Germany

German Chancellor’s Quick Reversal On Refugees

September 20, 2015 Victor Grossman, www.portside.org Educate! Germany, Refugees, Syria, Workers Rights and Jobs

By Victor Grossman for Portside. Berlin, Germany - ”A million refugees in Germany this year,” predicted Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel. But Angela Merkel had announced that all were welcome – winning her a reputation as the most humane leader in all Europe. Did her internationalist upbringing in East Germany, with a progressive Christian pastor as father, play some role at first? But suddenly the line was changed; German crossing points from Austria were shut down. Then Austria closed its entry points from Hungary, while Hungary, by far the most brutal, plugged up its entry points from Serbia with razor wire and, when it felt necessary, with batons, tear gas and multiple arrests. Now Serbia has followed suit, Croatia felt forced to do the same, and those Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans and other refuge-seekers who survived dangerous crossing through ever stormier seas are caught in a series of mouse-traps.

Refugees March On Austria After Hungary Blocks Trains

September 5, 2015 Al Jazeera, www.aljazeera.com Resist! Austria, Europe, Germany, Hungary, Refugee

By Al Jazeera - Hundreds of mostly Syrian refugees have begun marching to the Austrian border after being prevented from boarding trains to Germany in the Hungarian capital Budapest. Authorities appeared to be allowing groups of refugees to make the 170km journey to the border crossing on Friday amid tense scenes across the country. Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, reporting from near the M1 and M7 motorways outside Budapest, said authorities appeared to be helping the refugees make the journey despite fears the road would be blocked. "There are hundreds of people who have marched something like 10km from the centre of Budapest from the rail station to here...they say they have no option but to do this. "It may sound far fetched but they're intent on reaching the border.

Pro-Refugee German Politician Speaks Out After Car Explodes

September 3, 2015 Felicity Capon, www.europe.newsweek.com Resist! Germany, Immigration, Refugee

By Felicity Capon in Newsweek - A local left-wing politician known for supporting the housing of refugees in the German town of Freital, has spoken out about the harassment and death threats by right-wing extremists he has experienced, after his car exploded outside his house on Monday morning in what Germany's Die Linke party (Left party) believes was a politically motivated attack. The car belonged to Michael Richter, head of the party's faction on the town council of Freital, a town on the outskirts of Dresden in Saxony. While it is not clear what caused the blast, which did not injure anyone, police say it was the result of someone purposely "introducing an explosive agent" into the vehicle, according to German newspaper Deutsche Welle. An investigation is underway. Richter, 39, told the news site MoPo24 how he was awoken by a loud bang in the early hours of Monday morning, and looked out of his window to see black smoke rising from his car. The explosion was so powerful it damaged nearby cars on the street.

Report: German Spies Got Access To NSA Surveillance Tool

August 28, 2015 Dustin Volz in National Journal, www.nationaljournal.com Educate! Germany, Internet, NSA, Surveillance

By Dustin Volz in National Journal - Germany's national intelligence agency secretly traded information with the National Security Agency in return for gaining access to a powerful software surveillance program, according to a German newspaper report. Germany's domestic spying agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution or Bundesverfassungsschutz, agreed to share targeted surveillance data on its citizens with the NSA in April 2013, according to a report in the weekly newspaper Die Zeit. In exchange, the German intelligence agency was given access to use U.S. software known as XKeyscore, which the NSA once described in a training manual as its "widest-reaching" Internet surveillance system.

Germany’s Agricultural Minister Moves To Ban GM Crops

August 26, 2015 Nick Meyer, www.march-against-monsanto.com Resist! Food and Agriculture, Germany, GMO

By Nick Meyer in March Against Monsanto - As United States citizens battle legislation like the DARK Act (HR 1599, now headed to the Senate) designed to take away mandatory GMO labeling, across Europe the debate is not over whether to label but instead whether to ban the controversial crops. Recently one European nation, Scotland, announced its plans to enact a ban, and now another big domino is set to fall on the side of banning GMOs as well: Germany. According to a report from Reuters today, the nation with a population of over 80 million will make use of the European Union’s “opt-out” clause in order to move toward a ban of genetically modified crops, according to documents seen by the news agency.

German Universities Offer Free Education To Refugees

August 24, 2015 Beatrice Gitau, www.csmonitor.com Create! Education, Germany, Immigration

By Beatrice Gitau in CS Monitor - About 60 German universities in Germany are providing free university education to the growing population of refugees who are seeking asylum in the country, German newspaper Handelsblatt reports. Some universities are offering language tuition, have waived semester fees, provide free student passes for public transport, and give access to hardship and grant funds, according to survey done last month by the German Rectors’ Conference, a voluntary association of state universities. “Migration is a task for all of society, and universities must do their part,” University of Hildesheim president Wolfgang-Uwe Friedrich explained to Handelsblatt on why he set up the program. The Washington Post notes that, “German universities have been tuition-free since the beginning of October. The country offers more than 900 English-language degrees even Americans could pursue for free, with courses ranging from engineering to social sciences.”

Germans To Run Greek Airports In Wave Of Bailout Privatisations

August 19, 2015 Associated Press, www.AP.org Educate! Austerity, Germany, Greece, Privatization

By Associated Press in The Guardian - Greece has agreed to sell to a German company the rights to operate 14 regional airports. The deal is the first in a wave of privatisations the government had until recently opposed but must make to qualify for bailout loans. The decision, published in the government gazette on Monday night would hand over the airports including several on popular tourist island destinations to Fraport AG, which runs Frankfurt Airport, among others across the world. The deal, worth €1.23bn euros (£0.9bn/$1.37bn), is the first privatisation decision taken by the government of Alexis Tsipras, who was elected prime minister in January on promises to repeal the conditions of Greece’s previous two bailouts. The government initially vowed to cancel the country’s privatisation programme but Tsipras caved in to win a deal on a third international bailout for Greece, worth €86bn.

Protesters Storm Open-Pit Coal Mine In Western Germany

August 17, 2015 CT Post, www.AP.org Resist! Civil Disobedience, Germany, Mining, Oil & Gas

By Associated Press - Environmental activists have stormed a lignite mine in western Germany to protest the use of coal, a major source of greenhouse gases. The German news agency dpa reports that several hundred people from a group calling itself EndeGelaende — which loosely translates as "it's finished now" — broke through a police line in Garzweiler, west of Cologne. Police spokesman Anton Hamacher says officers used pepper spray to stop the crowd and are removing protesters from the site. A spokesman for German energy company RWE says several huge bucket-wheel excavators used at the open-pit mine had to be shut down for safety reasons. Spokesman Lothar Lambertzsays RWE has canceled plans to bring employees onto the site to rally in favor of coal mining.

Germany’s Press Freedom Challenges As A Surveillance State

August 9, 2015 Ashley Curtin, www.bullhorn.nationofchange.org/activists_set_sail_for_the_gaza_strip_to_break_blockade" t Resist! Freedom of the Press, Germany, Surveillance

By Jennifer Collins for Occupy.com - Two German journalists are demanding that authorities drop a treason probe against them in the wake of officials sacking the country's top prosecutor for his role in what has become a national scandal about privacy, government secrets and press freedom. "There's no information about when this crappy proceeding is going to be scrapped — there is no talk of that," said Markus Beckedahl, editor-in-chief of the Netzpolitik blog, speaking this week before a packed crowd in Berlin's cyperpunk-esque hacker space, c-base. Chief federal prosecutor Harald Range was investigating whether Beckedahl and fellow Netzpolitik journalist Andre Meister revealed state secrets when they published stories about a plan to expand Germany's online surveillance.

Challenging Germany, Leading Italian Politician Calls For Euro Exit

July 24, 2015 Stephanie Kirchgaessner, www.theguardian.com Resist! Austerity, Europe, Germany, Italy

By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in The Guardian - The populist leader of Italy’s second largest political party has called for the nationalisation of Italian banks and exit from the euro, and said the country should prepare to use its “enormous debt” as a weapon against Germany. Former comedian-turned-politician Beppe Grillo, who transformed Italian politicswhen he launched his anti-establishment Five Star Movement in 2009, has long been a bombastic critic of the euro. But his stance hardened significantly in ablogpost on Thursday in which he compared the Greek bailout negotiations to “explicit nazism”. Grillo constructed what he called a “Plan B” for Italy, which he said needed to heed the lessons ofGreece so that it was ready “when the debtors come round”. His plan called for Italy to adopt a clear anti-euro stance and to shake off its belief that – if forced to accept tough austerity – other “peripheral” countries would come to its aid.

Europe’s Vindictive Privatization Plan For Greece

July 23, 2015 Yanis Varoufakis, www.socialeurope.eu Create! Austerity, Europe, Germany, Greece, Imperialism, Politics

By Yanis Varoufakis in Social Europe - On July 12, the summit of eurozone leaders dictated its terms of surrender to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who, terrified by the alternatives, accepted all of them. One of those terms concerned the disposition of Greece’s remaining public assets. Eurozone leaders demanded that Greek public assets be transferred to a Treuhand-like fund – a fire-sale vehicle similar to the one used after the fall of the Berlin Wall to privatize quickly, at great financial loss, and with devastating effects on employment all of the vanishing East German state’s public property. This Greek Treuhand would be based in – wait for it – Luxembourg, and would be run by an outfit overseen by Germany’s finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, the author of the scheme. It would complete the fire sales within three years. But, whereas the work of the original Treuhand was accompanied by massive West German investment in infrastructure and large-scale social transfers to the East German population, the people of Greece would receive no corresponding benefit of any sort.

100,000 German Beekeepers Just Called For A Ban On GMOs

July 22, 2015 Amanda Froelich, www.trueactivist.com Resist! Bees, Germany, GMOs

By Amanda Froelich in True Activist - Bees’ importance cannot be overstated. As TrueActivist has shared before, the tiny, bumbling insects are responsible for a lot – making them essential in the future of our planet. Therefore, with massive bee die-offs (otherwise known as ‘colony collapse disorder’), it has been the plight of many scientists, beekeepers, and educated activists to do whatever it takes to ensure bees survive. Some theories exist as to what is causing colony collapse, such as Monsanto’s GMO crops, the insecticides used to treat them, and EMF frequencies from excessive technological use… but debate persists. In wake of all the controversy, the German Beekeepers Association (DIB), which represents almost 100,000 beekeepers, decided to take action by calling for a nationwide ban on GMO cultivation. The news comes from a report published by the German NGO keine-gentechnik.de.

Irresponsible German Banks Greater Threat To EU Than Greece

July 15, 2015 Μιχάλης Γιαννεσκής, www.failedevolution.blogspot.gr Educate! Austerity, Debt, Europe, Germany, Greece

By Μιχάλης Γιαννεσκής in Failed Evolution - Wolfgang Schäuble and the German leadership of the eurozone have good reasons to worry, maintaining an uncompromising attitude in the negotiations with Greece. But the repayment of Greek debt, which amounts to EUR 317 billion, is not one of the most important ones. The Greek debt is insignificant in comparison with the financial dynamite of the German (and other) banks, which in recent months gives more daily ignition signs. Only Deutsche Bank, the largest bank in Germany, is significantly exposed, holding dubious financial products known as "derivatives", worth 67 trillion euros. This amount is similar to the GDP of the entire world and 20 times greater than the GDP of Germany. Any comparison with the situation of the bank Lehman Brothers in 2008 would not be irrelevant.

German Production Is A Facade Built On Bad Loans…

July 15, 2015 Thad Beversdorf, www.zerohedge.com Educate! Austerity, Banking, Europe, Germany, Greece

By Thad Beversdorf in Zerohedge - Well Greece and China have certainly taken away the need for Russia and ISIS breaking news so there’s that….. How very nice that 2 of the top 3 global threats apparently provide the West some breathing room when we have other issues to deal with. Surely this isn’t just the media determining what should be our concern and what should not? But I digress…. I want to dig into the Greece situation to provide some clarity that I feel has been lacking in mainstream media. The Greece situation is a terrible tragedy for the Greek people. However, the real crux of the matter is out of their hands. Money that is not there cannot be used to pay down debt. And so while the referendum was symbolic it really didn’t change the course of history. The true discussion and debate has been between Germany and the ECB and this dissent between the two is becoming ever harder to cover up.

Greece’s Capitulation Reveals Deep Conflicts Within Eurozone

July 13, 2015 Jerome Roos, www.roarmag.org Educate! Austerity, European Union (EU), Finland, France, Germany, Greece

By Jerome Roos for ROAR - For the past two weeks, day-to-day life in Greece has been suspended on a political pendulum swinging violently from one extreme to the other. Between bank runs and mass mobilizations, heroic victories and inglorious defeats, financial blackmail and popular defiance, the future of this small country — and of the entire currency union of which it is a part — still hangs in the balance. It has been an emotional roller coaster throughout, with the collective heartbeat in Athens oscillating wildly between hope and desperation; between the tears of joy at Syntagma on the night of the referendum victory and the cries of agony resounding from the same square just days later, as prime minister Tsipras and his Syriza-led government prepared to capitulate. In the end, the overwhelming sensation is one of confusion and disbelief. What just happened? Was that real? The European Monetary Union is a mortally wounded animal preying blindly on its own tail. The Greek debt saga is merely the signal crisis of its eventual demise; even if it is eventually “resolved”, more intense conflicts are undoubtedly to come.

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