Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

POLITICS

British Prime Minister Starmer to visit Germany in first bilateral trip

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin next week in his first bilateral trip since taking office, a German government spokesman said Friday.

Published: 23 August 2024 16:51 CEST
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer greets Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz (L) prior to the Meeting of the European Political Community at the Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, near Oxford, on July 18, 2024.
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer greets Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz (L) prior to the Meeting of the European Political Community at the Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, near Oxford, on July 18, 2024. Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP

Starmer will be welcomed to the German capital with military honours on Wednesday, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in a statement.

The UK Prime Minister and Scholz will hold talks focusing on “bilateral and foreign policy topics as well as European and economic policy issues”, Hebestreit said.

Starmer, whose Labour Party won a landslide election victory in Britain in July, has vowed to rebuild trust with European allies, damaged by Brexit.

At a European Political Community (EPC) summit in England two weeks after his election win, Starmer told European leaders the UK would be a “friend and partner” to them.

“We want to work with all of you to reset relationships, rediscover our common interest and renew the bonds of trust and friendship that brighten the fabric of European life,” he said.

Starmer, 61, a former human rights lawyer and chief state prosecutor, supported Britain remaining in the EU during the 2016 Brexit referendum and was once Labour’s Brexit spokesman.

READ ALSO: Budget drama and what Germans think about UK election

He has ruled out rejoining the European single market, customs union or freedom of movement — to avoid reopening what remains a thorny issue among British politicians and the public alike.

But he does want to negotiate a new security pact with the bloc and a veterinary agreement to ease border checks on agricultural foods, as well as an improved trading deal.

Other topics of discussion on Wednesday will likely include tackling illegal migration and military support for Ukraine, with both countries under pressure over their aid for Kyiv.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy chose Germany for his first trip abroad just two days after Labour’s election victory, calling for a “reset” in relations with European allies.

Defence Secretary John Healey has also visited Berlin, signing a joint declaration with German counterpart Boris Pistorius in late July that was hailed as the first of its kind between the NATO allies.

READ ALSO: New UK Foreign Minister in Germany for first trip abroad

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

POLITICS

Greens struggle against far-right tide in eastern Germany

Thuringia is one of three eastern German states holding elections in September. But as the far-right AfD is riding high, the Green party is fighting for survival, polling on less than five percent.

Published: 23 August 2024 08:21 CEST
Greens struggle against far-right tide in eastern Germany

On top of a mountain in the lush green forest of Thuringia, the Kyffhaeuser monument was erected as a tribute to Kaiser Wilhelm I, the first head of a united Germany.

But the huge sandstone monument has become a symbol of division in the former East German state as it prepares to hold a key regional election on September 1st.

The nostalgic structure has become a popular meeting point for members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is leading opinion polls ahead of the election on around 30 percent.

According to legend, Holy Roman Emperor Barbarossa has been sleeping at the monument for 800 years and his reawakening will restore the greatness of the German empire.

“The far right must not be allowed to appropriate this place,” Madeleine Henfling, the Green party’s top candidate for the election, told AFP at the foot of the monument.

“The monument is glorified by these guys. It’s very dangerous,” agreed Michael Fischer, 66, visiting the site with his daughter and grandchildren.

In a bid to stop the monument from being co-opted by the AfD, the local government is setting up a new European history documentation centre there.

Henfling, who has been campaigning against the neo-Nazi movement for more than 15 years, believes the centre will help stop the monument being used to fuel far-right political narratives.

Attacks and insults

Thuringia is one of three former East German states holding elections in September, with the AfD looking set to make big gains in all three.

Björn Höcke, a former history teacher who is now the head of the AfD in Thuringia, is one of the party’s most controversial figures and was fined twice this year for using a banned Nazi slogan.

Meanwhile, the Greens – part of the incumbent three-way coalition government in Thuringia – are fighting for their survival, polling on less than five percent.

READ ALSO: How similar are Germany’s AfD and BSW parties?

Henfling, 41, was born in Ilmenau, a small village in the region, six years before the fall of the Berlin Wall and remembers being aware of the rising far right even as a child.

“It’s sort of in my DNA. I can smell Nazis 100 metres away, even in a headwind,” she told AFP.

Attacks on politicians from all parties have increased in the run-up to the election.

“We get insulted all the time, and for me this is nothing new,” said Henfling, who has been a member of Thuringia’s regional parliament for 10 years.

However, the danger “has diversified”, she said, with people of different ages and backgrounds now potentially posing a threat.

“Our members no longer give out flyers or stick up posters on their own, and especially not at night,” she said.

Henfling and her team use an anonymous black vehicle for campaign trips and notify the police each time they are out.

‘Tired of change’

When campaigning door to door, “there are certainly places we don’t go, because we know we’d be turned away and there’d be no point,” she said.

Henfling believes the Greens have struggled in the former East Germany because they are “asking people to change their behaviour (to protect the climate)”.

“Many people in Thuringia, and elsewhere, are tired of change – even if it’s for their own good,” she said.

READ ALSO: INTERVIEW – ‘Failed climate policies are fuelling far-right politics in Germany’

After German reunification in 1990 and the collapse of the communist government, the former East Germany struggled with social deprivation and unemployment was rife.

“(People) are now afraid of being marginalised yet again, against a backdrop of uncertainty with the war in Ukraine and inflation,” Henfling said.

Henfling’s mother never found another job after being made redundant from a bookshop in 1990. But she believes trials like these have made East Germans stronger.

In the town of Nordhausen, a stone’s throw from the Kyffhaeuser monument, a 67-year-old pensioner who gave his name only as Wolfgang said he will be voting for the AfD.

“It’s because of the Greens that the economy is going to the dogs,” he said.

READ ALSO: Why a German orchestra is using music to protest against the far-right

SHOW COMMENTS