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TODAY IN GERMANY

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

SPD suffers stinging defeat at EU elections, local election results awaited, and more news from around Germany on Monday.

Published: 10 June 2024 08:01 CEST
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) queues in a line to cast his vote for the European Parliament Elections at a polling station in Potsdam, eastern Germany, on June 9, 2024.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) queues in a line to cast his vote for the European Parliament Elections at a polling station in Potsdam, eastern Germany, on June 9, 2024. Photo by Kay Nietfeld / POOL / AFP

Scholz’s coalition suffers defeat at EU polls in Germany: exit polls

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s troubled coalition suffered Sunday a stinging defeat at the European elections, with all three parties in his government coming in behind the conservatives and the far right, exit polls showed.

Scholz’s Social Democrats garnered its worse result in history at 14 percent, trailing second place AfD at between 16 and 16.5 percent, and well behind the conservative CDU-CSU bloc’s 29.5 percent, according to exit polls published by national broadcasters ARD and ZDF.

Scholz’s coalition partners Greens recorded just 12-12.5 percent while the liberal FDP won five percent.

READ ALSO: Scholz’s coalition suffers route at EU polls in Germany 

German states go to vote in local elections

Sunday wasn’t just about the European elections, though, voters in several German states were also voting in local elections on Sunday.

The results of various council elections are pending in Baden-Württemberg, Brandenburg, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.

The results in Brandenburg and Saxony are always watched with keen interest as they’re seen as a barometer for the September state elections.

And, in Thuringia, run-off elections were being held in 15 districts for the district administrator positions after these districts failed to reach a majority two weeks ago. AfD candidates were running in nine of these districts.

In June last year, the AfD won the first district administrator post for the party nationwide in the Thuringian district of Sonneberg.

Final results are expected on Monday. 

Steinmeier calls for democrats and anti-racists to stand together against violence in politics

On Sunday, on the 20th anniversary of the National Socialist Underground (NSU) nail bomb attack in Cologne, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for all democrats and anti-racists to stand together, news agency DPA reported.

“It is important that we outlaw violence in the political battle of opinions – no matter what the motives are: whether left-wing or right-wing extremism or religious fanaticism – violence destroys democracy, and we do not want that,” said Steinmeier on Sunday at a memorial ceremony exactly 20 years after the attack on June 9, 2004.

This came amid an increase in the number of attacks on politicians and officials across Europe.

The ceremony also commemorated the police officer who was stabbed to death in Mannheim a few days ago. Democracy does not ask where the extremism that wants to get its hands on it comes from, said Steinmeier, “democracy asks about the strength and solidarity of the majority that defends it!”

Cologne’s mayor Henriette Reker (independent), who was critically injured by a right-wing extremist a few years ago, said: “We are in a defensive battle of the democrats.”

If you have any questions about life in Germany, ideas for articles, or story tips, you can contact us at [email protected] or leave a comment below.

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TODAY IN GERMANY

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

Minister warns against a coalition break-up, exporters fear falling prices as EU and China start a trade-war over EVs, the biggest drugs bust in German history and more news from Germany on Tuesday.

Published: 18 June 2024 08:01 CEST
Today in Germany: A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday

Annalena Baerbock warns against a coalition break-up

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned against letting the so-called ‘traffic light’ coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP collapse due to a budget dispute.

“The greatest favour we could do the enemies of liberal democracy at home and abroad would be for another European democracy to go into new elections prematurely,” the Green politician told the Süddeutsche Zeitung. “Our damn job as a government is to solve problems together, even in difficult times.”

Baerbock said she had confidence that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) would agree on a draft budget for the coming year by July 3rd, as planned.

One point of contention in the budget negotiations is the debt brake, which Lindner is sticking to, but the SPD and Greens want to handle more flexibly. The debt brake could be suspended by emergency decision, as was the case during the Corona pandemic.

“What greater emergency could there be than this war in the middle of Europe?” asked the Foreign Minister. “It would be fatal to have to say in a few years’ time: We saved the debt brake, but lost Ukraine and the European peace order.”

READ ALSO: What a Russian victory in Ukraine would mean for Germany

Germany’s biggest trade union to seek pay raise for workers

Germany’s biggest trade union, IG Metall, said Monday it would push for a seven-percent pay rise for millions of workers in the key electrical and metalworking sectors, despite falling inflation and a sluggish economy.

The recommendation by the union’s leadership, which will now be discussed by regional branches, comes ahead of new wage talks starting in September.

“Employees need significantly higher wages to combat persistent price pressures,” the union said in a statement.

Wage demands by IG Metall — which negotiates for some 3.9 million workers in sectors ranging from auto to electrical and mechanical engineering — are closely watched in Europe’s top economy as they often set the tone for negotiations in other industries.

READ ALSO: Germany’s biggest trade union seeks 7 percent pay rise

But outsiders urged the union to show some constraint: “The metal and electrical industry is still in recession. But these ideas sound as if we are in an economic boom,” the head of the Gesamtmetall employers’ federation, Stefan Wolf, said in a statement.

German companies concerned about falling prices in China

Falling prices and weak demand are the main difficulties facing German companies in China, according to a report Monday by a business body that said European tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles are counterproductive.

China is one of Germany’s top trading partners, accounting for a significant portion of their sales in recent years.

But 61 percent of 186 German companies surveyed by the German Chamber of Commerce said “pressure on prices” is by far the biggest problem they face in China.

Weak demand linked to the slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy and geopolitical tensions also ranked among the top concerns, the report showed.

The report comes as the European Union and China are locked in a row over planned new tariffs of up to 38 percent on imports of Chinese EVs.

READ ALSO: German arms maker to hire workers from ailing auto firm

The European Commission, which launched a probe last year into Chinese EV subsidies, has accused Beijing of unfair practices undercutting Europe’s car manufacturers.

Germany has previously expressed concerns about applying higher tariffs, fearing reprisals for its car giants, such as Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, which are heavily invested in China.

For its part, China said Monday it had launched an anti-dumping investigation into pork imports from the European Union, the latest step in a mounting trade stand-off.

butcher in Beijing

A butcher sells pork meat at a store in Beijing. China said on June 17th it had launched an anti-dumping investigation into pork imports from the European Union. Photo by Pedro PARDO / AFP

Pork is China’s most popular meat and a staple of diets in the world’s second most populous nation.

Imports of pork and pork by-products from EU nations totalled over $3 billion last year, Beijing’s customs data showed.

Investigators pulled off the biggest cocaine bust in the German history

German investigators have seized 35.5 tonnes of cocaine with a street value of around €2.6 billion in the country’s biggest ever cocaine busts, police and prosecutors said Monday.

Around 24.5 tonnes were seized in Hamburg, a further eight tonnes in the Dutch port of Rotterdam and three tonnes in Guayaquil in Ecuador, German authorities said.

The drugs were found in nine shipping containers stashed between crates of fruit and other legal goods between April and September last year, the authorities added.

German investigators were alerted to the illegal trade by a tip-off from Colombian authorities.

Working with Europol in an operation known as “OP Plexus”, they identified eight main suspects: two Germans, two Turks and others from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Morocco and Ukraine.

Seven of the suspects were arrested during raids across Germany in late May and early June this year, the investigators said.

Third “Reichsbürger” trial begins in Munich

The third mammoth trial against alleged “Reichsbürger” group will start on Tuesday at the Munich Higher Regional Court (OLG).

Henry XIII Prince Reuß

The main defendant, Henry XIII Prince Reuß, stands behind the dock as the trial against a suspected “Reichsbürger” group continues. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa Pool | Boris Roessler

This is the group that became known after a large-scale anti-terror raid in several federal states and abroad shortly after St. Nicholas Day 2022. The 26 defendants are said to have planned a violent overthrow of the federal government – according to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.

READ ALSO: German ‘prince’ goes to court in second trial against far-right coup plot

The Munich Higher Regional Court will now hear from alleged members of the group, including several founding members. 

The eight defendants in Munich are accused of membership in – partly also the founding – of a terrorist organization and the preparation of a so-called treasonous enterprise. Four men also have to answer for preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state, one also for violations of the weapons law. They all face long prison sentences.

With reporting by dpa.

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