Germany megathread

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

The German Bundestag is taking up a measure to protect women seeking abortions from harassment at abortion clinics. The draft law had its first reading today:

- harassment, which includes misogynistic language, will be classified as "pedestrian harassment"
- a buffer zone around abortion clinics and health centers will be established
- violators can be cited by the police with a fine up to a maximum of 5.000 EUR

[President Johnson]

The German Bundestag is taking up a measure to protect women seeking abortions from harassment at abortion clinics. The draft law had its first reading today:

- harassment, which includes misogynistic language, will be classified as "pedestrian harassment"
- a buffer zone around abortion clinics and health centers will be established
- violators can be cited by the police with a fine up to a maximum of 5.000 EUR

An expert commission set up by the government just recently also recommended a full decriminalization of abortion in Germany. While SPD and Greens have expressed support for such a move, it seems likely FDP yet again will block it. Their obstructionism and "playing the opposition role within the government" is tiresome. At this point FDP deserves to be thrown out of the Bundestag after the next election.

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

The German Bundestag has approved the Self-Determination Law regarding transgender rights, and also a minor reform of naming regulations to permit couples to combine their names with a hyphen and pass it onto their children

[Middle-aged Europe]

Last year, the AfD's lead candidate for the upcoming European election - Maximilian Krah - was held at the airport in New York and questioned by the FBI.

https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/deutschland/maximilian-krah-afd-russland-woloschyn-fbi-eu-wahlkampf-100.html

Why? Well, to cut a long story short: I wouldn't necessarily lose any libel suits if I'd call Krah a Russian asset. Asset in the sense that he did receive money from them.

[President Johnson]

Last year, the AfD's lead candidate for the upcoming European election - Maximilian Krah - was held at the airport in New York and questioned by the FBI.

https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/deutschland/maximilian-krah-afd-russland-woloschyn-fbi-eu-wahlkampf-100.html

Why? Well, to cut a long story short: I wouldn't necessarily lose any libel suits if I'd call Krah a Russian asset. Asset in the sense that he did receive money from them.

Not surprised at all. The guy is widely labeled as a far-right extremist.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Did I mention Russia?

Two German-Russian nationals were arrested in Bavaria on (among other things) charges of espionage. They apparently planned attacks on U.S. military installations and the arms industry in order to disrupt assistance for Ukraine.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68843541

https://www.dw.com/en/german-police-arrest-two-suspected-of-spying-for-russia/a-68854481

[Meclazine for Israel]

Story in Australian media today. Seems like a bit alarmist. I don't think German's are heading back to 1933 just yet.

Björn Höcke on trial for allegedly using Nazi slogan

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-18/german-bjorn-hocke-afd-party/103696230


Björn Höcke, leader of a regional far-right political party, has been accused of using a Nazi slogan multiple times. (Reuters: Hannibal Hanschke)

The phrase — "Alles für Deutschland" in German — was inscribed on weapons used by Nazi paramilitary officers.

Support for the AfD party hit a record high of 23 per cent last December, according to polling institute Forsa.

[Middle-aged Europe]

Story in Australian media today. Seems like a bit alarmist. I don't think German's are heading back to 1933 just yet.

Strictly speaking, the AfD's role model is - rather blatently so - Russia, ca. 2014.

They do believe however that too much fuss is made about the Nazi period, because it distracts, to quote ex-AfD leader Alexander Gauland, from "a thousand years of sucessful German history"... a thousand year period that includes the genocide against the Herero in the 1900s or the violent quelling of the revolution of 1848 which, had it succeeded, could arguably have prevented the two aforementioned atrocities.

[CumbrianLefty]

Stuff like the Thirty Years War, as well.  For at least some parts of Germany the destruction wreaked by it was comparable to WW2, and took rather longer to recover from.

[President Johnson]

The Höcke trial very much reminds me of Trump. Because just like Agent Orange, he sees himself as the victim of a political witch hunt to torpedo his chances in the upcoming fall election. Not sure whether it works to his benefit though. AfD lately has lost some support in public opinion polls.

[Storr]

Did I mention Russia?

Two German-Russian nationals were arrested in Bavaria on (among other things) charges of espionage. They apparently planned attacks on U.S. military installations and the arms industry in order to disrupt assistance for Ukraine.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68843541

https://www.dw.com/en/german-police-arrest-two-suspected-of-spying-for-russia/a-68854481

The official response:

"The suspicion that Putin is recruiting agents in our country to carry out attacks on German soil is extremely grave. We will not allow Putin to bring his terror to Germany. This was communicated to the Russian ambassador today during a summons.
@ABaerbock"

https://twitter.com/GermanyDiplo/status/1780983042040881218

[Middle-aged Europe]

The Höcke trial very much reminds me of Trump. Because just like Agent Orange, he sees himself as the victim of a political witch hunt to torpedo his chances in the upcoming fall election. Not sure whether it works to his benefit though. AfD lately has lost some support in public opinion polls.

Höcke is more like a Richard B. Spencer analogue rather than a Trump one though.

We don't really have a true Trump analogue, thank God, although Trump is maybe a bit of a cross between Söder and Aiwanger... turned up to eleven. Aiwanger certainly managed to win more votes after his anti-Semitic pamphlet scandal indicating that outrageous stuff actually helps in solidifying his popularity among his base just like it seems to happen with Trump.

[vitoNova]

lol.  There ain't nothing to bomb at Graf, except empty fields and maybe the occasional feral pig.  (and yes, before anyone asks, I've been to Graf/Hohenfels several times, because way back in a previous life, that's where I had to go for my annual weapons qual).

But yes, Ruskies in Germany are a shady bunch.  I had a gaggle of them as my next-door neighbors in my apartment building in Wiesbaden--most of them in their early-to-mid 20s with suspiciously short-cropped haircuts...who "worked for Mitsubishi".   *wink wink*.  

[Middle-aged Europe]

Did I mention Russia?

Two German-Russian nationals were arrested in Bavaria on (among other things) charges of espionage. They apparently planned attacks on U.S. military installations and the arms industry in order to disrupt assistance for Ukraine.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68843541

https://www.dw.com/en/german-police-arrest-two-suspected-of-spying-for-russia/a-68854481

Did I mention spies?

Three German nationals have been arrested after they attempted to steal military secrets on behalf of China's Ministry of State Security:

https://www.dw.com/en/germany-arrests-3-suspected-china-spies/a-68885712

I guess next up are the Iranians, simply to complete the triumvirate.

[Silent Hunter]

Stuff like the Thirty Years War, as well.  For at least some parts of Germany the destruction wreaked by it was comparable to WW2, and took rather longer to recover from.

If terms of percentage population loss, actually worse. Remember the Western Allies got through much of Germany pretty quickly once they were over the Rhine - many places surrendered without much of a fight if any.

[Yeahsayyeah]

In a joint venture of both story arcs a staffer of AfD's list leading candidate for the European parliamentary elections, Maximilian Krah, has been arrested under the allegation of spying for China

[Middle-aged Europe]

In a joint venture of both story arcs a staffer of Maximilian Krah hast been arrested under the allegation of spying for China

English-language article: https://www.dw.com/en/german-far-right-afd-staffer-arrested-on-china-spy-charges/a-68894735

German broadcasters on Tuesday reported that police had arrested an employee of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party on suspicion of espionage.

In January 2024, the accused repeatedly passed on information about negotiations and decisions in the European Parliament to his intelligence client. He also spied on Chinese opposition figures in Germany for the intelligence service.

The worker, Jian G, is said to have been an assistant to the AfD's top candidate for the European Parliament elections, Maximilian Krah.

Investigators think the suspect may have passed information on parliamentary operations to China's Ministry of State Security (MSS).

[Middle-aged Europe]

Politico article: https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-arrests-eu-parliament-afd-staffer-afd-spy-china-jian-g-mep-krah/

BBC article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68880086


Krah himself being paid by Moscow and one of his assistants working for Beijing sounds like a possible case of jurisdiction friction to me. What happens if the Chinese and Russians can't agree on a common course of action?

[Yeahsayyeah]

Then, Krah would be killed by his staffer while he was trying to cross the Amur with a steel helmet and a knife... ;-)

[Middle-aged Europe]

Politicians from, among others, CDU and FDP have demanded Maximilian Krah's resignation as the European election's lead candidate for the AfD.

Given it is the AfD I'm not sure if he will follow suit though. A Trumpian "ILLEGA!L WITHCHUNT!!" and attacking the other parties for "betraying Germany" through their respective policies is just as likely.

[Storr]

Politico article: https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-arrests-eu-parliament-afd-staffer-afd-spy-china-jian-g-mep-krah/

BBC article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-68880086


Krah himself being paid by Moscow and one of his assistants working for Beijing sounds like a possible case of jurisdiction friction to me. What happens if the Chinese and Russians can't agree on a common course of action?

"It must be damn hard to be a Chinese intelligence officer tasked with spying on the EU these days. You want to recruit some far-right politicians but it always turns out you're late and they're already working for Russia.

So all you're left with are their lousy assistants."

https://twitter.com/panyiszabolcs/status/1782731520710521091

[President Johnson]

Politicians from, among others, CDU and FDP have demanded Maximilian Krah's resignation as the European election's lead candidate for the AfD.

Given it is the AfD I'm not sure if he will follow suit though. A Trumpian "ILLEGA!L WITHCHUNT!!" and attacking the other parties for "betraying Germany" through their respective policies is just as likely.

I wonder whether it wouldn't be better to keep him as their standard bearer, because he'd be an albatross around his party's neck. The parties of the democratic center must get much aggressive on painting AfD (and BSW) as a party of Moscow and Beijing. Ergo, they are anti-patriots, the exact opposite of what they claim.

[palandio]

Politicians from, among others, CDU and FDP have demanded Maximilian Krah's resignation as the European election's lead candidate for the AfD.

Given it is the AfD I'm not sure if he will follow suit though. A Trumpian "ILLEGA!L WITHCHUNT!!" and attacking the other parties for "betraying Germany" through their respective policies is just as likely.

The current AfD talking point regarding Krah's assistant seems to be that it's the fault of the German intelligence agency which has been observing the assistant for several years and should have warned Krah earlier, who would be the victim here. Additionally like always the AfD asks why these allegations became public exactly now. Not the most stupid defense, but it would be even more credible if there weren't hints that Krah himself is a Chinese and Russian asset so that there might have been good reasons for the intelligence agency not to inform him.

[...]

I wonder whether it wouldn't be better to keep him as their standard bearer, because he'd be an albatross around his party's neck. The parties of the democratic center must get much aggressive on painting AfD (and BSW) as a party of Moscow and Beijing. Ergo, they are anti-patriots, the exact opposite of what they claim.

Yeah, on at least two issues Krah is the personification of not entirely unpopular right-wing populist positions taken to the completely unpopular extreme:

Not entirely unpopular: "Illegal immigrant need to be deported, but we dispute any involvement in plans to deport legal immigrants or German citizens."
Maximilian Krah in his book Politics from the Right: "Even if a restrictive immigration policy could be implemented politically in 10 years, the question remains what should happen to the people with a migrant background who will then be in the country. [...] 25 million people, including 15 million German citizens. [...] Unfortunately even in ten years there will not be anywhere near a political majority or even the constitutional and international law possibility to expel these people from the country against their will."

Not entirely unpopular: "We should seek good relations with Russia and China and ignore Ukraine."
Maximilian Krah: Is basically a Russian and Chinese asset, praises Erdoğan.

[President Johnson]

Krah will stay on, but he won't appear to the party's EU elections campaign launch. What a pathetic group of people.

https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1783110893301047714

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

Today the Bundestag voted to approve June 15th as "Veteran's Day" in Germany, starting in 2025.

It will not be a formal holiday, but a day of remembrance. All current and previous service personnel are included; it is estimated that a total of 10 million people have served in the Bundeswehr since its founding in 1955. Since then, 3,387 soldiers and civilian employees of the Bundeswehr have died in service.

The bill was not purely symbolic, but also included measure to improve post-service care, including rehab, therapy, and job searching. Families of those affected will also be eligible for support.

Members of the National People's Army of the GDR and those of the Wehrmacht up until 1945 are explicitly excluded from the new Veteran's Day. Only the Bundeswehr, which is considered a democratically-legitimized force, and whose members are citizens in uniform, are explicitly included.

All parliamentary groups voted in favor, with the sole exception of Die Linke.