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Germany

The fight against fascism in Germany requires a socialist perspective

By the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei, 4 September 2018

Moral outrage is not enough to stop the fascist mob: it is necessary to understand the political roots of its resurgence.

“In Germany, of all places, we should know better”

Tens of thousands protest across Germany against neo-Nazi violence in Chemnitz

By our reporters, 3 September 2018

Following a neo-Nazi rampage in Chemnitz last Sunday and Monday, tens of thousands have demonstrated across Germany against the far right.

Young Euro Classic 2018—a display of boundless musical virtuosity and symphonic poetry

By Verena Nees, 3 September 2018

The 20 nearly sold-out concerts by international youth orchestras struck a clear musical counterpoint to the xenophobic and nationalist policies of the global political elites.

Fascist rampage in Germany exposes ties between right-wing extremists and the state

By Johannes Stern, 1 September 2018

After neo-Nazis rioted on Sunday and Monday in the East German city of Chemnitz, more details have come to light about the close coordination between the right-wing extremists, the police and the state apparatus.

Who is to blame for the neo-Nazi rampage in Chemnitz, Germany?

By Johannes Stern, 30 August 2018

Over 7,000 neo-Nazis marched through the streets of Chemnitz, attacking people they accused of being foreigners, chanting fascist slogans and giving Nazi salutes.

German Foreign Minister Maas sees Europe setting “red lines” for US conduct

By Ulrich Rippert and Peter Schwarz, 29 August 2018

More clearly than government officials have done so far, Maas describes the US as a major obstacle to a new German drive to become a world power again.

Neo-Nazi mob rampages through East German city of Chemnitz

By Johannes Stern, 28 August 2018

Recent events suggest that the far-right demonstrations were closely coordinated with, or even instigated by, the security authorities.

The German army’s new policy doctrine: Preparing for World War III

By Johannes Stern, 28 August 2018

The grand coalition and the entire German ruling elite are planning the massive rearmament of the army in preparation for major military operations.

Growing links between German right-wing extremists, police and state government in Saxony

By Sven Heymann, 27 August 2018

The media and establishment politicians are playing down the recent events in Dresden, or openly defending the actions of the police.

German government and police unite with far-right to clamp down on press freedom in Dresden

By Peter Schwarz, 25 August 2018

The grand coalition of the CDU, CSU and SPD has largely adopted the AfD’s policies, and is going out of its way to praise the right-wing extremist party.

How the secret service and the far-right AfD control German politics

By Peter Schwarz, 24 August 2018

Meetings between secret service chief Hans-Georg Maaßen and senior AfD members make clear that the decision to target the Socialist Equality Party (SGP) is part of a right-wing conspiracy in the state apparatus.

Musicians’ group calls for shutdown of the German secret service

By Dietmar Henning, 23 August 2018

On Tuesday, the musicians group’ “Lebenslaute” concluded a two-day protest against the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), as the German secret service is called.

German federal and regional governments extend refugee camp system nationwide

By Marianne Arens, 21 August 2018

Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann claims that the camps are “not detention facilities,” and that “no one is imprisoned,” but that is a lie.

German Left Party leaders launch right-wing #Standup initiative

By Christoph Vandreier, 20 August 2018

The interviews of Lafontaine and Wagenknecht focus on anti-refugee agitation, the stirring up of nationalism and the call for German “independence.”

German government places Socialist Equality Party on subversive watch list

By the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei, 17 August 2018

Last month Germany’s domestic intelligence agency added the Socialist Equality Party to its official list of “left-wing extremist” organizations subject to state monitoring.

German Social Democrats launch xenophobic campaign about child benefits

By Christopher Lehmann, 14 August 2018

On the “Tagesthemen” TV news program, the SPD mayor ranted against EU nationals who were allegedly flocking to Germany to fraudulently obtain social welfare payments.

Right-wing extremist acquitted in the bombing of a German train station

By Sybille Fuchs and Dietmar Henning, 13 August 2018

The result, as in the recent trial of the Neo-Nazi National Socialist Underground (NSU), is that the defendants end up with lenient sentences or are acquitted, with important questions ignored.

German Left Party leaders launch right-wing coalition

By Ulrich Rippert, 11 August 2018

The #StandUp coalition combines anti-corporate demagogy with nationalist and xenophobic positions pioneered by the extreme right.

German government plans reintroduction of military conscription

By Noah Windstein, 9 August 2018

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party conference is scheduled to adopt a decision to reintroduce military service.

Defend the Student Council! Stop the right-wing conspiracy at Berlin’s Humboldt University

By the International Youth and Students for Social Equality and Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei, 9 August 2018

The IYSSE and SGP condemn the attack by university President Sabine Kunst against the Student Council at Humboldt University and her complicity with the far-right Alternative for Germany.

Thousands demonstrate in Germany against far-right attacks on refugee rescue ships

By our reporters, 7 August 2018

Thousands of people demonstrated once again last weekend against the European governments’ inhumane refugee policies.

Head of German secret service advised far-right Alternative for Germany

By Ulrich Rippert, 4 August 2018

The president of Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution met with then-AfD Chairperson Frauke Petry in 2015 to advise her on how to avoid surveillance by the state.

Technology giants use Germany’s Network Enforcement Law to delete tens of thousands of comments

By Christoph Vandreier, 3 August 2018

A review of the cases thus far confirms that this is not a struggle against “hate comments” or “fake news,” but the massive restriction of free speech.

German government launches camp system for refugees

By Christoph Vandreier, 2 August 2018

With the inhumane camp system, the coalition government of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats is implementing the refugee policy of the far-right Alternative for Germany.

Ryanair’s mass sacking threat raises need for globally coordinated struggle of airline workers

By Steve James, 2 August 2018

The role of the unions in the airline and other industries is to isolate any struggle, impose the demands of the companies and prevent a unified fight of the entire working class.

Protest in Munich against attacks on refugees, poverty and war

By our reporters, 1 August 2018

Despite pouring rain, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Munich against right-wing agitation, increasing military spending, poverty and war.

German right demands nuclear “weapons of mass extermination”

By Johannes Stern, 31 July 2018

The Welt am Sonntag, a leading German newspaper, has published an article demanding the creation of a nuclear arsenal.

Acquittal for right-wing extremist Identitarian movement in Austrian court

By Sven Heymanns, 31 July 2018

Seventeen members of the Austrian Identitarian Movement were acquitted by the Graz District Court on all main charges in their case last Thursday.

German Left Party leaders prepare to form new right-wing movement

By Ulrich Rippert, 24 July 2018

Oskar Lafontaine and Sahra Wagenknecht are responding to the resurgence of class struggle and efforts by workers to free themselves from the grip of the unions, the SPD and the Left Party.

Spain abandons attempt to extradite Puigdemont from Germany

By Alex Lantier, 20 July 2018

Puigdemont had fled Catalonia last autumn during the brutal police crackdown launched by Madrid against the Catalan independence referendum he had organized.

Germany: Anti-Semitism victim beaten by police in Bonn

By Sybille Fuchs, 20 July 2018

Professor of Philosophy Yitzhak Melamed, who teaches at t he University of Baltimore in the US, was brutally beaten in Bonn in an anti-Semitic attack and subsequently beaten by police.

Far-right Identitarian movement attempts to disrupt IYSSE meeting in Dresden

By the International Youth and Students for Social Equality, 20 July 2018

On July 12 the far-right Identitarian movement attempted to disrupt a meeting of the IYSSE on the bicentenary of the birth of Karl Marx at the University of Technology in Dresden. The action failed because the meeting was switched to a larger room shortly before it began.

Auto parts workers strike in Germany

IG Metall accepts mass redundancies and plant closures

By Marianne Arens, 18 July 2018

The IG Metall union has long since abandoned the factory in Leipzig.

Germany: Angry protests against verdicts in trial of neo-Nazi NSU

By Sven Heymann, 18 July 2018

Protests took place in several cities over the weekend against the verdicts in the trial of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Underground.

As Jeff Bezos’ wealth reaches $150 billion

Unions strangle strike efforts by European Amazon workers on Prime Day

By Will Morrow and Genevieve Leigh, 17 July 2018

Prime Day is treated as a virtual public holiday by the corporate media, akin to Black Friday, but it is synonymous with increased exploitation for Amazon and other shipping workers.

German court authorises extradition of Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont to Spain on embezzlement charges

By Alejandro López, 16 July 2018

In Spain, the newly installed minority Socialist Party (PSOE) government announced it would abide by the ruling, although it is a rebuke to the party's line in the Catalan crisis.

Twenty thousand demonstrate in Düsseldorf, Germany against police state attacks on democratic rights

By our correspondents, 12 July 2018

Last Saturday, 20,000 workers and young people marched from Düsseldorf Central Station to the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament to protest the new police law planned by the state government.

German interior minister’s “Master Plan” for refugees: Internment camps and mass deportations

By Johannes Stern, 12 July 2018

With its “Migration Master Plan,” the grand coalition government has adopted the refugee policy of the far-right Alternative for Germany.

NATO, at war with itself, rearms for war with the world

By Andre Damon, 12 July 2018

All members of NATO reaffirmed their commitment to massive military rearmament, to be paid for with sweeping cuts to public infrastructure and attacks on the social position of the working class.

Germany: Tens of thousands demonstrate against inhumane anti-refugee policies

By Gustav Kemper, 10 July 2018

The protests Saturday were organised within the space of a few days almost exclusively via social media.

Refugees ensnared in European dragnet

By Johannes Stern and Andre Damon, 9 July 2018

Germany’s establishment parties have agreed to set up mass refugee internment camps inside the country, based on the criminal and racist immigration policies of the neo-fascists.

German Social Democratic Party backs brutal offensive against refugees

By Marianne Arens, 7 July 2018

The SPD has lined up behind the refugee policy of Interior Minister Horst Seehofer: sealing off the country’s borders, accelerating deportations and establishing closed detention camps.

French auto giant PSA announces new cuts at Opel

By Marianne Arens and Peter Schwarz, 7 July 2018

The PSA board intends to sell off large parts of the International Technical Development Centre (ITEZ) in Rüsselsheim, threatening the jobs of thousands of technicians, engineers and developers

Billions for war and police-state repression in Germany’s grand coalition budget

By Johannes Stern, 6 July 2018

The most significant features of the budget plan include a major increase in military spending, the strengthening of domestic police state repression and measures to terrorise refugees.

Germany: Largest ever mass deportation of refugees to Afghanistan

By Marianne Arens, 6 July 2018

In the early hours of July 4, 69 refugees were deported in the largest ever mass deportation to Afghanistan.

Social Democrats back conservative parties’ plan for concentration camps in Germany

By Johannes Stern, 4 July 2018

Leading SPD politicians have welcomed the reactionary agreement by conservative parties for concentration camps for refugees.

Right-wing German army officer Franco A: No charges for terrorist plans

By Sven Heymann, 4 July 2018

All the evidence indicates that Franco A. and his accomplices are only a small part of a much larger neo-Nazi network within the German military and state apparatus.

German government settles dispute at refugees’ expense

By Peter Schwarz, 3 July 2018

The "transit centres," "debarkation platforms" and "control centres" for refugees are creating a technical and legal infrastructure to lock up oppositionists and undesirable minorities in the future.

Left Party supports anti-refugee policies of German government

By Johannes Stern, 3 July 2018

At the EU summit last week, measures against refugees were discussed that recall the darkest period of German and European history.

European Union adopts far-right refugee policy

By Johannes Stern, 30 June 2018

Hundreds of people fleeing poverty and war have drowned in the Mediterranean over the past week as a result of the EU’s reactionary crackdown on refugees.

German government crisis: The working class needs its own strategy against anti-refugee agitation, militarism and war

By Johannes Stern, 26 June 2018

The dispute between the CDU and the CSU is over how best to implement the reactionary program of the German grand coalition government in the face of growing popular opposition.

Oppose right-wing censorship at Frankfurt University

By International Youth and Students for Social Equality, 23 June 2018

With this open letter, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) is protesting against the banning of its meeting on the contemporary relevance of Marxism by the student union at the University of Frankfurt.

Merkel, Macron call for more EU militarism at Meseberg conference

By Alex Lantier, 20 June 2018

Merkel and Macron signed an agreement for a drastic expansion of EU militarism and joint attacks on immigrants together with far-right governments in Italy and Austria.

Rent by crisis, German government adopts far-right refugee policy

By Johannes Stern, 19 June 2018

The statements of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer make clear that the grand coalition is adopting the refugee policy of the neo-fascist AfD.

German government rent by deepening crisis

By Peter Schwarz, 16 June 2018

A fierce conflict over refugee policy between the conservative sister parties CDU and CSU threatens to blow apart the grand coalition.

The far right determine Europe’s refugee policy

By Peter Schwarz, 15 June 2018

Following the entry of extreme right-wing parties into the Austrian and Italian governments, the European Union and all other European governments are adopting their ruthless refugee policy.

Germany’s Left Party embraces policies of far-right AfD

By Peter Schwarz, 13 June 2018

The Left Party’s congress, which took place in Leipzig over the weekend, was dominated by a bitter conflict over refugee policy.

Germany: AfD leader Gauland and the hypocritical response to Nazi rehabilitation

By Ulrich Rippert, 6 June 2018

At the weekend, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) leader Alexander Gauland again took up the right-wing propaganda campaign to gloss over and relativise the crimes of the Nazis.

Merkel calls for EU militarism, financial austerity in reply to Macron

By Alex Lantier, 6 June 2018

While Merkel endorsed French calls for militarism and attacks on refugees, she gave little support for Macron’s calls for more investment and guarantees against new debt crises.

Germany: IG Metall union and works councils agree to job and wage cuts at Opel

By Dietmar Henning, 2 June 2018

The union and works councils have signed up to almost every demand of PSA boss Carlos Tavares and Opel chief Michael Lohscheller.

Over 10,000 jobs at risk at Deutsche Bank

By Gustav Kemper, 31 May 2018

Germany’s crisis-ridden Deutsche Bank has already slashed 6,000 jobs and closed 188 branches in the past few years.

Germany: Twenty-five years since the arson attack in Solingen

By Marianne Arens and Elisabeth Zimmermann, 30 May 2018

On Saturday, May 29, 1993, five members of the Gença family were killed in an arson attack carried out by far-right extremists in the town of Solingen.