated to young people, in which he will speak about fake news. No information is given on the website of the german federal institution, if the rapper has any qualification to analyze fake news.

Sources : Federal Office For Political Education    , Berliner Zeitung  and Welt 

9 June 2024 : CDU/ CSU wins EU Parliament Elections with 30,3%, AFD on second position with 16%

The result according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung from 9 June at 10 p.m.:

Electoral participation : 65%

CDU/ CSU = 30,3 % /  AFD = 16%   / SPD = 13,9 % / Green Party = 11,9% / BSW (Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht)  = 6%

FDP = 5% / Linke = 2,7% / FW (Freie Wähler)  = 2,7% / Volt Deutschland = 2,5 % / Others = 9%

Source : FAZ   , as well interesting for you : Result for the EU Parliament Elections 2024 in France

31 may 2024 :  Islamistic Terror Attack in Mannheim –  Policeman Killed

During an official event of the citizen movement «  Pax Europa/ PPE » in Mannheim, an assault was carried out against the activist Michael Stuerzenberger (59). Pax Europa operates against the political Islam and the Scharia. Videos that were shared on social media show how the terrorist attacks several people with a knife. He stabs a police officer several times in the head area. Stuerzenberger got severely injured, the policeman suffered life-threatening injuries and died in hospital. Four other persons were injured too. The assailant was wounded by the police.

German authorities have qualified the knife assault as terrorist attack. The suspected terrorist is the 25 year old Afghan Sulaiman A., who lives in Germany since 2013 or 2014. He is married, father of two children, and lived in the small town Heppenheim, about 20 kilometres away from Mannheim.

Source : Die Welt  and Spiegel  

23 may 2024 : 75 years anniversary of the german constitution :

The « Grundgesetz »  has 146 articles in total. Its article number 1 shall never be forgotten: « Die Würde des Menschen ist unantastbar » (The dignity of the individual human being shall not be hurt). Under the beautiful word « Demokratiefest » the german federal government organises several events around this special date : citizen dialogues with chancellor Olaf Scholz, concerts of the orchestras of the german army and more.    Source: German Government

18 may 2024 : German local politician licks public toilets

Martin N. was listed as a city council candidate for the party FDP in Aalen, a town with 70 000 inhabitants, situated 60 km east of Stuttgart. The 45 year old man who works as an employee, was seen in strange videos in which he licks toilets in public restrooms. In some videos he has allegedly commited legal infractions too. According to the official german TV station ARD, the politician filed a complaint for blackmailing against the person who published the videos. The party FDP finished the collaboration with the toilet fan. Source : Official german TV ARD  

14 may 2024 : Heart surgery of german actor Heinz Hoenig allegedly declined by health insurance

Heinz Hoenig, 72 years old, is internationally known for his participation in the famous german movie « Das Boot » from 1981, with Jürgen Prochnow in the role of the submarine commander. After a private bankruptcy in the last years, Hoenig now had to undergo heart surgery. According to his wife, the german national health insurance allegedly refused to finance the medical act. Generous fans and friends have collected 150 000 EUR to allow Hoenig to get this important surgery. Source: Welt.de

27 february 2024 : Alleged German RAF terrorist Daniela Klette arrested after 30 years of hiding in the underground

Daniela Klette, born in 1958 in Karlsruhe, is presumed by the police to be a member of the so-called « third generation » of the german terrorist group RAF (Rote Armee Fraktion), which was founded by Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof and others in the 1970ies. The police presumes that Klette participated in terror attacks before 1998, when the RAF officially resigned its activities. She is supposed to have financed her clandestine life by attacking cash transports and supermarkets, together with two other alleged RAF members. Klette was arrested in Berlin, where she had lived in a flat.  Source: Spiegel  

Further interesting content for you :

Blog article : News from Austria  

Blog article : News from France