News from Berlin

Berliners increasingly chauvinistic

“Shocking, but not surprising,” says Alina Voinea, commenting on the findings of the new Berlin Monitor. The study finds that 24.4% of Berliners express chauvinistic attitudes. The monitor also examines a broader range of social and political attitudes, including discrimination and democratic stability. Voinea is the Berlin state government’s contact person for antigypsyism. Commissioned by the Senate Department for Anti-Discrimination, the monitor examines racism against Sinti and Roma alongside antisemitism. The results of the study, which surveyed more than 2,000 Berliners, were presented on February 23. While 70% of respondents agreed in 2021 that they were generally satisfied with the democracy as it exists in Germany, this figure dropped to 62% by 2025. And 40% of Berliners were classified as “fragile democrats”—the highest percentage since the study began in 2019. Source: nd-aktuell

Environment Minister Schneider leaves the Berlinale awards ceremony

Excitement surrounding a speech at the Berlinale: the Federal Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) left the hall on February 21 in protest. That happened because the Syrian-Palestinian director Abdallah Alkhatib, who won the award for best feature film debut with “Chronicles from the Siege”, had accused the federal government of “being a partner in the genocide in Gaza.”. The Gaza war was also discussed when Lebanese director Marie-Rose Osta (“Yawman ma walad” – “Someday a Child”), said that the ceasefire was not being observed. Festival director Tricia Tuttle affirmed that a festival like Berlinale cannot solve the world’s conflicts. “But it can create space for complexity, for listening and for humanizing one another.” Source: spiegel

Kreuzberg ticket office files for insolvency

The Berlin ticket office KOKA36 has filed for insolvency. This was revealed in a filing dated February 11 at the Charlottenburg District Court. The shop, a fixture for concertgoers on Oranienstraße in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district for over 30 years, has been closed since last week. Although insolvency proceedings are initially just a court-ordered process to determine how debts can be settled or the company restructured, it is currently unclear whether regular operations will resume. The SO36 concert venue is also affected by the insolvency. A crowdfunding campaign (at https://www.startnext.com/so36-cool/mehr-infos) is now underway to minimize the losses. Source: groove.de

News from Germany

Intelligence officers oppose AfD ban

It is another setback for a ban on the AfD: Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, is skeptical about a ban on the party. The intelligence officers fear being “blind and deaf” in the event of a ban, with informants and undercover investigators being deactivated or withdrawn. There is actually no unanimous opinion among intelligence officials if informants are necessary to keep an eye on the AfD. Source: nd-aktuell

Germany is shrinking

The wave of bankruptcies in Germany continues to persist: in January, 1,391 partnerships and corporations officially filed for insolvency. While this was fewer than in December, it was 4% higher than in 2025. Steffen Müller, head of insolvency research at the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research Halle, believes that “easing of the situation” is possible no earlier than April. Furthermore, job losses in the industrial sector were almost twice as high as in 2024, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office and an analysis which covers companies with at least 50 employees. This means the actual decline is greater. Source: jungewelt

Greens offer cooperation to Merz on constitutional amendments

The Greens have signaled their willingness to discuss constitutional amendments with Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU). At the same time, the party is presenting its own reform package entitled “Immediate Action Program for the Future,” which proposes far-reaching changes to the pension and healthcare systems. The authors are Katharina Dröge and Britta Haßelmann, the two co-chairs of the Greens’ parliamentary group in the Bundestag. The document is largely very general, and the Greens only provide specifics on two points. On the one hand, they advocate for net immigration of 400,000 workers per year. On the other hand, they want to replace the Riester pension scheme with a state-run citizens’ fund. Source: berliner Zeitung

BKA figures for 2025: right-wing violence increases again

According to figures from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), there was in 2025 1,521 cases of politically motivated violence from the right-wing spectrum in Germany. In 2024, there were 1,488 of those crimes in the country. Such figures are part of a response from the Federal Government to the Left Party. The Government also pointed out that the number of crimes may still change due to late reports. Ferat Kocak, domestic policy expert for the Left Party, observes that “Right-wing violence continues to escalate, and the federal government is looking the other way.” Source: tagesspiel

Exactly 100 years after the NSDAP Reich Party Rally

The AfD wants to meet in Erfurt at the beginning of July – exactly a century after the NSDAP party conference in Weimar. Historians and politicians see this as a deliberate provocation. “The deliberately chosen parallel shows once again who the brainchild of the AfD is,” said Foreign Office State Minister Serap Güler (CDU) to the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”. ” It disgusts me how little decency and respect this party has for our history,” Güler added. The historian and totalitarianism researcher Jörg Ganzenmüller, director of the Hannah Arendt Institute for Research on Totalitarianism at the TU Dresden, spoke of “a conscious symbolic act that works on several levels”. Source: tagesspiel

A 13-Year-Old attacks a Muslim schoolmate with knife

A 13-year-old boy allegedly attacked a Muslim schoolmate with a knife at a school in Bretten, near Karlsruhe, inflicting minor injuries. According to the Baden-Württemberg State Criminal Police Office, the suspected perpetrator had recently come to their attention for making far-right extremist statements. In Germany, children under 14 are not criminally responsible in Germany, and therefore they do not face criminal charges. “Nevertheless, it is our goal to clarify the background of the incident and to support the responsible youth welfare office in providing the boy and his family with the necessary assistance,” the State Criminal Police Office further stated. Source: islamiq

“Germany Monitor”: strong support for democracy, doubts about its function

The world is changing, mostly for the worse: autocracies are on the rise, and democratic societies are under pressure. The “Germany Monitor 2025” concludes nevertheless that 98% of all Germans have a positive attitude toward the idea of democracy. However, only 68% say that democracy means the government must adhere to parliamentary decisions and the separation of powers. The focus of such study, with the participation of 4,000 representative individuals across Germany, were also asked in which areas of politics they most perceive these changes. The strongest change is in defense policy. Source: dw

News from Berlin

Arundhati Roy cancels Berlinale participation due to Wim Wenders’ statement

Indian writer Arundhati Roy has canceled her participation in the Berlinale film festival because she was offended by a statement made by jury president Wim Wenders regarding the Gaza war. As Spiegel Online reported, the 80-year-old director was asked about the German government’s stance on the Gaza war. Wenders replied that filmmakers should stay out of politics. Arundhati Roy (author of The Great God of Small Things) called the statement that art is not political “unbelievable,” according to Spiegel Online. Roy wrote the screenplay for the 1989 film In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones, which is being screened as part of the festival’s classic film program. Source: deutschlandfunk

Tesla vs. IG Metall

Police were called to the works council meeting at the Tesla plant in Grünheide near Berlin. Plant manager André Thierig, writing on the “X” portal, accused a representative of the IG Metall union of recording the meeting without authorization. Tesla contacted the police and filed a complaint. IG Metall called it a smear campaign and rejected the accusation. A new works council is to be elected at Elon Musk’s only European Tesla factory at the beginning of March. A conflict has existed between Tesla and the IG Metall union for some time. Tesla refuses to introduce a collective bargaining agreement. Source: t-online

News from Germany

4,200 Germans Serve in Israel’s Military

More than 50,000 soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) hold at least one other nationality in addition to their Israeli citizenship. By far the largest group consists of US citizens (more than 13,000). Germany ranks fourth with a total of 4,193 soldiers. These figures come from the response to a 2025 Freedom of Information Request submitted by an Israeli NGO. Such double citizenship poses a question: many European countries are obligated to investigate crimes against humanity as soon as their own citizens are involved. Currently, investigations are underway against several Israelis with dual citizenship who are suspected of involvement in war crimes. Source: nd

Migration: CDU wants tough rules at EU borders

The CDU wants to push through a further tightening of migration policy. A resolution is targeted for adoption at the CDU conference on February 20 and 21. According to Bild, the CDU wants asylum seekers attempting to enter the EU from safe third countries to be immediately turned back at the EU’s external border without any checks. The motion proposes, among others, advanced language skills and at least five years of residence without social assistance for naturalization. It also establishes certain principles for those who have already been naturalized: for example, participants in demonstrations demanding the caliphate or Sharia law, as well as those convicted of antisemitic crimes, should lose their passports. Source: merkur

Afghan killed for opposing royalist Iran’s “Lion and Sun” flag

A 43-year-old Afghan citizen named Morteza Sadeghi, owner of the Sepideh restaurant in Hamburg, died after being stabbed multiple times on February 12. He had lived in Germany for more than 35 years and founded the restaurant about 25 years ago. Preliminary information indicates that the confrontation occurred when Sadeghi opposed a royalist Iranian immigrant’s request to erect the “Lion and Sun” flag of the overthrown Iranian monarchy in his restaurant, leading to a fight and ultimately his murder. Reports indicate that the suspect fled the scene after the incident, and efforts are ongoing to identify and arrest him. Source: ava

Government in Germany announces further rent regulations

In June 2025, the CDU/CSU-SPD coalition extended the rent brake law (Mietpreisbremse) until 2029. Now, Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) has announced a “second package” regulating index-linked rental contracts, furnished apartments and short-term lets. According to the draft law, seen by public broadcaster ARD, landlords will, for instance, be able to annually increase index-linked rents by a maximum of 3.5% of the previous net cold rent. Hubig said, in an interview with ARD, that the law should be ready by parliamentary recess this summer. Opposition parties point out that the proposed reform is too slow and still too lax. Source: iamexpat

German integration course admissions are frozen until further notice

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) has confirmed that it is not currently admitting new students to German integration courses and that admissions are paused until further notice. The BAMF stopped integration course admissions in December 2025. Integration courses are designed by the German government to help anyone who has recently arrived in Germany to adjust to everyday life. “We don’t know the reason for the suspension,” Institute for Language and Communication (ISK) representative Gerd Heymann told Correctiv, a German investigative journalism nonprofit organization. Source: iamexpat

News from Berlin

Exiled Iranians call for a demonstration in Berlin

On February 7, Iranian exile groups called for a large demonstration in Berlin. The organisers have registered 20,000 participants with the police. However, far more people have attended that. The call comes from a broad spectrum of Iranian associations and exiled opposition organizations active in Germany and other European countries. They are united by their outrage at the violent suppression of the protests and their desire for regime change. The rally also demanded a reorientation of German policy toward Iran. What has already changed is the tone of the German government toward the Iranian leadership. For example, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) has questioned its legitimacy. Source: tagesschau

Warning strikes on Wednesday: daycare centers, schools and government offices

Due to a warning strike called by ver.di in the public sector, Berliners faced restrictions in daycare centers, schools and district offices on February 11. Employees of the fire department, police, and senate administrations are also expected to join in and participate in a large demonstration and rally in Potsdam. In collective bargaining negotiations with the federal states, ver.di is demanding a 7% increase in monthly wages, but at least an additional €300 for lower wage groups. In recent weeks, there have already been widespread warning strikes in several federal states, including at schools. Source: berlin.de

AfD Youth Organisation establishes chapters in Berlin and Brandenburg

The new AfD youth organization, “Generation Germany,” established state chapters in Brandenburg and Berlin on February 7. State parliament member Fabian Jank was elected chairman in Brandenburg as the sole candidate, unanimously. According to the AfD, the Berlin branch is launching with approximately 70 members. Both new branches were accompanied by protests. Around 100 people gathered outside the venue in Königs Wusterhausen to protest against the AfD youth organization. In Berlin, around 130 people participated in a counter-protest, demonstrating behind the erected barriers with chants and banners bearing slogans such as “Ban the AfD now!” Source: rbb

Last Generation: a criminal organisation?

The Potsdam Regional Court has opened legal proceedings against climate activists from the now-dissolved climate group Last Generation. Five members must now face charges of being part of a criminal organization. The corresponding letter from the Potsdam Regional Court was made available to “taz”; the court could not be reached for comment. Potsdam is thus the first court to actually bring this charge before a judge. At the same time, the public prosecutor’s offices in Flensburg and Munich have also filed charges under Section 129 of the German Criminal Code. This section allows the police relatively low thresholds for extensive surveillance measures. Source: taz

Homeowners can be liable for accident damage caused by icy conditions

Homeowners must ensure that sidewalks adjacent to their house or property can be safely accessed when icy. This is regulated by the Berlin Street Cleaning Act. The so-called gritting obligation begins at 7 a.m. on weekdays and ends at 8 p.m. If freezing rain or sleet is forecast for the entire day, the homeowner must grit or salt several times. Those who don’t want to clear the snow and ice themselves can delegate this responsibility to a professional winter service or a building manager. However, homeowners must regularly check that the obligation to clear snow and ice is being reliably fulfilled; otherwise, they remain liable in the event of accidents. Source: Unfallkasse Berlin

News from Germany

UN Report: freedom of expression in Germany is “Restricted”

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Expression, Irene Khan, has issued an alarming assessment of Germany. In her “preliminary observations” following an official visit from January 26 to February 6, 2026, she writes that freedom of expression in Germany is being undermined by several “negative developments.” Khan lists specific allegations that, in her view, reveal a pattern: restrictions and bans on peaceful protests, “arbitrary arrests and detentions,” “excessive use of force,” deportation threats, and raids on the homes of human rights defenders. She describes the societal consequences: less public participation, shrinking debates in science and art, and a general climate of mistrust and uncertainty. Source: itidal

Germany launches 2026 “microcensus”

The German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) has launched the 2026 microcensus, which will focus on housing. Over the course of the year, 1% of the German population will be surveyed as part of that microcensus. During the current year, participating households will be surveyed four times. In the first survey, they will answer general questions about the people in the household. The second survey will focus on work, the third on income and the fourth on using the internet. Destatis has sent out letters to selected participants who are obliged to take part. This is so that they represent properly the broader population. Source: iamexpat

Germany: attacks on journalists increase sharply

The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) registered a total of 818 politically motivated crimes targeting media outlets in Germany between April 1, 2024, and November 30, 2025. Among these were 89 violent offenses. Security authorities attribute approximately one-third of these crimes—a total of 244—to the political right, and 78 to the left. They see a foreign ideology behind 153 cases and a religious ideology behind 31. A further 312 offenses fall under the category of “other affiliation.” These figures come from a response by the Federal Government to a parliamentary inquiry from the Left Party, which was obtained by the newspaper “Rheinische Post.” Source: dw

Warning strikes across almost all of Germany

On Wednesday, February 11, negotiations will take place likely for the last time in the current round of wage talks, regarding the salaries of state public sector employees. A day before, unions planned to further increase pressure on employers with warning strikes across almost all of Germany – the only exception being Hesse. University hospitals, colleges, and road construction authorities are particularly affected. In some states, daycare centers and schools are also expected to be affected. The Confederation of German Employers’ Associations (BDA) believes the strikes are going too far. “Germany urgently needs a law for fair rules during strikes,” said Managing Director Steffen Kampeter to the Bild newspaper. Source: tagesschau

News from Berlin

More climate activists convicted for paint attack on Brandenburg Gate

Around two and a half years after the paint attack on the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, four more climate activists have been fined: the Tiergarten District Court found three men and one woman guilty of property damage and resisting law enforcement officers, a court spokeswoman said on Monday. The fines range from 1,200 to 3,300 Euros. According to the indictment, the four convicted individuals were involved in the protest in September 2023 along with ten other members of the group “Letzte Generation.” During the protest, the Brandenburg Gate was sprayed with paint to draw attention to the climate crisis. The public prosecutor’s office has lodged an appeal. The verdict is not yet final. Source: rbb

Spore Initiative defies hate graffiti

Last week, the Spore Initiative building in Neukölln was the target of a deliberate attack. The word “remigration” was spray-painted in large letters on the façade—a charged term that plays a central role in current political debates and in the rhetoric of the AfD. The graffiti was met with horror by the team and the neighbourhood, but also with determined composure: “We will not be intimidated, but we are alarmed,” commented press spokesman Gurmeet Singh. Unfortunately, incidents like this are nothing new in Berlin. More than ten years ago, theatre performances were targeted by right-wing disrupters: for example, Falk Richter’s play Fear at the Schaubühne was repeatedly interrupted. Source: taz

News from Germany

Tenants are not allowed to make a profit from subletting

People who go abroad for a longer period of time often sublet their flat—often at a higher price. The Federal Court of Justice has now ruled that no profit may be made from this. The legitimate interest of a tenant in subletting is to cover housing-related expenses, stated the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Karlsruhe based on a case from Berlin. The purpose of subletting is not to create the opportunity to make a profit. The Federal Ministry of Justice is currently planning legal regulations for the furniture surcharge. Source: spiegel

CDU faces criticism over scrapping entitlement to part-time work

CDU politicians are calling on their party to scrap Germany’s “Rechtsanspruch auf Teilzeitarbeit,” a law which entitles full-time employees in the federal republic to reduce their hours to work part time. “Those who can work more should work more,” Gitta Connemann, who heads the business wing of the CDU, told the magazine Stern. The magazine has also seen a leaked copy of the policy paper, titled “No entitlement to lifestyle part-time.” The paper is expected to be presented at the CDU’s general conference in Stuttgart in February, where members will vote on whether it should be adopted as party policy. In 2024, 29% of the German working population worked part time. Among female employees, 49% worked part time. Source: iamexpat

Bavarian AfD would be for deportation police modelled on ICE

The AfD plans to introduce an “Asyl-, Fahndungs- und Abschiebegruppe” (“Asylum, Tracing and Deportation Group” or “AFA”), modelled on the American ICE, should it enter government in Bavaria following state elections on March 8. The Bavarian AfD also said it would make life even more inhospitable for people seeking asylum in Germany, by cutting their financial support and giving them only “bread, a bed and soap.” In the most recent “Sonntagsfrage” poll, which asks respondents who they would vote for if an election were held this Sunday, 39% of those surveyed in Bavaria said the CSU would have their vote, while 19% would vote for the AfD, 13% for the Greens and 9% for the Freie Wähler. Source: iamexpat

How bureaucratic hurdles exacerbate the shortage of skilled workers

Germany is in need for foreign skilled workers. But migrants face many hurdles if they want to work here. For instance, the number of refugees has risen sharply since 2015, but the government has not succeeded in getting most of them into work. As a result, dissatisfaction with German immigration policy has grown among the population. Besides that, there are many reasons why new employees do not want to renew their usual two-year contracts, including homesickness, family problems and difficulties with integration. According to Jörg Biebrach, Head of Nursing at the BDH Clinic in Vallendar, it is therefore very important for employers to make foreign employees feel welcome here. Source: dw

The small rebellion of ver.di

There is a hint of a general strike blowing through Germany. This week, there were temporary walkouts at schools, daycare centres, university hospitals, municipal authorities, and on trains, underground trains, trams and buses. Two major wage disputes are coinciding at the moment: one in the public sector and one in local public transport. And in both cases, ver.di plays the leading role in the dispute. That means power. As expected, Bild ran the headline on Sunday: “No strikes at an inopportune time!” Almost all regions and major cities in Germany were affected by the strike on Monday: only Lower Saxony was unaffected. Source: jw

Merz says economy his main focus after jobless numbers hit 12-year high

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) said that boosting the economy would be his focus in 2026, after data showed that unemployment has powered past the 3 million marks to a 12-year high. Labour Office figures on January 30 highlighted the lag in the jobs market from the economic stagnation of the last few years, with 177,000 more people out of work in January than in December, bringing the total to 3.08 million. The unemployment rate jumped by 0.4% to 6.6% in seasonally unadjusted terms. The picture improved slightly when accounting for seasonal trends. Nevertheless, Economy Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) said Germany must pivot toward new “growth engines”. Source: reuters

Federal Ministry of the Interior sees no moderation in new AfD youth organisation

The German government affirms the new AfD youth organisation shows no sign of moderation compared to its dissolved predecessor. In response to an interpellation by Green Party MP Marlene Schönberger, the responsible Ministry of the Interior writes that the composition of the federal executive committee of Generation Germany (GD) shows a high degree of personnel continuity with the former Young Alternative (JA), particularly at the official level. “There are known links between members of Generation Germany and other extremist organisations.” Generation Germany was founded in November 2025, following the dissolution of the Young Alternative, which had been classified as proven right-wing extremist by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Source: faz

NEWS FROM BERLIN

Berlin becomes a stronghold of protest

The Education and Science Union (GEW) Berlin has called on employees of the state of Berlin, including employees in municipal daycare centres, state schools, district offices and state universities, to take part in a warning strike on January 29. This also applies to employees at the Pestalozzi-Fröbel-Haus, the Lette-Verein and student employees at universities. The chairman of GEW Berlin, Gökhan Akgün, criticised the conditions in Berlin’s education system. GEW’s regional chair, Felicia Kompio, also stated that Berlin would play a central role in the nationwide protest. The warning strikes are intended to increase pressure on the federal states. Source: tagesspiegel

Berlin Court of Appeal overturns acquittal for “From the river to the sea”

The Berlin Court of Appeal has overturned an acquittal by the Tiergarten District Court for the use of the pro-Palestinian slogan “From the river to the sea” and referred the case back to another division of the district court. According to the Court of Appeal, the court in Tiergarten had made several legal errors in its previous ruling. Among other things, it criticised the district court’s ruling for lacking justification and for misinterpreting the relevant criminal law provisions on the use of symbols of terrorist organisations. Source: rbb

A guide to painful holds

Berlin’s police chief Barbara Slowik Meisel has stated that “the Berlin police do not train in pain holds.” However, internal documents show the opposite: the Berlin police’s “Operational Training Manual” teaches controversial pain holds. The handbook explains to police officers how they should behave in various operational situations—and how they can inflict pain on people in a targeted manner. Frag den Staat published relevant excerpts from the textbook. Pain holds are pressure and leverage techniques that can cause extreme pain and even nerve damage. The Society for Civil Rights considers these techniques to be a serious violation of fundamental rights. Source: fragdenstaat

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Söder believes Germany should merge some federal states

At CSU’s winter meeting, Bavarian state premier Markus Söder has said Germany should merge some of its 16 federal states to make the federal system more efficient. He also said that ideally there would be fewer and larger states, and that the current federal system, in which some larger, wealthier states financially support smaller states, could not continue. “Larger entities are more successful than smaller ones,” Söder concluded. More broadly, Söder called for an end to the Berlin-Bonn Act, which was introduced during the German reunification period to move the seat of the federal government to Berlin. Source: iamexpat

Trial against the “Saxon separatists”

The trial against the ”Saxon Separatists” started on Friday in Dresden. The prosecution does not consider the name to be a coincidence, as the abbreviation “SS” is an allusion to National Socialism. According to the investigation, the “Saxon separatists” was founded in 2020 in Brandis (Saxony). Three of the defendants were still minors at the time. The group is accused of getting ready for a “Day X”, in order to eliminate the free democratic basic order in an armed struggle. For this reason, all defendants are accused of high treason. The group’s lawyer, Martin Kohlmann, also belongs to the extreme right-wing spectrum—as state chairman of the “Freie Sachsen” (Free Saxony) party. Source: dw

CDU business lobby attacks right to part-time work

Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) has repeatedly complained that many people are no longer working properly and that their “work-life balance” is too important to them. And with this attitude, economic recovery cannot happen. This inspired the Mittelstands- und Wirtschaftsunion (MIT) in the CDU to submit a motion to their party conference at the end of next February. Its title: “No legal right to lifestyle part-time work.” In it, the group calls for the right to part-time employment to be restricted. The group’s proposal stipulates that part-time workers should only be eligible for social benefits such as basic income support, child allowance and housing benefit if there are “special reasons.” Source: nd

Controversial millions in funding AfD from the state coffers

The AfD often makes use of the victimisation approach, complaining, for instance, about how other parties stigmatise it. However, a look at the party’s financing provides a different picture, as the AfD benefits significantly from state party financing. From 2025 to early 2029 alone, i.e. during this legislative period of the German Bundestag, the AfD will receive a total of around half a billion euros in state funds. In the case of the AfD, that is particularly controversial once the party is being monitored as a “suspected right-wing extremist organization” and is even listed as “confirmed right-wing extremist” in three federal states. Source: dw

Welfare state in Germany is to become more citizen-oriented and digital

The federal government wants to work with the states and local authorities to comprehensively reform the welfare state in Germany. Its commission, made up of representatives from the federal government, the federal states and local authority associations, has formulated a total of 26 specific recommendations. Among other things, social benefits are to become more accessible and less complicated. For example, child benefit is to be paid automatically after birth in future. A digital portal is to be created for all social benefits, and responsibility will lie with two authorities instead of four in future. Some of the proposals can be implemented already in 2027. Source: tagesschau

“One of the most demonised people in Europe”

High-ranking Thuringian AfD politicians, including Secretary General Daniel Haseloff, invited right-wing extremist Martin Sellner to a meeting in the state parliament. “He is one of the most demonised people in Europe. I wanted to form my own opinion,” Haseloff wrote in on X. Haseloff told the German Press Agency that they had discussed Sellner’s remigration concept and that of the Thuringian AfD—Including their differences. Sellner is considered a leading figure and former head of the Identitarian Movement, which is classified as right-wing extremist by the German domestic intelligence service.  Source: bz

“Gaza equals Auschwitz” is Holocaust trivialisation

A 40-year-old man was fined for equating Israel’s warfare in Gaza with the Holocaust in a post on Instagram. He must now pay €6,000. The Tiergarten District Court found the man guilty of incitement to hatred by trivialising Nazi crimes under Section 130 (3) of the Criminal Code. The verdict is not yet final. The current case resembles that of a Gaza activist who had also been convicted by the Tiergarten Magistrates’ Court under the same of the German Criminal Code because she had held up a poster at a Gaza demonstration with the question: “Haven’t we learned anything from the Holocaust?” She was acquitted by the Regional Court in October 2025. Source: lto