Germany News and Discussion

[caltrek]

This is a general thread for news and discussions related to Germany. I did a search to see if such a thread had already been started and found none. I did find that Germany was mentioned in a lot of other threads. What better place to start a discussion, with more focus on Germany, than with the topic of an important election?

Who’s Who in Germany’s Historic Election
by Silvia Amaro
September 24, 2021

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/24/germany ... -vote.html

Extract:

(CNBC) Germany’s federal elections on Sunday will usher in a new political era for both the country and the wider European Union.

Angela Merkel, the bloc’s longest serving leader, is leaving the German chancellery after 16 years in power. Voter polls suggest that the election outcome is highly uncertain, with several coalition configurations possible.

CNBC takes a look at the main political figures that could shape the future of Europe’s largest economy.

Armin Laschet..CDU..

Annalena Baerbock - The Green Party Leader...

Olaf Scholz...SPD...

Christian Lindner...Free Democratic party...

Alice Weidel...AfD

[caltrek]

A Good Riddance to Angela Merkel
by Samuel Goldman
September 26, 2021

https://theweek.com/politics/1005225/go ... ela-merkel

Introduction:

(The Week) Germans go to the polls on Sunday to select a new government. The picture is complicated by Germany's multiparty system and indirect electoral process. Essentially, voters face a choice between a centrist coalition built around the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), or a leftist one with the Social Democratic Party at its core.

Fluctuating polls leave the outcome in doubt. One way or the other, though, Chancellor Angela will soon leave the scene. After 16 years in office and nearly 20 at the head of the CDU, Merkel has defined German politics in the 21st century. Her retirement is the end of an era.

We shouldn't mourn that departure. Despite her reassuring demeanor, Merkel was a destabilizing figure. Once celebrated as the substitute "leader of the free world," her combination of grand moralism and parochial interest undermined the liberal ideals she professed.

Merkel's first big mistake came early in her tenure. In 2007, Iceland's banking system broke down under its massive debt burden. Over the following year, the problem spread to Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain, creating the demeaning but amusing acronym PIIGS. Banking on their association with the stronger economies of Northern Europe, especially Germany, the PIIGS were able to borrow more money than would otherwise have been possible. But use of the euro made it impossible to devalue their currencies when faced with loans they couldn't repay.

In the end, Germany and other EU members did bail out the PIIGs. But the compromise Merkel helped broker conditioned debt relief on austerity policies that led to increased unemployment, cuts in public services, and political upheaval, including a dramatic revival of far-right and far-left parties.

[caltrek]

Exit Polls Suggest Narrow Lead for SPD in German Election But Result Remains Uncertain
by Nadine Schmidt, Stephanie Halasz and Laura Smith-Spark
September 26, 2021

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ex ... r-AAOPYQN

Introduction:

(CNN) The left-leaning Social Democratic Party (SPD) is narrowly ahead in exit polls published after voting ended in Germany's federal election, a Forschungsgruppe Wahlen exit poll for CNN affiliate n-tv suggests, but the final result of the closely fought contest remains uncertain.

The SPD had 26% of the votes, according to the exit poll, with the center-right Christian Democratic Union of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel on 24%, followed by the Greens at 14.5%, the FDP at 12% and the AfD at 10%.

[caltrek]

Small Parties are the Kingmakers After German Elections
by Cain Burdeau
September 27, 2021

https://www.courthousenews.com/small-pa ... elections/

Introduction:

(Courthouse News) — Germany's national elections on Sunday saw the center-left Social Democrats claim the largest share of votes and retiring Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives suffer a historic defeat, but it will be smaller parties with two very different world views — the pro-environment Greens and pro-business Free Democrats — that will play kingmakers in forming the next government.

The results leave German politics in limbo as potentially lengthy and messy coalition talks begin over who will take over the chancellery and lead Germany's first post-Merkel government.

After 16 years at the helm, Merkel did not stand in the election and will step down once a new government coalesces. She has not said what she plans to do next and there is a chance she could end up taking on a job within the European Union bureaucracy.

The outcome of the Bundestag elections are closely watched and will have far-reaching consequences because Germany is the EU's largest economy and it plays a decisive role in European affairs.

For example, Germany's fiscally conservative governments under Merkel forced poorer southern nations to cut public spending and her mercantilist spirit led the EU to maintain trade ties with the authoritarian regimes in China and Russia.

[caltrek]

Germany’s (Sort of) Change Elections
by Jen Kirby
September 27, 2021

https://www.vox.com/2021/9/27/22695912/ ... cdu-greens

Introduction:

(Vox) BERLIN — The release of one of the first election exit polls showed Germany’s center-left Social Democrats with a slight lead. That was enough to send the crowd at the Willy Brandt Haus, the party’s headquarters in Berlin, into cheers and applause. After 16 years of Angela Merkel and her center-right party, Germany looked as if it might be on the verge of political change.

It would take quite a few more hours, but early Monday, German election officials released results for the parliamentary elections, putting the Social Democrats (SPD) ahead with 25.7 percent of the vote. They narrowly beat the conservatives Merkel had helmed for almost two decades, who won 24.1 percent.

It was a remarkable turn for the SPD, which had trailed in the polls for most of the election. But the party presented its candidate, finance minister Olaf Scholz, as a stable and competent leader — a natural successor to the retiring Merkel, at least in temperament. Scholz’s opponents also did him plenty of favors. Despite being tapped as Merkel’s successor, Armin Laschet of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) made some big gaffes, and his unpopularity appeared to bring his party down with him.

The SPD’s slim victory showed a vote for change — of sorts. For the first time in 16 years, a center-left party will have the most seats in the Bundestag, or German parliament. Vox spoke with candidates from various political parties, SPD campaign officials and party members, pollsters, and other experts (as part of a delegation of journalists to observe the elections, funded by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation), and it’s clear that the campaign was largely a battle for the center. The Greens — who put up a chancellor candidate for the first time — led the polls at one point, and had a historic showing, with almost 15 percent of the vote. But the election ultimately came down to a fight for the voters who are still in Merkel’s orbit.

The SPD won that fight in this election. But now begins the unpredictable process of trying to bring together the next German government. Germany’s proportional representation system means that chancellor candidates aren’t directly elected, and with the close margins, both the SPD and the CDU (with its sister party in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union) will be courting other parties to try to form a government coalition. It means weeks, if not months, of uncertainty. The last time Merkel tried to form a coalition, after elections in 2017, negotiations took an unprecedented five months. The only sure thing is that Merkel will stay on as caretaker chancellor until Germany sorts out its political future, whatever that might look like without her.

[caltrek]

Being a Woman in German Politics Still Isn’t Easy. The Case of Annalena Baerbock
by Emily Schultheis
Updated September 27, 2021

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/ ... men-514150

Introduction:

(Politico) COLOGNE, Germany — On a warm evening in early September, Annalena Baerbock took the stage on a packed city square here. There were just over three weeks to go until Germany’s general election, which will take place on Sunday, and around 2,000 people had come out to see the progressive, pro-environment Green party’s first-ever candidate for chancellor. “You can feel the change here on Wilhelmplatz,” Baerbock told the audience, to cheers and applause.

As she spoke, four young girls toward the front of the crowd climbed a metal divider to get a better look at the candidate. Baerbock, energetic with microphone in hand, occasionally referred to them in her speech: When a handful of right-wing protesters started shouting, she reminded them there were children present, and during her Q&A session, she came over and answered the girls’ question about how to live a more climate-friendly life. Over the course of the rally, other girls wandered over from their parents until about a dozen stood there, grouped together near the stage, eyes turned up toward Baerbock.

These girls have an experience of politics American girls don’t: They have never known a country in which a woman didn’t hold the highest office in the land. For the past 16 years, Angela Merkel has been a steady hand at the country’s helm and arguably the most powerful woman in the world.

But in Baerbock's candidacy, they're also watching a real-time demonstration that even in Germany — a country often held up as a model for embracing and re-electing a powerful woman leader — sexism isn't easy to root out of politics. It can be difficult even to disentangle the two.

Baerbock was an early contender in the election, leading her two main rivals for several weeks in the spring — an unprecedented feat for the Greens, who have never before had a real shot at the chancellery. Since then, she has come under unrelenting attack for a series of off-the-trail missteps, including revelations of plagiarism and resume inflation, while male rivals have more easily sidestepped their minor scandals. She has also been the target of frequently gendered disinformation attacks, one of which featured her face photoshopped onto a naked woman’s body with a caption implying she was a sex worker. Along the way, Baerbock has faced more familiar examples of sexism, such as questions about whether she can balance the chancellorship with being a mother.

[caltrek]

What Germany’s Election Results Mean for U.S. Foreign Policy
by Ulrike Frank
September 27, 2021

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/ ... icy-514433

Introduction:

(Politico) Germany has voted, and the big remaining questions are what the makeup of the next governing coalition will be and who will succeed Angela Merkel. As chancellor for a record 16 years, Merkel helped guide Germany and the European Union through the financial crisis, the influx of migrants in 2015, Brexit and four years of transatlantic estrangement under Donald Trump.

Merkel’s successor remains unknown, though the Social Democrats’ Olaf Scholz appears the likeliest bet right now. But even with the chancellorship and the coalition up for grabs, the results provide some important clues about the future of Germany’s foreign policy. The transatlantic defense alliance is likely to encounter some trouble in the coming years, but more cooperation on new challenges like China might be on the menu.

In the United States, supporters of the traditional transatlantic relationship, centered on NATO, may be disappointed by the coalition that is likely to emerge. But for those interested in a new transatlantic alliance, focused on the United States and Europe countering China together, the outcome could be good news. The two smaller parties that will make or break any German coalition — the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) — are inclined toward a stronger stance against China, which Germany under Merkel’s “Grand Coalition” of Christian Democrats (CDU) and Social Democrats (SDP) was more hesitant to take. Whatever the makeup of the new coalition, expect a livelier debate in post-Merkel Germany about taking a tougher line on China.

The coalition will most likely be made up of three parties — something Germany hasn’t seen since the 1950s. With the Greens and the FDP definitely included thanks to strong performances on Sunday, what’s unclear is which party will lead the government. The most likely outcome is a “traffic-light” coalition (so named because of the signature colors of the three parties that would comprise it) led by Scholz’s SPD, Sunday’s narrow winner, with the Greens and the FDP as partners. The “Jamaica” coalition (whose three parties’ colors resemble the black, green and yellow Jamaican flag) would be the same, except led by the CDU; this combination is less likely because of the CDU’s poor showing. The Greens and the FDP, therefore, have significant maneuvering room as the SPD and CDU jostle to get them on their side.

[caltrek]

Germany's Incoming Government Unveils Plans to Legalize Cannabis and Phase Out Coal
by Sheena McKenzie
November 24, 2021

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/24/europe/g ... index.html

Introduction:

(CNN)Three German political parties have sealed a deal for a new government, with left-leaning Olaf Scholz the proposed next chancellor following lengthy coalition negotiations and a historic election that sees Angela Merkel stepping down after 16 years at the helm.

The incoming government's vision for Germany includes plans to legalize cannabis. It also aims to phase-out coal by 2030 and have at least 15 million electric cars on the road by the same year. Mandatory Covid-19 vaccines would also be considered, amid soaring cases in the country.

Under the agreement announced in Berlin on Wednesday, Scholz, of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), will head a three-party coalition with partners the Greens and pro-business Free Democrats. It follows a close September election and two months of negotiations to form a new government.

Scholz, joined by coalition partner leaders, told a news conference that the "traffic light government" is here, referring to the red, yellow and green colors of the respective parties. "We want to be daring when it comes to climate and industry," he said.

The deal -- which sets out the government's vision for its four-year term -- will now go to the wider party members for consideration. Barring any last-minute upsets, Scholz will be sworn in as chancellor early next month.

[caltrek]

Germany on Track for a New Chancellor After 16 Years of Merkel
by Cain Burdeau
November 24, 2021

https://www.courthousenews.com/germany- ... of-merkel/

Extract:

(Courthouse News) Christian Lindner, a fiscal hawk and leader of the Free Democrats, is expected to become finance minister, a key position in German cabinets because it oversees spending. The parties pledged to uphold Germany's so-called “debt brake,” a limit on government debt that was included in the country's constitution by Merkel. Critics say the debt brake hinders Germany's growth and by extension is holding other European economies back too. Germany is Europe's largest economy and the fourth largest globally.

Green party co-leader Annalena Baerbock, who ran a disappointing campaign for the chancellery after an early surge in polls, is on track to become Germany's first female foreign minister and the Greens' other co-leader, Robert Habeck, is set to become the vice chancellor and oversee climate change policy.
…
Scholz said the minimum wage will be increased to 12 euros an hour (about $13.40) and he promised more spending for children and housing, including rent controls. He said 10 million workers will benefit from the wage increase.

[caltrek]

Who is Annalena Baerbock, the Prospective New Foreign Minister?
November 25, 2021

https://www.dw.com/en/germany-who-is-an ... a-59935970

(DW) Annalena Baerbock is not everyone's idea of a German foreign minister. Last week, firebrand Left party politician Oskar Lafontaine flatly told Die Welt newspaper that the 40-year-old Green party co-leader would be a "catastrophe" in the post.

The veteran socialist was being typically blunt, perhaps especially so now that he is about to retire after a career of annoying center-left politicians, and his reasons for objecting to Baerbock were exactly what one would expect: "She wants 'increased pressure on Russia,'" he said. "And will uncritically follow the US' confrontational policy towards China and Russia."

The fact that a normally conservative newspaper chose to print this interview (and headline the article with the "catastrophe" quote), shows that Baerbock is likely to face criticism from all directions when she takes on the new job.

Nor is nostalgia likely to sway her critics: The last time the Greens were in the German government, from 1998 to 2005, they also held the Foreign Ministry, with the outspoken Joschka Fischer — who gained much favor for his uncompromising opposition to the Iraq war — in the top diplomat post.

This time, there has been criticism from the environmentalist pressure groups on Baerbock's new job. The party has taken plenty of flak for giving up the Finance and Transport Ministries to the neoliberal Free Democrats in the coalition negotiations – two areas where they were seen as more likely to influence their core issue: the climate crisis.

[wjfox]

[R8Z]

Protests against mandates continues in Germany, this time in Munich:





Note from someone from the spot:

[wjfox]

Germany commits €100 billion to defense spending

27.02.2022

Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a plan to beef up the German military on Sunday, pledging €100 billion ($112.7 billion) of the 2022 budget for the armed forces, and repeating his promise to reach the 2% of GDP spending on defense in line with NATO demands.

He said the spending would be part of a package in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine that included support for Ukraine, responding to Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, and an increase in defense and development spending.

"It's clear we need to invest significantly more in the security of our country, in order to protect our freedom and our democracy,'' Scholz told a special session of the Bundestag in Berlin.

"In attacking Ukraine, Putin doesn't just want to eradicate a country from the world map, he is destroying the European security structure we have had in place since Helsinki," Scholz said in his speech to German lawmakers.

The move is significant, as Germany has often been criticized by the US and other NATO allies for not investing enough in defense.

https://www.dw.com/en/germany-commits-1 ... a-60933724

[caltrek]

The Rearmament of Germany in the Aftermath of the Ukraine War
by Kung Chang
March 1, 2022

https://www.eurasiareview.com/01032022- ... -war-oped/

Introduction:

(Eurasia Review) There have been much speculations on the aftermath of the Ukraine crisis, and the extent of its impacts. Many only vaguely understand them to be “no less serious than those of September 11 attacks”.

Much of the consequences of Putin’s war in Ukraine will, of course, not manifest immediately but rather gradually. However, at least one major change is becoming apparent and noticeable, and this is re-emergence of Germany in global geopolitics. Looking back at the past, Germany has always been a lion of Europe, indeed a powerful and formidable force, even one that is regarded to be able to contend with the ambitious Russia. To be sure, this country famed for its refined industries has been, historically speaking, the only continental power feared by Russia. Compared with Germany, other European countries are more akin to jesters before the Goliath that is Russia.

Now, Putin has awakened the giant force known as Germany. Before that, this force had been in dormant for decades after the end of the Cold War.

In Germany now, tens of thousands of people gathered in front of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, some holding placards that read “Russia Hands Off Ukraine”, “Putin! You Need Therapy!” and the like. Such zealous spirit of the Germans has never been higher. Europe shares the same sentiment against Russia and this can be seen in major cities in Europe, from Rome to Prague, from Istanbul to Madrid, or from Paris to London. The solidarity born out of loathing against Putin’s Russia is unprecedented in the history of modern Europe.

Noteworthily, just a few weeks ago, the Germans’ attitude towards the influence of Russia on Europe was more or less restrained, hence such change within a short time is something worth pondering.

[caltrek]

How the Russian Invasion of Ukraine Upended Germany
by Alec MacGillis
March 11, 2022

https://www.propublica.org/article/how- ... ed-germany

Introduction:

(ProPublica) Last October, I sat in the office of Klaus Emmerich, the chief union representative at the Garzweiler brown-coal mine in western Germany, as he shared his misgivings about the country’s celebrated plan to stop burning coal. Germany’s build-up of renewable energy was lagging and, given that coal accounts for more than a quarter of its total electricity supply, that meant it would have to rely on another energy source for the time being: natural gas, which came mostly from Russia. “We’re giving ourselves over to the Russians,” Emmerich told me. “I have a bad feeling about it.”

Five months later, Emmerich’s premonitions have borne out, powerfully. President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has unleashed civilian and military carnage, ravaged cities and sent some two million people fleeing the country. As its effects have rippled across Europe and the world, one consequence has gone underexamined: The invasion has upended the political and economic policies of Germany, where the government has reconsidered its long-planned energy transition; undone a congenial political stance toward Russia that lasted for half a century; and reversed a policy of military minimalism that dates to the end of the Second World War. In many ways, Germany has rethought its place in the world — all in two weeks.

At the heart of the shift is Germany’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels, which until recently was not seen as problematic by German leaders. Quite the opposite: It was part of a deliberate, decadeslong effort by Germany to maintain comity with the huge, nuclear-armed neighbor with whom it fought in two bloody 20th century wars. Germany chose its dependence on Russia because it saw the economic links created by fuel imports — physical links, in the form of pipelines through Eastern Europe and under the Baltic Sea — as integral to keeping peace and integrating Russia into the rest of Europe.

On Feb. 22, Germany’s new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, announced a curtailment to that dependence on Russian energy. The country was halting Nord Stream 2, a new gas pipeline from Russia that would be capable of providing Europe with 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year at a time when the rest of the Continent’s gas production is declining.

[Maximus]

Fact check: Was a 16-year-old Russian beaten to death by a group of Ukrainians in Germany?

The claim that a Russian youth was beaten to death by a "mob of Ukrainian refugees" in the German city of Euskirchen was published in a video addressing Russians in Germany. However, the incident never happened.
In the video, a woman recounts in Russian the alleged events in the video, describing how a 16-year-old was severely beaten into a coma. The women admits that she does not know the boy personally, but that a friend told her about it.
In the video, translated by DW's Russian Service, she claims that "in the city of Euskirchen near Cologne, at the train station, a boy was beaten up. A group of Ukrainians beat him up half to death — so that he was taken to intensive care. He was in a coma. These bastards were simply taken by the police to the home where they lived. So far nothing has been done to them."
...
On Monday, a second video surfaced in which the woman in the first video who described the alleged incident appears to be apologizing for her claims, saying: "Today I found out that it is a fake."
"I want to apologize to everyone who has seen my video for not turning out to be the truth. I wanted to ask today when the funeral will take place and found out that it had all been lies," she says in the video. She goes on to recount that the person she mentioned in the first video who told her about the alleged attack "hates Ukrainians and decided to harm them through this story."

https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-was-a- ... a-61205221

Something to keep in mind next time you see Russian propaganda.

[Yuli Ban]

Now that doesn't sound good

[Yuli Ban]

[Time_Traveller]

Germany's economy could lose $240 billion — 6.5% of its annual output — over the next 2 years if Russian oil and gas were cut off immediately

Apr 14, 2022

Germany could lose 220 billion euros ($240 billion) in economic output over the next two years if Russian gas were halted immediately. That's according to a joint economic forecast, called the Gemeinschaftsdiagnose report, released Wednesday by economic institutions advising Berlin.

Europe's largest economy has come under increasing pressure to ban Russian energy imports amid reports of Russian atrocities in Ukraine. But Germany is heavily reliant on Russian gas, which accounted for 55% of Germany's gas imports in 2021 and 40% of its gas imports in the first quarter of 2022, Reuters reported.

An immediate embargo on Russian oil and gas supply would send Germany into "a sharp recession " with a 6.5% hit to its annual economic output, according to the Gemeinschaftsdiagnose report.

https://www.businessinsider.com/germany ... ?r=US&IR=T

[weatheriscool]

Germany will end oil imports from Russia by year end, says minister
Source: Reuters

BERLIN, April 20 (Reuters) - Germany will stop importing oil from Russia by the end of the year, said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock after a meeting with her Baltic counterparts on Wednesday.

"I therefore say here clearly and unequivocally yes, Germany is also completely phasing out Russian energy imports," said Baerbock.

"We will halve oil by the summer and will be at 0 by the end of the year, and then gas will follow, in a joint European roadmap, because our joint exit, the complete exit of the European Union, is our common strength."

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ge ... 022-04-20/