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☆ EU chief to visit Italy's Lampedusa amid protests over migrant numbers
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( Yara Nardi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/7] A child looks on as migrants are seen inside the hotspot, on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, Italy, September 16, 2023. Nearly 126,000 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year, almost double the figure by the same date in 2022. Lampedusa has recently borne the brunt, with thousands of landings this week, more than the island's permanent population. ISLANDERS' PROTESTDozens of Lampedusa residents held protests on Saturday against a plan to build new tent camps to host migrants. Earlier this week, a five-month-old baby boy drowned off Lampedusa after a boat carrying migrants across the sea from North Africa capsized.

Persons: Yara, Ursula von der, Giorgia Meloni, Lampedusa, Von der, Eric Mamer, Gerald Darmanin, Nancy Faeser, Elisabeth Borne, BFM, Emmanuel Macron, Gianluca Semeraro, Ludwig Burger, Jan Strupczewski, Gus Trompiz, Toby Chopra, Mike Harrison Organizations: REUTERS, Italy's, European Union, EU, Twitter, ISLANDERS, Italian Coast Guard, Thomson Locations: Lampedusa, Italy, Italian, North Africa, France, Germany, Rome, Europe, Milan, Frankfurt, Brussels, Paris

☆ Germany says it will keep taking in migrants from Italy after all
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A view of shadows of migrants boarding a ship to be transferred to the mainland, on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, Italy, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Yara Nardi Acquire Licensing RightsFRANKFURT, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Germany has decided to keep taking in migrants and refugees arriving in Italy, the interior minister said late on Friday, two days after it announced the suspension of a voluntary agreement with Rome to receive new arrivals. Under an European Union solidarity scheme, Germany had pledged to help member states such as Italy that are particularly overwhelmed by migrants by taking in 3,500 people, but it announced the suspension of the accord on Wednesday. But interior minister Nancy Faeser said the recent arrival of thousand of migrants in the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa meant Germany would take in people after all. The Italian Coast Guard found a newborn baby dead on a boat carrying migrants to the island during a rescue operation, ANSA news agency reported on Saturday.

Persons: Yara, Nancy Faeser, Faeser, Giorgia Meloni, Ludwig Burger, Helen Popper Our Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, ARD, Italian, EU, Italian Coast Guard, Thomson Locations: Lampedusa, Italy, Germany, Rome, Union, Dublin, EU, German, North Africa

☆ Germany adds Georgia and Moldova to list of safe countries of origin
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Vladislav Culiomza/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBERLIN, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Germany's coalition government on Wednesday listed Georgia and Moldova as safe countries of origin in a bid to cut asylum applications from those nations, which are almost always rejected. The move means asylum applications from those countries could be processed more quickly and lead to faster deportations for failed applicants. According to ministry data, 99.9% of applications from both countries were rejected in 2022 and the first half of 2023. Some 8,865 Georgians and 5,218 people from Moldova applied for asylum in Germany last year. The ministry defines safe countries of origin as those where there is generally no fear of state prosecution and where the state protected its citizens.

Persons: Vladislav Culiomza, Nancy Faeser, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's, Pro Asyl, Asyl, Alexander Ratz, Matthias Williams, Mike Harrison Organizations: Moldovan, REUTERS, Rights, Pro, Thomson Locations: Chisinau, Moldova, Georgia, Schloss Meseberg, Berlin, Germany, Russia, Moldova . Georgia, South Caucasus

Some experts caution that progress may be slow, noting parts of Germany's administrative machinery are already creaking under a big backlog of existing citizenship applications. German citizenship is not a condition of employment for migrants, but Germany wants to establish itself as a migration destination for foreign talent, like the U.S. and Canada, and Berlin hopes the prospect of a smoother, quicker path to German nationality will attract skilled migrants. But with German authorities already overwhelmed by thousands of backlogged naturalisation applications, some experts doubt the reforms can quickly achieve their main goal of luring global talent to fill hundreds of thousands of vacancies. Migrants complain of long waits even for a first citizenship consultation appointment. "Even with this reform in Germany, access to citizenship is still much easier in traditional immigration countries like Canada.

Persons: Fabrizio Bensch, Holger Kolb, Kolb, Mediendienst Intergation, Nancy Faeser, Tariq Tabbara, Tabbara, Riham Alkousaa, William Maclean Organizations: Office of Health, Social Affairs, REUTERS, Rights, Integration, Reuters, Berlin University of Economics, Law, Thomson Locations: Berlin, Germany, U.S, Canada, Turkey, Europe, Germany's, Cologne, Dresden, Bielefeld, Hamburg, Munich, Chemnitz

☆ Women’s World Cup teams permitted to wear armbands that highlight ‘social causes’
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Amanda Davies | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —World soccer governing body FIFA will allow a variety of different armbands that highlight “a range of social causes” to be worn at the upcoming Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the organization said Friday. “FIFA, in partnership with several United Nations agencies, will use the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™ to highlight a range of social causes, selected following extensive consultation with stakeholders including players and the 32 participating member associations,” FIFA said in a statement. “But football does even more than that – it can shine the spotlight on very important causes in our society. Several European teams were set to participate in the “OneLove” campaign to promote inclusion and oppose discrimination, but those countries were prevented by FIFA from doing so. There is no explicit mention of LGBTQ rights in Women’s World Cup armbands, beyond the “themes” of “gender equality” and “inclusion.”The Women’s World Cup is scheduled to be played from July 20 to August 20 with the opening game taking place in Auckland when co-hosts New Zealand play Norway.

Persons: ”, “, Gianni Infantino, Hadja Lahbib, Nancy Faeser – Organizations: CNN, FIFA, “ FIFA, United Nations, ” FIFA, Football, Inclusion, UN Human, Indigenous Peoples, Equality, UN, Peace –, UNHCR, UN Refugee Agency, Education, –, Cultural Organization, UNESCO, UN Women, World Health Organization, WHO, Qatar –, Belgian Foreign Affairs, German, New Zealand Locations: Australia, New Zealand, Qatar, Infantino, Auckland, Norway

☆ EU ministers seek long-stalled migration deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A tentative deal on the table comes after years of damaging feuds between EU states since their cooperation collapsed in acrimony in 2015 as more than a million people - mostly fleeing the war in Syria - arrived across the Mediterranean. "We can only handle migration together as the whole EU." CAMPSFor nearly a decade, EU countries traded blame for handling new arrivals. On Thursday, the ministers will also discuss EU aid for Tunisia, which is a gateway for African migration to Europe and faces growing instability. Bad blood spilled over as eastern EU countries like Poland and Hungary refused to host anyone from the mainly-Muslim Middle East and North Africa.

Persons: Nancy Faeser, France's Gerald Darmanin, Benoit van Overstraeten, Bart Meijer, Alexander Ratz, Kristina, Gabriela Baczynska, Mark Potter Organizations: Home, European Union, Liberal, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Syria, Spain, Tunisia, Europe, Italy, Greece, Germany, Sweden, Poland, Hungary, East, North Africa, EU, Budapest

☆ Proposed EU migration deal needs to be improved, German minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, June 8 (Reuters) - EU countries could reach an agreement on a migration deal on Thursday, but the proposed compromise needs to be improved, Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said before a meeting with ministers from the EU bloc. "The compromise on the table is very difficult for Germany," Faeser said. "I feel there is a common understanding which could lead to an agreement, but not at any price." Reporting by Bart Meijer; Editing by Benoit Van OverstraetenOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Nancy Faeser, Faeser, Bart Meijer, Benoit Van Overstraeten Organizations: Germany's, EU, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Germany

[1/3] German parliamentary group co-leaders of Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla attend a plenary session of the lower house of parliament, Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany May 25, 2023. In France, the far-right has become a stronger rival at the ballot box, while in Italy and Sweden, they are now are in government. Germany's domestic spy agency has branded the AfD's youth wing "extremist", saying it propagated "a racial concept of society". Some AfD initiatives have won backing from mainstream voters on the more local level. Wolfgang Buechner, a Scholz government spokesman, said he was confident the coalition could whittle away at AfD support.

Persons: Alice Weidel, Tino Chrupalla, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's, Stefan Marschall, Michael Kretschmer, Friederich Merz, Nancy Faeser, Marc Debus, Matthias Grahl, Wolfgang Buechner, Scholz, whittle, Sarah Marsh, Andreas Rinke, Madeline Chambers, Edmund Blair Organizations: Bundestag, REUTERS, Government, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social, University of Duesseldorf, Christian Democratic Union, CDU, Greens, Scholz's, Mannheim University, Thomson Locations: Germany, Berlin, BERLIN, Scholz's, Europe, France, Italy, Sweden, Nazi, Russia, Ukraine, Germany's, Saxony, Thueringen, Brandenburg, Bautzen

CNN —German police are preparing to mobilize in cities across the country on Saturday, with protests expected amid a mounting backlash after a court sent several left-wing militants to prison over attacks on neo-Nazis. The city of Leipzig – where most of the attacks took place – has already banned an anti-fascist march dubbed ‘Day-X’ because of fears for public safety. As well as in Leipzig, protests are also expected in the cities of Bremen, Hanover, Hamburg and Berlin on Saturday. The accusations leveled against the group were the most serious faced by Germany’s radical left in recent years. The far-right Alternative for Germany party, which has come under its own scrutiny from security services for its ties to extremists, welcomed the verdict by the Dresden court.

Persons: Lina E, –, Der, Marcus Brandt, ”, “, Lennart A, Jannis, Jonathan M, Germany’s, Lina ”, Jan Woitas, Lina, Nancy Faeser, Faeser, Timon Dzienus Organizations: CNN, Der Spiegel, Protesters, AP Leipzig, Saturday, Prosecutors, Guardian, Germany, Germany’s Green Party, Twitter Locations: Dresden, Leipzig, Europe, Bremen, Hanover, Hamburg, Berlin, Wurzen, Eisenach, German, Thuringia, Germany

☆ German cabinet publishes draft legislation on new citizenship rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 19 (Reuters) - Germany's interior ministry published draft legislation aimed at making it easier for people to apply for citizenship, as Berlin seeks to boost migration and open up the job market in Europe's biggest economy. The draft proposes a multiple citizenship option and cuts the required residency years before naturalization down to five or three years from the previous eight. German language requirements for citizenship would also be eased for members of the so-called "Gastarbeiter" generation, many of them Turkish, who came to Germany in the 1950s and 60s as migrant workers. At the end of 2021, around 72.4 million people with German citizenship and around 10.7 million with foreign citizenship were living in Germany, of whom around 5.7 million had been in Germany for at least 10 years. "Anyone who does not share these values or even acts contrary to them may not become a German citizen," it says.

☆ Zelenskiy: Ukraine, West can make Russia's defeat 'irreversible' this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KYIV, May 14 (Reuters) - President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Kyiv and its Western supporters could make Russia's defeat in the war in Ukraine "irreversible" this year, as he thanked Germany for its military support. The Ukrainian leader told a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin that Kyiv would always be grateful to Germany for its support during Russia's full-scale invasion. "Now is the time for us to determine the end of the war already this year, we can make the aggressor's defeat irreversible already this year," he said. "The war is happening on the territory of our country and so any peace plan will be based on Ukraine's proposals," he said. Reporting by Pavel Polityuk Writing by Tom Balmforth Editing by David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ European police arrest more than 100 mafia suspects in drug crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The swoop was part of an investigation spanning Italy, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, Romania, Brazil and Panama, according to European Union law enforcement agency Europol. The network was devoted primarily to international drug trafficking from South America to both Europe and Australia, Europol said in a statement. A total of 108 people were arrested in Italy and other EU countries on the orders of police in the southern city of Reggio Calabria, Italian police said. Related investigations led to the arrest of 24 people in Germany, they said, as well as a further 53 detentions in northern Italy. The interior minister of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia said 18 of the arrests were made there.

BERLIN, April 26 (Reuters) - Germany's domestic spy agency on Wednesday classified the youth organisation of far-right party the Alternative for Germany (AfD) as an extremist entity that threatens democracy, as authorities seek to combat a widespread rise in extremism. Germany's spy agency on Wednesday classified two other organisations, the Institute for State Policy and "One Percent", as extremist entities pursuing aims against the constitution. The spy agency said that the Young Alternatives wanted a society that was as ethnoculturally homogeneous as possible, designated migrants of non-European origins as fundamentally impossible to integrate and warned of the destruction of "organically grown European peoples". It is now Germany's most successful far-right party since World War Two and is currently polling just a few percentage points behind the Greens and the ruling Social Democrats (SPD). "We have seen that the whole discussion about extreme right tendencies has not hurt the AfD," said Guellner.

☆ German public sector workers agree to wage deal with employers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Annegret HilseBERLIN, April 22 (Reuters) - German public sector workers have agreed on a wage deal with employers, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and the Verdi union said on Saturday, ending a dispute that has disrupted the transport sector in Europe's biggest economy. The agreement for around 2.5 million workers in the sector follows arbitration. Under the deal, each worker will receive a total of 3,000 euros in tax-free payments in instalments through to Feb. 2024 to help offset inflation, said the ministry in a statement. A surge in the cost of living this year has led to some of Germany's most disruptive strikes in decades. The tax-free payments will show up quickly in wallets," said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.

☆ German public sector workers agree wage deal with employers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN, April 22 (Reuters) - German public sector workers have agreed on a wage deal with employers, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on Saturday, ending a dispute that has brought disruption to Europe's biggest economy. The agreement for around 2.5 million workers in the sector follows arbitration. Reporting by Alexander Ratz Writing by Madeline ChambersOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Germany appoints commission to re-appraise 1972 Munich Olympics attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, April 21 (Reuters) - Germany has appointed an eight-person commission to re-appraise the attack on Israeli athletes and team members at the 1972 Munich Olympics to answer unresolved questions, said German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in a statement on Friday. "For too many years, there was a lack of understanding or reappraisal of the events, transparency about them or acceptance of responsibility for them," she said. Palestinians from the Black September militant group took members of the Israeli Olympic team hostage on Sept. 5, 1972. Eleven Israelis, a German policeman and five of the Palestinian gunmen died after a stand-off at the Olympic village and the nearby Fuerstenfeldbruck airfield. ($1 = 0.9131 euros)Writing by Miranda Murray; editing by John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Germany examining Chinese components in its 5G network, interior minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, April 16 (Reuters) - Germany's Interior Ministry is examining all Chinese components that are already installed in the country's 5G network, Minister Nancy Faeser was quoted as saying on Sunday, as Berlin re-evaluates its relationship with top trade partner China. "We have to protect our communication networks," Faeser told Bild am Sonntag newspaper, adding that the examination's three priorities were identifying risks, averting dangers and avoiding dependencies. "This is especially true for our critical infrastructure," she said. Germany has been considering banning certain components from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in its telecoms networks, a government source told Reuters last month, in a potentially significant move to address security concerns. Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Cynthia OstermanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/4] Law enforcement officers investigate the scene following an attack on bank ATMs in Ratingen, Germany, March 15, 2023. Courtesy of Achim Blazy/Handout via REUTERSRATINGEN, Germany, April 14 (Reuters) - In the German town of Ratingen, exploding cash machines are a hot-button topic. But in Germany, thieves are blowing ATMs up at the rate of more than one a day. Europe's largest economy has 53,000 ATM machines, a disproportionately high number that reflects Germans' preference for cash rather than bank cards. Germany is also working with officials in Belgium and France and at Europol to combat the cash machine crime wave.

☆ German public sector wage talks fail, enter truce phase
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, March 30 (Reuters) - German public sector employers and unions representing around 2.5 million workers entered a truce phase on Thursday after talks failed to resolve a wage dispute, days after the country's biggest strikes in decades. A third round of negotiations lasting three days ended late on Wednesday without result, the Verdi and dbb unions said. "Despite clear movement, the employers were not prepared to make sufficient concessions to the employees on the minimum amount," said Verdi chief Frank Werneke. The Interior Ministry announced on Twitter in the early hours of Thursday that the talks would enter arbitration, bringing an independent mediator to the table. Public sector employers have offered an 8% pay raise, or a minimum of 300 euros ($325) per month, Faeser said.

☆ Germany unveils immigration reform plan to tackle labour shortages
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BERLIN, March 29 (Reuters) - Germany on Wednesday unveiled draft reforms on immigration, skills training and promoting immigration from Western Balkan countries, a bid by Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government to plug labour shortages in Europe's largest economy. "Securing our skilled labour base is one of Germany's biggest economic tasks for the coming decades," Labour Minister Hubertus Heil said. One of the reforms is a new immigration law that aims to address key hurdles for migrants to Germany, particularly for those coming from outside the European Union. The draft law, seen by Reuters, says the reform could increase the number of workers from countries outside the EU by 60,000 people a year. The opportunity card follows a points-based system that takes into account qualifications, language skills, professional experience, connection to Germany and age.

☆ Police officer shot during raids in German Reichsbuerger probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Madeline Chambers | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The searches follow raids in December, when German police foiled a plot by members of the Reichsbuerger movement to stage a violent coup and install aristocrat Heinrich XIII Prinz Reuss as national leader. One SEK officer was slightly injured and a suspect Reichsbuerger was arrested in Reutlingen during nation-wide raids in the extreme far-right movement. REUTERS/Markus Ulmer 1 2 3 4 5Germany's domestic intelligence service Verfassungsschutz put the Reichsbuerger movement under observation in 2016. The measure is related to the Reichsbuerger scene. "In an exchange of fire, a police officer was shot in the arm," prosecutors said in a statement.

☆ Germany to examine Deutsche Telekom, Huawei ties - Handelsblatt
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BERLIN, March 22 (Reuters) - Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is concerned about the close ties between Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) and Chinese company Huawei (HWT.UL) and wants to examine them, Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Wednesday. "That doesn't look good," Faeser was quoted as saying by the paper. Germany is considering banning certain components from Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE (000063.SZ) in its telecoms networks, a government source said, in a potentially significant move to address security concerns. read moreReporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Christoph SteitzOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The 35-year-old man, whose name was given as Philipp F. in accordance with German privacy laws, killed six people and then himself when he opened fire on Thursday evening. The exact motives were still unknown, but officials said the gunman had previously expressed his hatred for Jehovah's Witnesses. According to a briefing given by police and prosecutors in Hamburg on Friday, Philipp F. was the licenced owner of a Heckler & Koch P30 semi-automatic handgun. "Philipp F. supposedly harbours a particular anger towards religious followers especially towards Jehovah's Witnesses and his former employer." When they met Philipp F., he was cooperative and gave no indication of mental health problems.

☆ German police seek motive in shooting at Jehovah's Witnesses church
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Fabian Bimmer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] A view of a police vehicle at the scene following a deadly shooting, in Hamburg, Germany, March 10, 2023. REUTERS/Fabrizio BenschHAMBURG, March 10 (Reuters) - German police were searching for a motive on Friday after a gunman, believed to have been acting alone, killed several people in a Jehovah's Witnesses church in Hamburg. The Bild newspaper reported seven people were dead and eight wounded in the shooting in the northern city that is home to Germany's biggest port. Several of the wounded were seriously hurt, the Jehovah's Witnesses said. In October 2019, a gunman killed two people when he opened fire outside a synagogue in the eastern city of Halle on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.

☆ A 75-year-old woman who led far-right extremists accused of an elaborate coup plot to topple the German government
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Five members of a German extremist group were charged with treason for a coup plot. This belief ties in with the country's nascent Reichsbürger movement, or "Citizens of the Reich," which does not recognize Germany's current parliamentary democracy as legitimate. As of 2022, there are approximately 23,000 Reichsbürger members in Germany, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution estimated. Getty ImagesThis week's indictment follows another widely reported coup attempt — one that the principles of the Reichsbürger movement also guided. The multiple coup attempts and the rise of the Reichsbürger movement point to a growing trend of extremist ideology in Germany and across the European continent.

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