Germany sees record rise in politically motivated crimes
A record number of politically motivated crimes occurred in Germany last year, fuelled partly by global events including the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, according to a report published on Tuesday.
Authorities registered 60,028 politically motivated offences in 2023, up from 58,916 the previous year, the report from Germany’s domestic intelligence agency said.
Around 25,660 of the crimes were committed by right-wing extremists, an increase of 22.4 percent from 2022.
“Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, right-wing extremists have used the resulting economic upheaval… in political campaigns and calls for mobilisation,” the report said.
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Crimes committed by left-wing extremists rose by 10.4 percent, though their number was much smaller at 4,248.
There was also a surge in anti-Semitic crimes, which jumped to 492 from just 33 the previous year.
Germany is also seeing an increased security threat from foreign powers in the form of spying, sabotage, disinformation and cyberattacks, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) said.
“Russia, China and Iran in particular are using their intelligence services extensively for espionage against Germany,” she said.
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German investor confidence disappoints in June
German investor confidence rose less than expected in June, a key survey said Tuesday, after Europe’s top economy saw an uptick in inflation following months of decline.
The ZEW institute’s closely-watched economic expectations index edged up to 47.5 points, from 47.1 points in May.
Although it was the index’s 11th consecutive increase, analysts surveyed by FactSet had been expecting a bigger improvement in morale.
Investors’ assessment of Germany’s current economic situation meanwhile “has slightly deteriorated”, the institute said.
The disappointing readings came amid a stagnating economic situation assessment “for the eurozone as a whole,” said ZEW president Achim Wambach. At the same time, inflation expectations were on the rise again after inflation data in May “turned out higher than what was expected,” he added.
Germany’s annual inflation rate climbed to 2.4 percent in May, the first increase in six months.
Analysts said it was mainly due to one-off factors, and the European Central Bank this month went ahead with its first interest rate cut since 2019 as it sees eurozone inflation on track to returning to its two-percent target.
The German economy shrank in 2023 as it battled headwinds including high energy prices, elevated interest rates and cooling exports.
The government expects a modest recovery to get under way this year as demand picks up on the back of falling inflation and lower rates, forecasting growth of 0.3 percent.
Rheinmetall suggests supplying Ukraine with ‘Frankenstein tanks’
The German arms manufacturer, Rheinmetall, currently supplies Ukraine with hundreds of vehicles and tons of ammunition. Now the firm suggests sending old tanks with new technology into defensive battle.
According to reporting by Bild, Rheinmetall has been refurbishing old Leopard 1 tanks at a new factory in Western Ukraine.
READ ALSO: Berlin allows Ukraine to fire German weapons at targets in Russia
The announced tanks are Leopard 1 tanks from the Cold War era that have been mounted with a modern Skyranger air defence system. They are colloquially called “Frankenstein tanks” because they are made of parts from different weapons, like Frankenstein’s monster was made of parts from different bodies.
Russia has also been using improvised military equipment in Ukraine to compensate for its losses.
According to Rheinmetall, the Frankenstein tanks could be used to defend against Russian drones and missiles, which have been targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in particular. Air defence remains a major problem for Ukraine presently.
READ ALSO: German arms maker to hire workers from ailing auto firm
German police reject Poland migrant pushback claim
German police have rejected suggestions that officers had illegally dumped a family of Afghan migrants in Poland, while apologising to Polish authorities for failing to follow standard procedures.
A spokeswoman for the German federal police said the incident was “somewhat different” to that described in a report by Polish news site Chojna24.pl, which purportedly showed officers dropping the migrants in a car park and immediately returning to Germany.
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk had branded the alleged incident “unacceptable” in a message on social media on Monday and said he would seek answers from German authorities.
The family was intercepted by German police “attempting to enter the country illegally” near the border with Poland on Friday morning, the spokeswoman said.
After being taken to the local police station, German authorities determined the migrants had to be “sent back to Poland”.
The family, including three children aged four, six and eight, “did not meet the entry and residence requirements for Germany”, the spokeswoman said.
They five had “pending asylum proceedings in neighbouring Poland, for which they had Polish asylum documents”, she said.
The officers sought to make contact with Polish authorities to hand them back to Polish border guards.
After waiting for an answer from the Polish side for “several hours”, the officers decided to take the family on patrol close to the border to release them back into Poland.
One of the children became ill on the journey, “whereupon a federal police officer who was familiar with the area decided, in consultation with the child’s father, to drive to the nearest pharmacy”, which was in Poland.
The decision was made for “the benefit of the family” and to keep the length of their detention to a minimum, the spokeswoman said.
After reaching the pharmacy, the mother realised that her mobile phone had been left at the German police station. She was driven back to the station to collect the phone and then returned to her family in Poland, the spokeswoman said.
“To our knowledge, this is the first time such a situation has occurred,” she said. “The matter is being intensively followed up with our Polish colleagues.”
Fan zones closed for severe storms
Due to the threat of severe storms, several Euro 2024 fan zones in North Rhine-Westphalia and Berlin were closed as a precaution on Tuesday.
The German Weather Service (DWD) warned about severe storms in a wide strip across the centre of the country: “There is a threat of a severe thunderstorm situation across the middle of the country, which will last from noon today to Wednesday morning,” said DWD meteorologist Marcel Schmid. “Be particularly vigilant and careful, there is a risk of fallen trees and damage to buildings and vehicles.”
READ ALSO: Euro 2024 fan zones closed in western Germany as storm warnings issued
According to the weather service, the areas of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia over the middle to eastern Germany will be particularly affected.
With reporting by DPA and Paul Krantz.
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