Every mainstream party running in Cologne’s local elections this month has agreed not to criticise immigration. Those bound by the so-called fairness agreement say they will not depict asylum seekers or migrants in a ‘negative’ light. Candidates are also warned not to ‘exploit’ migration as an electoral issue.
Last week, news of a round-table agreement banning criticism of immigration in Cologne made headlines—not least because it caught the attention of Elon Musk. Seven parties, from the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) to the SPD, Greens, and Left Party, had signed the so-called Fairness Agreement, pledging not to criticize asylum seekers or migrants during election campaigns. The agreement has existed since 2017, but now, ahead of the municipal elections on September 14th, it has finally cracked.
When the recruiting sergeants came to mobilise Odysseus for the siege of Troy, the guileful king of Ithaca feigned madness, driving his plough back and forth across a beach and seeding it with grains of salt.
In decades gone by, Germany’s draft dodgers and conscientious objectors resorted to an array of similarly inventive ruses, from faking chronic illness to devising long autobiographical texts on the roots of their pacifism.
Now, as the government prepares to bring back a small-scale form of national service, the old boxes of tricks are being dusted off.
The “existence of western democracies” is in peril without fundamental reforms to the European asylum system, one of Germany’s most eminent legal figures has warned.
Hans-Jürgen Papier was previously the most senior judge in the country, which became a European standard bearer for liberal immigration policy. Papier said the current rules had opened the floodgates to “uncontrolled and unconditional immigration” and needed to be radically revised before the public lost faith in conventional politics.
Unfortunately people like Hans are more afraid of losing access to the trough than they are of mass immigration from incompatible cultures.
The only thing that scares them more is the AfD.
Six candidates of hated party die just before local elections In German state. Coincidence?
What is the likelihood that four candidates and two reserve candidates of the same political party, in the same region, would drop dead suddenly, within 13 days of each other—and just before local elections? It happened in North Rhine-Westphalia to Alternative for Germany (AfD) candidates on the September 14 ballot.
The four candidates were Ralph Lange, 66; Wolfgang Klinger, 71; Stefan Berendes, 59; and Wolfgang Seitz, also 59. All were running for local offices in the northwest German state, where voters will go to the polls in less than two weeks. German election officials have invalidated previous mail ballots due to the deaths.
Ten years ago yesterday, then German chancellor Angela Merkel said what would become her defining catchphrase: “Wir schaffen das.” In English, “we can do it.” She was, of course, referring to the open-borders policy she was about to foist upon Germany and its people.
The invitation was only supposed to be for Syrians, who were fleeing from their country’s civil war. Shortly before Merkel’s famous speech, an internal communication, Instruction 93605/Syria/2015, had directed German authorities to allow entry to anyone claiming to be from Syria, even without documentation. The official Twitter account for the Federal Office for Migration made a post, intended primarily to inform journalists, that “regulations for Syrian citizens are not currently, for the most part, being implemented by us.” The message quickly went far beyond the intended audience, and spread like wildfire among the refugee camps of Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan. It was spread on Facebook groups and passed around in group chats, encouraging migrants of all nationalities—certainly not just Syrians—to make the journey to Germany.
In Cologne, a bizarre conspiracy of silence has settled. Only it’s not happening behind closed doors. All of the political parties involved in upcoming local elections, except the anti-immigration AfD, have openly agreed to avoid negative commentary on immigration during their campaigns.
Everyone, from the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to the far-Left Die Linke, has signed a “Fairness Agreement”, pledging not to talk about migrants in connection with “negative social developments such as unemployment or threats to domestic security”. This is likely to backfire spectacularly.
Germany’s welfare statistics have reignited the debate over migration and integration after new figures revealed that ‘Mohammed’ and its many spelling variants have become the most common first name among recipients of Bürgergeld, the country’s basic income support.
The revelation emerged after a follow-up parliamentary enquiry by AfD MP René Springer, who demanded clarification of earlier figures published by the federal government.
Almost all asylum seekers who came to Germany during the peak years 2013–2019 want to remain permanently and acquire citizenship, according to new research by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin).
The findings confirm what liberals in Europe have been denying for a decade: that for many migrants, asylum has functioned less as temporary protection and more as a pathway to long-term settlement.
The biggest, boldest lie of every welfare state is that the goods and services it is providing to its citizens are “free.” Those of us with brain cells and an aversion to lying know that this is not only untrue, but also impossible. Politicians are fond of throwing taxpayer dollars around like drunk Kennedy cousins on summer break in Monte Carlo in order to make voters love them.
h/t DS
The traditional ARD Sommerinterview with Markus Söder, leader of the CSU and minister-president of Bavaria, was interrupted this past Sunday by a group of activists from the Identitäre Bewegung, an ethnopluralist activist group promoting cultural identity in Europe and opposing Islamization.
Around two dozen demonstrators disrupted the recording by displaying a banner that read “Stärkste Kraft im Land. Uns übertönt ihr nicht” (“The strongest force in the country. You will not drown us out”) while chanting slogans in favor of remigration.
American good Samaritan stabbed by Syrian immigrant in Germany after stepping in to stop harassment
An American has been stabbed by a Syrian national in Germany after allegedly stepping in to help two female passengers being harassed on a tram, according to reports.
The young man was attacked at around 12:25 a.m. on Sunday after intervening when “two men from a group harassed female passengers” on the tram in the eastern German city of Dresden, police spokesman Luka Reumund told Bild.
Pictures from the scene show blood spattered over the tram. The unidentified American was rushed to the hospital where his condition is unknown.
Nicole Blair, a 36-year-old YouTuber who once worked actively as a refugee helper, has explained why she now votes for Germany’s right-wing opposition party, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).
In 2015, during the height of the migration crisis, she spent time in Budapest, where she saw families camping without food or shelter.
Back in Germany, she threw herself into volunteer work—donating blankets, teaching children, arranging housing, and supporting newcomers. “I was totally passionate. I wanted to be a good person,” she told the Schwäbische Zeitung.
Activists and journalists will debate how to “fight the far right” in a government-backed cultural event.
At a time when Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has emerged as the most popular political force in the country, overtaking even the traditional parties that have governed for decades, Germany’s state apparatus—together with allied cultural and media organisations—is intensifying efforts to isolate and discredit it.
A growing number of Germans believe that freedom of expression is being curtailed in their country—in a recent survey 84% of respondents stated they think people hold back their opinions out of fear of negative consequences.
The findings point to widespread concerns about the health of democratic discourse in Germany.
The survey, conducted by the INSA polling institute, reveals that only 9% of participants believe people can express themselves freely without fear.
