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German leader set to ask for Dec. 16 confidence vote, paving way for election as early as February

AP News — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 22:28:31 +0000

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to ask for a vote of confidence in his government on Dec. 16, paving the way for a new parliamentary election as early as February, German media reported Tuesday.

The expected vote in the Bundestag would come well ahead of original plans, marking a step to reach compromise between Scholz’s party, the Social Democrats, and the main opposition party in parliament, the center-right Christian conservatives.

The move comes after the collapse of Scholz’s three-party coalition last week, at a time when the leaders of Europe’s biggest economy have been grappling with ways to revive Germany’s anemic economic growth.

Experts predict the economy will shrink or at best stagnate this year, due to external shocks and homegrown problems including red tape and a shortage of skilled labor.

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Source: https://apnews.com/article/germany-election-scholz-confidence-vote-69dc9138f438f1f51db222e7ee3428cf

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Time for Strong New EU Leaders

Stefan Lehne — Tue, 04 Jun 2019 08:04:19 +0000

As the EU prepares to replace its top officeholders, the union needs leaders who can confront bullying international actors, navigate through a turbulent political scene, and rebuild public trust in the European project.

The EU’s Game of Thrones, which will play out in the coming weeks, will be lacking in blood and sex, but will easily equal the TV series in complexity. Following the European Parliament elections that took place on May 23–26, EU leaders must now choose the next presidents of the European Commission, European Council, European Parliament, and European Central Bank (ECB) as well as a new EU foreign policy chief.

Essentially, there will be three games running in parallel, but they will all have to come together in the end.

THE INTER-INSTITUTIONAL GAME

The first game is between the EU’s institutions. The European Parliament pulled off a constitutional coup in 2014 by imposing the lead candidate (known by the German term Spitzenkandidat) of the largest party group, Jean-Claude Juncker, as European Commission president. According to the EU treaties, it is the national leaders in the European Council who should propose a candidate to the parliament, “taking into account the elections.”

The main party groups, except the Liberals, would now like to build on this success and turn the Spitzenkandidaten model into a permanent rule for selecting the commission president. Immediately after the 2019 elections, they adopted a statement asserting that the next commission president should be one of the lead candidates. However, they did not rally behind the candidate of the biggest group, Manfred Weber of the European People’s Party (EPP), and they did not threaten to veto anyone else.

In the European Council, there are many who would like to bury the Spitzenkandidaten concept. They feel it gives too much influence to the parliament and unduly limits the choice of the best-qualified person for the job. But most wish to avoid an open confrontation with the parliament, which will in the end have to elect the commission president.

THE INTER-PARTY GAME

The second game involves the EU’s party groups. The biggest two, the center-right EPP and center-left Social Democrats, emerged from the 2019 elections significantly weakened. They no longer jointly have a majority in the parliament and will have to turn to other parties, particularly the Liberals or the Greens, to pass legislation. Still, the role of the two largest parties remains crucial, as there is neither a leftist majority against the EPP nor a credible rightist one against the Social Democrats.

Over the coming weeks the various factions will attempt to bring like-minded small groups into their fold. They will also seek to build a majority behind agreed candidates for the presidents of the commission and the parliament and a common policy platform.

The Liberals and Greens will try to make the most of their potential kingmaker role but risk being played off against each other. Whereas the Liberals will join the fight for the top jobs, the Greens will probably place their main emphasis on shaping the policy platform.

THE GAME OF THE LEADERS

The third game considers the slew of EU leadership roles together. Before the Spitzenkandidaten initiative was started, it was up to the European Council to put together a package of the EU’s top positions. Most heads of state and government would like to revert to this model.

In assembling such a package, leaders have to take several factors into account: party groupings, geographic distribution, big and small member states, members and nonmembers of the eurozone, and gender. Many believe that women should be better represented this time.

While not all member states will field candidates for these positions, everyone has a stake in the process. Some will try to leverage their support for a candidate to obtain a juicy dossier for their future European commissioner or promote other institutional interests. Others will try to make sure that the new leaders share their political or economic philosophy.

The latter consideration will be particularly important for French President Emmanuel Macron, who urgently needs partners for promoting his vision of a European renaissance. Macron has taken the lead of the group resisting Weber’s nomination and has already clashed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is bound to support the EPP candidate. An eventual compromise will have to satisfy both Paris and Berlin, and could involve a trade-off between the two biggest jobs, commission president and ECB president.

HOW TO PLAY THREE-DIMENSIONAL CHESS

Ideally, the parliament would prefer to maintain the initiative. If it comes up with a candidate for commission president who has a majority of members of the European Parliament (MEPs) behind him or her, the European Council will have little choice but to accept the proposal. However, as the three biggest groups each have a prominent candidate with significant support, an early compromise will be hard to reach.

The European Council has tasked its outgoing president, Donald Tusk, to act as game master. He will start consulting with party representatives in the council and the parliament. His stated objective is to assemble an acceptable package in time for the European Council session on June 21. This timeframe appears ambitious, as the overall constellation of forces is more complex than ever before.

The real risk is that the multilevel institutional wrangling will distract from the true objective of the process: to bring together the most qualified personalities to lead the EU institutions in the next five years. With the decline of the old party machines, personal leadership, vision, and the ability to communicate have become essential qualities for the people at the helm of the EU’s institutions. The new leaders must be strong enough to confront bullying international actors. They need a reliable internal compass to steer through a turbulent and fragmented political scene, and they have to be able to explain what the EU is about and to rebuild public trust.

Outstanding personal qualities must therefore be the topmost consideration throughout the process. The union cannot afford to settle for second best.

Source: https://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/79257?lang=en

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Angela Merkel approval rating at all-time LOW amid migration row and VIOLENT riots

Matt Drake — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 08:41:50 +0000

ANGELA Merkel’s approval rating has dropped to an all-time low amid the ongoing row over migration policy and a spate of violent far-right protests in Chemnitz.

Support for Germany’s grand coalition between Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc and the Social Democrats has fallen to an all-time low, Bild am Sonntag reports.

The ruling Christian Democrats and their Bavarian counterparts, the Christian Social Union, had their approval rating fall one percentage points to 29 percent while support for the Social Democrats dropped by two percentage points to 17 percent – a poll in the German paper reveals.

Both parties’ combined 46 percent marks a record low for the coalition.

But Merkel has suffered a series of political setbacks over migration and protests.

Riots in Chemnitz, Eastern Germany, began after a man was stabbed to death, allegedly by two immigrants.

The poll is based on opinions of 2,472 German voters between August 30 and September 5.

They found support for the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party remained unchanged at 15 percent.

Far-left party Die Linke saw a boost of 1 percentage point, polling at 10 percent.

Both parties’combined 46 percent marks a record low for the coalition (Image: GETTY)

Merkel has suffered a series of political setbacks over migration and protests (Image: GETTY)

Germany’s interior minister put pressure on Angela Merkel by describing the migrant crisis as the “mother of all political problems”.

In a shock warning, he said voters risked turning towards far-right parties if the government was not seen to be tackling the issue.

The hard-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has repeatedly railed against Mrs Merkel’s open-door immigration policy introduced in 2015.

Mr Seehofer said: “The migration issue is the mother of all political problems in this country. I have been saying this for three years.

The riots in Chemnitz, Eastern Germany, began after a man was stabbed to death (Image: GETTY)

“This is confirmed by many surveys – many people now associate their social concerns with the migration issue.”

But Angela Merkel shrugged off his outspoken remarks, telling the RTL broadcaster: “I say it differently.

“Migration presents us with challenges and here we have problems but also successes.”

Source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1015154/angela-merkel-germany-migration-riots-chemnitz-afd-christian-democrats

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Europe’s migration crisis may swing Sweden to the right

Malcolm Brabant — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 20:26:38 +0000

Like many European countries affected by an influx of Syrian migrants and refugees, immigration policy has become central to Sweden’s election. And after more than a half-century of soft, center-left policies there, analysts predict that voters on Sunday will elect anti-immigration candidates to the country’s highest governing body. NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports.

Malcolm Brabant:

More than any other election in recent history, this is a battle for Sweden’s soul. Often idealized as a model society, Sweden is now divided between those who want it to remain generous, egalitarian and open to foreigners and others who vigorously oppose immigration and multi culturalism. Gustav Kasselstrand heads one of the most extreme right wing parties that advocates mass deportations
Gustav Kasselstrand:

We have the Swedes on our side. And with our healthy political ideas, we are starting a new phase, a renaissance in Sweden.
Malcolm Brabant:

For one face in the crowd, this election has become personal. He’s a 23 year old refugee from the Syrian city of Homs. Abed Allmugharbel left Syria when he was 17 before he could finish his high school education. In September 2015, we met Abed at this mosque in Izmir on the Turkish coast, where hundreds gathered before taking rubber dinghies to the Greek islands en route to Northern Europe.
Abed Allmugharbel:

I’m planning to go to Sweden. If I study there, I’m willing to give back to Europe what they gave me. They gave me shelter, I give them back my whole energy, to build their country.’
Malcolm Brabant:

Abed managed to reach Sweden before the refugee trail to Northern Europe was closed. Since then he has almost finished his high school education. And did so in Swedish. He has two jobs to pay for his tuition fees. He does not receive welfare benefits. He hopes to study psychology at university but fears the rise of the right will thwart his ambitions.

The anti immigrant parties are try to sell to the people that the Muslims which are the majority of the immigrants who have sought asylum in Sweden that they are trying to invade the country that the Muslims have organised and are trying to invade the country, that Swedish traditional culture is under attack which is completely false not true

The party Abed was protesting against may only be on the fringes of the campaign. But what’s significant is that until recently supporters of the so called Alt Right, like Lot-ten Peterson were shy about airing their opinions. Now, being anti immigration is no longer taboo.
Lotten Peterson:

Oh it costs a lot because they don’t work very much. I mean they have a very low percentage in work if you compare it to Swedes. The Swedes pay the taxes. And welfare is free for everybody and the left who have been screaming here say that no people is illegal. I mean what kind of language is that.
Malcolm Brabant:

At the peak of the European crisis, 200,000 refugees and migrants made it to Sweden, encouraged by the government’s offer of sanctuary for Syrians.
Immigration official:

‘398,399, very big family.’
Malcolm Brabant:

It wasn’t just Syrians who came. There were asylum seekers from across the developing world, lured by the prospect of subsidized housing and generous welfare benefits. Malmo in the south was a particular magnet. Sweden hoped other European countries would follow its example. The then Migration Minister Morgan Johansson was frustrated that many EU partners closed their borders instead.
Malcolm Brabant:

What do you say to those people who think your immigration policy, your open door policy is naive.
Morgan Johansson:

Just turn on your television set and see for yourself what these people are fleeing from.
Malcolm Brabant:

As Sweden found itself overwhelmed by the influx, it sealed its formerly open border with Denmark to the south, to try to stem the flow. It was like closing the stable door after the horse had bolted, say those on the right, like the Alternative for Sweden’s Gustav Kasselstrand.
Gustav Kasselstrand:

The politicians have forced policy upon us, with mass immigration that we have never ever voted for, never ever supported.
Malcolm Brabant:

Prime Minister Stefan Loven presided over the influx, which has strained the hallowed welfare system. And changed Sweden to the point where one in four of the population now comes from a foreign background. His center left social democrat party advocates high taxation to pay for the cradle to grave safety net.
Stefan Loven:

If we can continue four more years, at least four more years, we will continue to invest in the Swedish welfare system and that is what people need now. We need to build solidarity and trust between the citizens of Sweden and that’s what we want to do.
Malcolm Brabant:

This is a Social Democrat campaign video.
Social Democrat campaign video:

What would I like? I’d like a society where security comes before tax cuts and we can hire more people in the medical sector so everybody gets the help they need in time.That the police get more colleagues and better conditions.’
Stefan Loven:

This is a referendum on the Swedish welfare system.
Malcolm Brabant:

Isn’t it a referendum on immigration.
Stefan Loven:

No, it’s not about crime.
Malcolm Brabant:

It is perhaps telling that the Prime Minister responds to a question about immigration with an answer about crime. On the day he was in Malmo, violence raised its ugly head. Superintendent Glen Sjogren is based in Rosengard Malmo’s biggest ghetto. We’re on our way to a murder scene in a neighboring ghetto. Hundreds of gang members are fighting for control of the lucrative cannabis and cocaine trade. According to the police, almost all of those involved have immigrant backgrounds.
Superintendent Glen Sjogren:

This year, so far, eleven homicides and shootings involved.
Malcolm Brabant:

And who are the victims mainly?
Superintendent Glen Sjogren:

The victims are for us, known people.
Malcolm Brabant:

Criminals?
Superintendent Glen Sjogren:

Criminals that’s right.
Malcolm Brabant:

For many Swedes, the gang war symbolizes a failure of integration.It fuels resentment against immigrants. The latest victim was 20 years old. He was killed next to a local mosque. The fact that rivals are killing each other is of little comfort, because the number of shootings is on the rise, and often there’s crossfire.
Superintendent Stefan Wredenmark:

And here we have a supermarket in a small square, and a primary school over there. There were not lesson, but there were pupils and people close to the murder scene last night.
Superintendent Glen Sjogren:

The citizens of Malmo feel unsafe because the shooting(s) occur in the evening. Not at night. Sometimes in the middle of the day.
Malcolm Brabant:

So it is having an effect?
Superintendent Glen Sjogren:

Yes, of course. People feel unsafe.
Sweden Democrats campaign video:

My name is Jimmie Åkesson and I will do everything in my power to solve this chaos that you Social Democrats and you Liberals have created.
Malcolm Brabant:

Jimmie Akkesson’s is benefiting most from Sweden’s growing sense of insecurity. He leads yet another far right party, the anti immigrant Sweden Democrats. The party has neo-Nazi origins, but it has jettisoned its more extreme policies and members who espouse openly racist views. Despite becoming more mainstream, the Sweden Democrats are widely regarded as pariahs. In one election video, Akkesson paints an apocalyptic image of Sweden that critics say whips up the climate of fear.
Sweden Democrats campaign video:

Mass immigration hasn’t paid off. . We know that today. And we know that in reality it inflicts enormous costs and a huge burden on our society. You have created a Sweden where families are forced to move because they no longer feel safe in their own homes.
Malcolm Brabant:

One reason why the right is gaining ground is that many working and middle class voters have abandoned the center left Social Democrats, because they believe the party ignored their concerns over immigration.
Malcolm Brabant:

According to the latest opinion polls Prime Minister Loeven’s center/left Social Democrats will get the most votes. But they won’t get a majority, which means that in order to govern they’ll need to form a coalition. And even though the far right Sweden Democrats are on course to become the second biggest party, the Prime Minister intends to prevent them from exerting influence
Prime Minister Stefan Loven:

For me one thing is very clear. No cooperation or dependence on the Sweden Democrats.
Malcolm Brabant:

But that’s ignoring a large percentage of the Swedish people who perhaps have those views isn’t it?
Prime Minister Stefan Loven:

This is a party with values so far from mine. They do not protect, that each individual has the same human value, they speak bad about minorities,they threaten media, this is not just another party, this is an extreme party.
Malcolm Brabant:

A party with some unexpected support. Nima Gholam Ali Pour is a rare creature. He’s both a refugee and candidate for the Sweden Democrats. His parents fled from Iran thirty years ago to save his brother from being conscripted as a child soldier. Despite the Prime Minister’s stance, Ali Pour is convinced the voice of his party’s supporters will be heard.
Nima Gholam Ali Pour:

A lot of political parties said they would not change on the migration issue. And they change overnight. So we will see after the election.They need a government that functions. And if we get a lot of support, you know they need support in parliament, So they have to seek our support somehow.
Malcolm Brabant:

If the right wing does as well as expected this will herald a substantial shift in the foundations of a traditionally Social Democratic society. It will provide a warning to the rest of Europe’s liberal elite. If it can happen in cozy little Sweden, it can happen to you. Ignore the working class at your peril.

Source: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/europes-migration-crisis-may-swing-sweden-to-the-right
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Why Sweden’s Far Right Is on the Rise

Krishnadev Calamur — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 16:39:01 +0000

The Sweden Democrats have been growing for years, and are likely to be among the largest parties in Parliament after Sunday’s election.

Jimmie Akesson, the leader of the Sweden Democrats, campaigns in Motala, Sweden, on September 6.FREDRIK SANDBERG / TT NEWS AGENCY / REUTERS

The worst of Europe’s migration crisis is over. Fewer migrants are coming to seek asylum, and many of those who have had their applications rejected have been deported. Yet immigration continues to spark rancorous debate, over everything from economic dislocation, to crime, to social integration, reshaping Europe’s political landscape. On Sunday, it is Sweden’s turn.

Polls show that about 1 in 5 Swedes will vote for the Sweden Democrats, the far-right, populist anti-immigrant party with roots in the neo-Nazi movement. The Social Democrats, the center-left party that has dominated Swedish politics for a century, will likely emerge as the single-largest party in parliament on Sunday, and the center-right Moderate Party is expected to finish either slightly ahead of or just behind the Sweden Democrats. (The Moderates are expected to cobble together a coalition government.) Sweden’s two establishment parties have refused to work with the Sweden Democrats, pointing to the party’s past.

But public support for the Sweden Democrats, as well as the persistence of immigration as an issue, means the party is sure to emerge a significant player after Sunday. The Sweden Democrats have pledged to end Sweden’s asylum policies, and make it harder for any newcomers to get jobs. This message has broad appeal across Europe, where the economies of many countries were battered by the recession of 2008 and crippled by the austerity measures imposed subsequently by the EU. But Sweden is different: It largely survived the recession with its economy intact, and its generous welfare state appears robust. Sweden also has a history of welcoming refugees from all over the world.

Now, this policy of openness faces severe strain, even as Sweden needs new workers who will pay the taxes required to sustain the generous welfare state for which Sweden is known. More Swedes are retiring than entering the workforce—a development with profound consequences for the future of the welfare state. And indeed, much of the current economic growth has been fueled by the foreign-born, whose taxes keep the system solvent. But here’s the problem: The unemployment rate among the foreign-born is 20 percent, more than three times the national level.

What Sweden and Japan can teach the U.S. about its aging workforce

I asked Patrick Joyce, an economist with Ratio, a Swedish think tank, about this seeming discrepancy. “Sweden’s economic upturn is benefiting from the migrants who came a while ago—those who came as children, or have been educated in Sweden,” he said. “They are doing much better in the labor market than the newly arrived. In a way, they are helping the economy to grow.”

The newly arrived refugees, by contrast, have a much harder time finding work, Joyce said. Only about half of them have a basic education, which takes them out of the running for jobs in Sweden’s advanced service economy, which, at the minimum, require vocational training in addition to basic education. Only 5 percent of jobs on the Swedish labor market are suitable for the unskilled workers. “So 50 percent of the newly arrived are non-skilled, but only 5 percent of the available jobs demand low skills,” Joyce said.

There are other obstacles, too, stemming from the challenge of assimilation. Joyce pointed out that it’s highly unlikely refugees arriving in Sweden will know the language. “Entry-level jobs in the Swedish labor market usually are in the service sector,” he said. “Even for a low-skilled work in a cafe … you need to have some basic knowledge of Swedish.” New arrivals also lack the networks and personal contacts needed to find employment. More than half of the jobs in the Swedish labor market are obtained through such connections, he said.“Migrants tend to get worse job offers through their own networks than Swedish citizens tend to do.” In other words, a large numbers of unskilled new migrants aren’t finding jobs even though there are, at least on paper, many vacancies.

Patrik Öhberg, a professor of political science at the University of Gotheburg in Sweden, told me that the issue is not that large numbers of immigrants come to the country, something that’s been happening for decades, but that many Swedes believe that “they come here but they don’t work.” “Over the last 10 years, we have 1 million people coming to Sweden,” he said. “So [the concern is] the housing market doesn’t work, the schools are not working.” Additionally, Sweden has become segregated, a problem that manifests itself through what many people perceive as higher crime rates—though the data on that are mixed. “When political parties start to talk about criminality, it taps into the discussion of immigration,” Öhberg said. That’s an issue on which the Sweden Democrats are seen to be credible.

Sweden’s inexplicable riots, explained

Vanessa Barker, a sociology professor at Stockholm University who studies democracy, migrants, and crime, told me in an email that though these are serious and longstanding concerns, the debate surrounding them often misses key points. “In public debate, crime in immigrant neighborhoods tends to be conflated with failed integration, parallel societies, criminal gangs, and in the foreign press as a sign of Swedish Dystopia,” she wrote. But “to residents in these areas, higher crime and disorder (graffiti, loitering) are the result of police ineffectiveness and socioeconomic disadvantage.”

It’s tempting to peg the rise of the Sweden Democrats to 2015, when Sweden accepted 163,000 asylum-seekers—more per-capita than any other country in the world (the number has steadily declined since then). But support for the party had actually been building for some time. In the 2014 election, it received 12.8 percent of the vote, a significant jump from the 3 percent it took in 2006.

As the Sweden Democrats ascended, Sweden debated the status of asylum-seekers, immigrants, and, pointedly, Islam. While today’s migrants come from Afghanistan, Eritrea, and Syria, earlier ones came from Bosnia, Iran, Iraq, and Somalia. They, too, had trouble finding jobs and assimilating. “The earlier period coincided with global optimism about the future and all the promises of globalization—the end of the Cold War, the end of the nation-state, the rise of internationalized human rights, democratization around the world, the fruits of the IT revolution ahead, etc,” Barker wrote. “Now, in 2018, we’ve seen the effects of the global economic recession, endless war, massive displacement of people around the world, large-scale failures of governance and government, declining trust, weak defense of human rights and human security, resurgent nationalism, and unchecked xenophobia and racism. All of these factors sit on a broken foundation for social inclusion. Migrants have become ‘suitable enemies’—to use Nils Christie’s well-known formulation—for the ills and anxieties of our age.”

What is equally true, however, is that the Sweden Democrats’ showing in recent opinion polls coincided with a heated debate across the European Union over immigration and asylum-seekers, largely from Muslim countries. This debate has vaulted right-wing, euroskeptic, anti-immigration parties in Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia, to power, and elevated them in Italy, Austria, Denmark, Finland, and the Czech Republic. In Germany, the Alternative for Germany party entered parliament for the first time last year. What they have in common, according to a Bloomberg analysis of their platforms, is a combination of “populist, nativist, and authoritarian strains.”

In Sweden, the immigration debate grew particularly heated in the fall of the 2015. The country was unprepared for the influx of asylum-seekers. Despite the fact that a section of the public welcomed many of the newcomers, opposition to the asylum policy was so hostile (much of it came during the Islamic State attack in Paris that November) that the government reversed course in 2016.

Why Sweden tweaked its migrant policy

Barker told me there were both short and long-term factors that helped explain the government’s reversal. In the short term, the government feared a breakdown of order and security, which are highly prized in Sweden, she wrote. But in the long term, “Sweden wants to preserve and uphold the bubble—its high quality of life, its social and economic well-being—its sense of national identity—for those on the inside—those deemed worthy, legitimate, productive members of society,” Barker wrote. “The newly arrived are perceived to be interlopers—taking resources from hard-working citizens.”

The Sweden Democrats, long the only party warning of the supposed perils of immigration and open borders, was quick to seize on the latest debate over migrants. And because the two main center-left and center-right parties were largely pro-refugee, the Sweden Democrats have been perceived by many Swedes as the only credible voice on the issue.

Ann-Cathrine Jungar, an expert on radical-right parties in Europe at Södertörn University in Stockholm, attributed part of the Sweden Democrats’ success to their reinvention under leader Jimmie Åkesson. They used to believe that “being Swedish is biological so you can’t become Swedish by assimilating,” she said. “They have over time … moderated themselves. Now it’s more cultural nationalist.” Åkesson has shifted the Sweden Democrats away from their neo-Nazi-linked past, making the party more professional, recruiting promising members, and formulating a zero-tolerance policy against racists and racist behavior. He has expelled more than 100 members since 2012—though revelations about the neo-Nazi ties of some of the party’s candidates this weekshowed just how much work remains to be done.

The Sweden Democrats now present themselves as a law-and-order party that backs traditional family values. In the European Parliament, they have allied not with other far-right parties, but with mainstream conservative ones like the U.K.’s ruling Conservatives. They are strong supporters of the welfare state and have accused the Social Democrats of betraying its ideals. “They say that welfare is threatened by immigration. That it is costly. And immigrants require a lot more from the public welfare than ordinary Swedes,” Jungar said.

The message has won it supporters. Öhberg told me that the Sweden Democrats initially enjoyed support mostly in the south of the country, but new poll numbers suggested the party now has the support of a broader section of society. The typical Sweden Democrats supporter, Öhberg said, is “usually a blue-collar male worker with a good job. He can make a living. He’s not a bitter man. He’s functional in society.” For now, he said, the party’s support is mainly among men, but its leadership is making a more concerted effort to reach out to women and others.

The refusal of the main parties to cooperate with the Sweden Democrats ensures that they will own the issue of immigration. Whatever the results of Sunday’s election, the Sweden Democrats will play an important role in Sweden’s immediate future.

“Sweden tried to be the role model, but it wasn’t able to do it,” Öhberg told me. “They [the two main parties] need to rethink the Swedish model and the Swedish capacity to integrate all these refugees. They would like to be this shining example: have a lot of refugees coming to Sweden, [and] have a good economy, and don’t have any right-wing, populist parties in Parliament. But that just fell apart.”

We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.

KRISHNADEV CALAMUR is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he covers global news. He is a former editor and reporter at NPR and the author of Murder in Mumbai.

Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/09/sweden-election/569500/

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Germany’s Merkel faces political crisis over migrant policy

Andy Eckardt and Alastair Jamieson — Fri, 15 Jun 2018 05:42:11 +0000

The political future of world’s most powerful woman could be decided on Monday.

MAINZ, Germany — Not even 100 days after she negotiated her way to a fourth term as German leader, Angela Merkel is mired in a political crisis that underscores Europe’s divisions over immigration amid a surge in populism.

The German chancellor faces a showdown with her own interior minister that threatens not only her fragile ruling alliance but also her European Union-wide vision of cooperation to deal with the migrant crisis.

The world’s most powerful woman will embark on a weekend of talks ahead of a Monday meeting that could decide her future — and potentially signal the end of the Merkel era. She has been in power since 2005.

Along with French President Emmanuel Macron, Merkel is seen as one of the last bastions of European liberal democracy amid the rise of populism across the continent.

Merkel may be forced to make a U-turn on her open-door policy which has already been scaled back since Germany opened its borders to welcome around 1 million asylum-seekers in 2015. At times more than 10,000 people were arriving daily in the country, which had a population of around 81 million.

Migrants walk from the main station in Dortmund, Germany, in September 2015.Martin Meissner / AP file

Her refugee policy is widely blamed for a surge in support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which became the main opposition party after last September’s inconclusive election.

Gemany’s political turmoil comes amid a rise in populism and anti-immigration sentiment across Europe, including in neighbors such as Poland, Austria and Hungary.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, a conservative critic of Merkel’s migration policy, this week pushed for an “axis of the willing” among Austria, Germany and Italy to fight illegal migration.

It is a view shared by German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who wants to reject migrants at his country’s border if they have already registered in other E.U. states to the south.

In March, Seehofer told a newspaper that “Islam does not belong to Germany.” Seehofer is a member of Merkel’s CSU Bavarian allies, who are further to the right than her own Christian Democrats (CDU). He has also vowed to implement a “master plan for quicker deportations.”

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition is at risk after clashes with Interior Minister Horst Seehofer over Germany’s refugee policy.Carsten Koall / Getty Images

Keen not to antagonize Germany’s neighbors, Merkel prefers an E.U.-wide solution and wants to wait until the outcome of a summit of the bloc’s leaders on June 28. She has warned that Seehofer’s plan could shift the migrant burden onto countries such as Greece and Italy, where she is already unpopular for her economic policies.

“I personally think illegal migration is one of the big challenges for the European Union, so I don’t believe we should act unilaterally,” she said Thursday. “We should not act in an uncoordinated way, and we should not act at the expense of third parties.”

However, lawmakers from the CSU have backed Seehofer, who said he might defy Merkel by going ahead with his plan next week without her agreement.

If defied, Markel could be forced to fire Seehofer, or lead her CDU to split up the parliamentary bloc in which they have cooperated with the CSU since 1949. That would leave her coalition without a majority and could result in another election.

“Merkel is caught between a rock and a hard place,” said Thomas Walde, co-host of the political affairs show “Berlin Direkt” at NBC’s German partner channel ZDF. “She could either revoke her own policy, which would in effect mean that she is correcting herself and that everything she did so far was wrong. She cannot possibly do that because then she would be a lame duck in her position.”

He added: “Or, she could fire the minister of the interior on Monday, if he were to act. But then her coalition partner would leave the coalition, which would leave her without a majority in Parliament, which would be tough. She could try to go for a little while, but in effect that might lead to new elections.”

“She is fighting various fires in Europe.”

It is unclear whether Merkel would run again should German voters be sent back to the ballot box.

The CSU’s hardline stance on immigration comes ahead of regional elections in Germany. In the Bavarian heartland, along Germany’s southern border, the migrant crisis is a crucial issue and the party fears anti-immigration sentiment could bring to an end its decades-old dominance of Bavaria’s government.

However, others have criticized the CSU for putting its interests ahead of national unity.

Malu Dreyer, the premier of the Rhineland-Pfalz region, called the CSU’s tactics “scandalous.”

“The CSU is risking a lot, namely the stability of this government,” she said Thursday.

Andrea Nahles, the leader of Germany’s center-left Social Democrats, accused Bavaria’s CSU governor, Markus Soeder, of “behaving like a bonsai Trump.”

“We won’t allow the panic of the [Bavarian] state government to take all of Germany and Europe hostage,” said Nahles.

Gero Neugebauer, professor of politics at the Free University Berlin, said Seehofer’s CSU wanted to change the law that automatically guarantees asylum to anyone facing persecution overseas, replacing it with the power to accept or reject asylum applications.

However, the dispute is also a power struggle over who dominates German politics.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel holds a news conference in Berlin on Friday.Markus Schreiber / AP

“That is why the dispute is in substance about [migration policy], but it is also a conflict between people,” Neugebauer said, adding Seehofer is hoping to emerge as the winner in a confrontation with Merkel.

It cannot be excluded that a collapse of the coalition government “could be imminent,” Neugebauer warned, but added that that would pose risks “which are higher for the CSU than for Merkel’s CDU party.”

Sophia Besch, a research fellow at the Centre for European Reform think tank, said Merkel has become more isolated on the European stage but her patience and experience could ensure her political survival.

“She is fighting various fires in Europe. She has the Dutch and the northern and Scandinavian countries on her side, but she is certainly not strong enough to be called the undisputed leader of Europe as she might have been,” Besch added. “She’s great at surviving these things, in part because of her calm approach, which is in stark contrast to the posturing in the CSU and the ‘Merkel must go’ faction of the CDU.”

Merkel and Macron are among the few remaining European leaders to explicitly shun populism and the protectionist trade policies of President Donald Trump, and share a vision of a stronger, more unified E.U.-wide foreign policy.

Macron warned in March that the European Union faces a “civil war” and “fascination with the illiberal” as nationalist governments in Poland and Hungary turn away from liberal democracy and appealed to Europeans not to “sleepwalk” into authoritarianism.

Andy Eckardt reported from Mainz, Germany, and Alastair Jamieson from London.

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/europes-border-crisis/germany-s-merkel-faces-political-crisis-over-migrant-policy-n883441

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Denmark becomes latest European country to ban full Islamic face veil in public spaces

Telegraph-UK — Thu, 31 May 2018 05:05:49 +0000

Women in niqab at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen after the vote banning face veils was passed CREDIT: REUTERS

The Danish parliament on Thursday passed a law banning the Islamic full-face veil in public spaces, becoming the latest European country to do so.

“Anyone who wears a garment that hides the face in public will be punished with a fine,” says the law, which was passed by 75 votes to 30.

Presented by the centre-right government, the legislation, which is to take effect on August 1, was also backed by the Social Democrats and the far-right Danish People’s Party.

Wearing a burqa, which covers a person’s entire face, or the niqab, which only shows the eyes, in public will lead to a fine of 1,000 kroner (£118).

Women in niqab are pictured after the Danish Parliament banned the wearing of face veils in public, at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen CREDIT: MADS CLAUS RASMUSSEN/REUTERS

Repeated violations will be fined up to 10,000 kroner.

It is not known how many women wear the niqab and burqa in Denmark.

“I don’t think there are many who wear the burqa here in Denmark. But if you do, you should be punished with a fine,” Justice Minister Soren Pape Poulsen was quoted as saying by Ritzau news agency in February.

At a glance | Where burkas are banned

Full burka and niqab ban

France, since 2004
Belgium, since 2011
Chad, since 2015
Cameroon, in five provinces, since 2015
Diffa, Niger, since 2015
Brazzaville, Congo, since 2015
Tessin, Switzerland, since 2016
Denmark, introduced in 2018

Burkini ban

Around 30 French coastal towns had issued bans, but France’s highest court ruled against them on 26th August, meaning that burkini bans are now illegal.

Partial burka and niqab ban

The Netherlands: women cannot have their faces covered in schools, hospital and on public transport.
The Italian town of Novara: women were told to stop wearing a full veil in 2010, but there is no established fines system.
Parts of Catalonia, Spain: The country’s Supreme Court ruled against a ban in some areas in 2013, however those areas which brought their cases to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) have continued with the ban – supported by an ECHR ruling in their favour in 2014.
Turkey: a full ban was abandoned in 2013. Now, women are only barred if they work in the judiciary, military and police.

The European Court of Human Rights last year upheld a Belgian ban on wearing it in public.

France was the first European country to ban the niqab in public places with a law that took effect in 2011.

Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/31/denmark-becomes-latest-european-country-ban-full-islamic-face/

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Awash with migrants, even Sweden’s Social Democrats propose cutting numbers in half

Thomas D. Williams — Sat, 05 May 2018 05:39:23 +0000

Swedish immigration minister Helene Fritzon said Friday that current immigration levels in the Scandinavian country are nearly “double” what the country can handle and released a proposal to cut them drastically in the future.

At a press conference announcing a change in party policy for the Social Democrats, Ms. Fritzon said that Sweden should be accepting closer to 14,000 or 15,000 asylum seekers each year, far fewer than the 27,000 who entered the country in 2017.

“Even if the number of asylum seekers has dropped significantly in Sweden, it is significantly higher than our population share in Europe,” she said. “Not quite double, but close to it.”

Sweden, with a population under 10 million, has taken in approximately 350,000 asylum-seekers in the last four years, and many citizens believe that Sweden has borne a disproportionate share of the burden in comparison with the other EU countries.

“It became particularly clear in the autumn of 2015 that the Swedish migration policy was not sustainable,” Fritzon said.

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, who announced the new migration policy alongside the immigration minister in preparation for upcoming elections, said that the country’s share in welcoming migrants and refugees to Europe “must correspond to Sweden’s population size.”

Sweden will hold elections this September, and the ruling Social Democrats are hustling to get their house in order in a bid to staying in power come the fall.

Prime Minister Stefan Löfven said that “only a few EU countries” took their share of responsibility during the 2015 refugee crisis, which in his view clearly demonstrated the importance of a common and effective system of regulations.

A spokesman for the opposition Moderate Party blasted the Social Democrat proposals as insincere, asking how they could pretend to have a strict immigration policy when they recently announced the concession of temporary residency rights to 9,000 former unaccompanied minors whose applications had been rejected.

Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter @tdwilliamsrome

Source: http://www.breitbart.com/london/2018/05/05/awash-with-migrants-swedish-social-democrats-propose-cutting-numbers-in-half/

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The post Awash with migrants, even Sweden’s Social Democrats propose cutting numbers in half first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

German military draws up €450 million wish list

Deutsche Welle — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 23:41:53 +0000

Germany’s underequipped military, the Bundeswehr, wants to spend hundreds of millions on new weapons. Some of the money will go toward leasing drones from Israel, but first the government needs a new budget.

As criticism grows that Germany’s military hardware is fast becoming obsolete, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen will ask the government for a massive cash injection to update the Bundeswehr’s equipment.

According to a list obtained by two German newspapers, von der Leyen is requesting €450 million euros ($553 million) for 18 items. A Defense Ministry spokesman said the Bundeswehr would present its procurement requests to the Bundestag “soon.”

“We hope that the material situation of the Bundeswehr will be improved,” Defense Ministry spokesman Holger Neumann said at the government’s press conference on Monday.

Germany’s defense minister wants more money

Part of the money is intended for upgrades to Germany’s Puma tanks and maintenance of its NH-90 helicopters. Money would also go toward a nine-year contract to lease Heron TP drones capable of carrying arms — all in all the cost of this deal will be €1 billion.

Read more: A guide to military drones

Plans for future

The coalition agreement signed between the conservatives and the Social Democrats in March sanctions the leasing of the Israeli drones as a stopgap measure until the development of an EU drone within the framework of the European Defence Union.

The coalition agreement foresees investments of €10 billion to modernize the Bundeswehr, but von der Leyen has said she doesn’t think that sum will be sufficient. The latest request for funds will have to be approved by the government when it draws up its budget for 2018.

Earlier this year, an internal Bundeswehr document that was leaked to the press questioned whether the German military was well enough equipped to fulfill its duties — a situation termed “scandalous” by members of the opposition.

Germany spent about €37 billion on defense in 2017 — the ninth-highest defense budget in the world. That sum is scheduled to increase to €39 billion in 2018. But German military spending falls far short of the 2 percent of national GDP targeted by NATO.

Source: http://www.dw.com/en/german-military-draws-up-450-million-euro-wish-list/a-43493661

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Germany rejecting Pakistani asylum seekers for lack of valid documents

Pakistan Today — Tue, 27 Mar 2018 17:59:41 +0000

The number of failed asylum seekers who could not be repatriated from Germany because they lack valid documents jumped 71 per cent in 2017 compared with the previous year, the interior ministry said on Monday.

Around 65,000 failed asylum seekers were granted temporary permission to stay in the country in 2017 because they could not be repatriated due to their lack of identity papers, a ministry spokesman said, up from 38,000 in 2016.

The largest numbers of failed applicants who could not be repatriated because they had no papers were from India (5,743), Pakistan (4,943), Afghanistan (3,915) and Russia (3,828), publishing group Funke Mediengruppe reported, citing an interior ministry internal report.

The nationalities of nearly 3,800 applicants were registered as “unclear”, including people such as Palestinians and Kurds who did not have a country to which they could be deported, the report said.

Germany has been trying to speed up such repatriations since Anis Amri, a Tunisian awaiting deportation, killed 12 people at a Berlin Christmas market in December 2016. Amri’s deportation had been delayed because he had no valid passport.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision in 2015 to welcome more than a million migrants has provoked a popular backlash and increased support for the far-right Alternative for Germany party.

Migration policy was one of the most disputed issues for Merkel’s conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats in renewing their coalition this month.

The number of people who applied for asylum fell in 2017, however, coming in well below the maximum 220,000 agreed on by the coalition parties.

Cooperation between German authorities and the embassies of the countries of origin of failed applicants, to issue substitute passports, was going poorly in many cases, the report said.

Earlier this month, Europe’s top migration official, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said the European Union wanted to tighten visa requirements for applicants from countries that were not cooperating enough on migrant deportations.

Source: https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/03/27/germany-rejecting-pakistani-asylum-seekers-for-lack-of-valid-documents/

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