Morning opening: The German firewall is crumbling
Jakub Krupa
Friedrich Merz, favourite to become the next German chancellor, will bring proposals to radically change asylum and immigration laws before parliament today, even if they end up being passed with the support of Alternative für Deutschland.
As our Berlin correspondent, Kate Connolly, explains, Merz has been accused of shifting his position on the country’s “firewall” against the far-right party with the proposed law change, which would aim to dramatically increase the number of deportations.
The proposals include effectively closing German land borders to irregular migration and allowing the federal police to request arrest warrants for people who do not have the legal right to remain in Germany. Critics say the proposals could break European law.
The policy shift follows an attack in Aschaffenburg last week in which a two-year-old child and a 41-year-old man were stabbed to death by an asylum seeker from Afghanistan who had been scheduled for deportation. Chancellor Scholz will speak about the attack today, too.
On Tuesday night, the German Catholic and Protestant churches warned against Merz’s plan, saying in a letter seen by Reuters that “the timing and the tone of the debate appear deeply strange to us,” and worrying that the move could “defame all migrants living in Germany, stir up prejudices, and does not contribute to solving the real issues.”
The joint letter warned against dropping the firewall against the far-right, saying: “We fear that German democracy will suffer massive damage if this political promise is abandoned.”
Separately, over the weekend, tens of thousands of Germans took to the streets to demonstrate against the far-right and to denounce Merz’s plans.
However, less than four weeks before the elections on 23 February, their calls are likely to fall on deaf ears as toughening the language on migration is seen as necessary to secure the best possible result at the polls.
On Monday, Merz said: “There are 40,000 asylum applicants who need to be deported. A local politician told me this weekend that there are ticking timebombs walking around our towns and communities.”
His senior ally, Thorsten Frei, told reporters: “We are at a point where we have to depart from tactical considerations. We have to do things that have to be done.”
All of this is to come as part of what was supposed to be a sombre and reflective sitting of the German parliament, opening at midday with a ceremony to mark the Holocaust Memorial Day. Given the many warnings from survivors about the rise of the far-right movements in Europe, it feels wrong and weirdly apt at the same time.
I will bring you the latest on this throughout the day.
We will also take a look at the latest in Serbia, Italy, Ireland, Ukraine, and, of course, Denmark and Greenland. Much more to come during the day, no doubt.
It’s Wednesday, 29 January 2025, and this is Europe live. It’s Jakub Krupa here.
Good morning.
Key events
‘Not possible’ to draw a line under our history, German president says in rebuke to Musk
German president Steinmeier also speaks about his experience of attending the Auschwitz memorial event on Monday.
Steinmeier says:
It is not far from Berlin, our capital, where everything that happened there was thought up.
Standing there between the barracks means standing in front of a still unavoidable truth. Germans organised and committed these crimes against humanity. Germans opened up this inhuman abyss; they planned, measured and calculated it.
This place [Auschwitz] makes it clear to us that Shoah is a part of German history, whether we like it or not, it is part of our history, and so it is not possible to draw a line under our history … and our responsibility.
His words will be seen as a rebuke to US billionaire Elon Musk, who over the weekend made a surprise appearance during Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) election campaign event in Halle in eastern Germany on Saturday.
Speaking there, he said “children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great grandparents,” apparently referring to Germany’s Nazi past.
Steinmeier’s words get long applause from the audience.
German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier has been speaking in the last few minutes, paying tribute to the victims of the Holocaust and nazism in a speech in the German parliament.
Jewish life was virtually extinguished. … Today, we remember all the women, children, and men who were murdered in Ukraine and across Europe. We owe it to the victims … and we will not forget them.
He also specifically warns against forgetting the history and the lessons from the Holocaust:
We all have images in our hearts and minds that represent to us the horror of the Shoah. And in recent days, we have once again seen these photographs that have long become symbols.
And yet there is a danger that these often seen images, the well-known words of warning, the routine of remembrance, they bring a sense of false and deceptive certainty that we have fully understood what happened. …
They make it easy for us to believe that we know everything, and … give in to the temptation to file away all these images, stories and words in a large box in our minds, labeled: this was all a long time ago.
It is a duty for our generation to work against forgetting and, allow me to add, a duty that we cannot fail in.
German parliament in sitting with ceremony commemorating victims of the Holocaust
The German parliament is now in sitting, with a ceremony commemorating the victims of the Holocaust. Survivor Roman Schwarzman and president Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who was in Auschwitz earlier this week, are expected to speak.
The immigration and asylum debate will follow later in the afternoon.
You will find the English-language stream at the top of this page.
Angela Giuffrida writes from Rome
There’s much debate in Italy today as the country absorbs the news that prime minister Giorgia Meloni is under investigation over the unexpected release and repatriation last week of a Libyan warlord wanted for war crimes by the international criminal court.
The Italian judicial system is complex, but what we know right now is that Meloni is under no obligation to resign, and if formal charges do arise then the case would need approval from the Italian parliament before it can proceed.
Along with the interior minister and justice minister, Meloni is being probed for aiding and abetting a crime and embezzlement in connection with the case of Libya’s chief of judicial police, Osama Najim, also called Almasri.
Meloni said she is neither “blackmailable” nor “intimidated” in a video message yesterday announcing that she had received a notice of investigation, and immediately defended herself against what she believes is a leftwing plot.
She also questioned the processes of the international criminal court (ICC) and argued that Najim, who is wanted for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as alleged rape and murder, had to be swiftly deported from Italy as he was a danger to national security. Najim was sent home to Tripoli on a state flight and was given a hero’s welcome.
In another social media post on Wednesday morning, Meloni said: “Our commitment to defend Italy will continue, as always, with determination and without hesitation. When the security of the nation and the interests of Italians are at stake, there’s no time for stepping back.”
Opposition leaders are furious because Meloni is still dodging demands to address the Almasri case in parliament, while an address by the interior and justice ministers scheduled for today was cancelled, a move Riccardo Magi, president of the More Europe party, described as “another kick to parliamentary democracy”.
Meloni is the third Italian post-second world war prime minister to be placed under investigation, with the most famous being the late Silvio Berlusconi and the most recent Giuseppe Conte, who was probed over his initial handling of the Covid-19 pandemic before the case was dropped.
Italian prime minister Meloni under investigation
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has said she is under investigation in connection with Italy’s unexpected release and repatriation last week of a Libyan general who is wanted for war crimes by the international criminal court.
She said in a video message posted on social media that she is suspected of aiding and abetting a crime and embezzlement in connection with the case of Libya’s chief of judicial police, Osama Najim – also called Almasri.
Meloni wrote the following beneath the Instagram video: “What is valid today, was valid yesterday: I am not blackmailable, I am not intimidated. Onwards and upwards.”
Our Rome correspondent Angela Giuffrida has the full story here, and we will have more analysis from her shortly:
New Irish government goes ‘backwards’ on gender equality, former minister warns
Lisa O’Carroll
The former deputy of Ireland’s main political party has condemned the new government for going “backwards” in relation to gender equality as the two main parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, meet in Dublin to appoint junior ministers.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin (FF) and his deputy Simon Harris (FG) appointed just three women to the 15-strong cabinet less week, one fewer than the previous government.
It prompted sharp criticism and a pointed observation by the Social Democrats that there were more people called James than women in the new government.
“To have fewer women in cabinet than we did even when I was in cabinet is absolutely the wrong direction to go. It sends a really bad message to women and to people all over the country. I hope that it can be addressed to some degree today,” said Mary Hanifan, who held multiple ministerial posts between 2004 and 2011.
But Hanifan also slated the government parties for not doing enough to ensure women are on electoral lists, claiming they make the effort too late in the electoral cycle.
“I think all of the political parties are handling it really, really badly. They leave it until the last three months or the last three weeks to add women to tickets, to invite women to participate when, in fact, they should be now planning for the next local elections, which are five years away, and the next general election,” she told RTE’s Claire Byrne show.
The new government will involve 18 ministers of state, five of which have already gone to independent TDs propping up their coalition.
However, it is unlikely to alter the gender imbalance greatly, with just seven of Fianna Fáil’s 48 TDs women. Fine Gael has done better with 10 female TDs but six of them are first timers.
Trump not a ‘meteor’ to Ireland’s economy
US president Donald Trump will not be a knockout “meteor” to Ireland’s economy despite its heavy reliance on US multinationals, the head of the country’s business trade organisation has said.
While the US president told world leaders gathered at Davos last week that “Europe treats us very, very unfairly” there is a heightened sense of nervousness in Ireland that this could translate to an attempt to repatriate jobs and taxes from the 950 US companies there.
One of the sectors viewed as particularly vulnerable to Trump is the pharmaceutical industry, with big players such as Pfizer manufacturing drugs in Ireland and exporting them back to the US while booking profits in Ireland.
Danny McCoy, the chief executive of the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, said the near panic in some circles was unwarranted.
“People are saying that what Trump is proposing means we are going to lose our business model. I just don’t believe that at all. I do not share the idea that one thing is going to knock out the economy like a meteor,” McCoy added.
Lisa O’Carroll has this report from Dublin.
Italian data watchdog looking into Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek
The Italian data protection authority has started inquiries into the use of personal data by the AI chatbot of Chinese startup DeepSeek, amid concerns over “the potential high risk for the data of millions of people in Italy.”
The Garante has asked the company for more information on “what is the legal basis of the processing (of the data), and whether it is stored on servers located in China,” as well as details on how the model was trained.
The Italian watchdog has a history of getting involved with emerging technology at an early stage.
In 2013, it temporarily blocked ChatGPT over privacy concerns, becoming the first Western country to take such action, and in December it fined OpenAI 15 million euros over its use of personal data, AFP notes.
French budget talks at risk after PM Bayrou’s immigration comments
French budget talks were on the verge of collapse on Wednesday, a day after Socialist party officials suspended their participation in protest over remarks about immigration by prime minister François Bayrou, Reuters reports.
In a television interview on Monday, Bayrou referred to “a feeling of invasion” by immigrants.
“We suspended our negotiations because the words from the prime minister were not dignified,” Philippe Brun, a Socialist lawmaker involved in the budget talks, said in an interview with Sud Radio on Wednesday.
He said he hoped the talks would resume.
Without the support of the Socialists, Bayrou may not have enough support to advance his budget and take steps to trim the deficit as called for by EU officials, Reuters notes.
Ukraine briefing
And here is your daily update on the latest in Ukraine.
Russian president calls Ukrainian counterpart ‘illegitimate’; Zelenskyy says government will try to replace suspended US aid.
Here is what we know on 1,071 day of the war.
Greenlanders against coming under US control: poll
Greenlanders are overwhelmingly against the idea of coming under the US control, despite increasingly assertive rhetoric from US president Donald Trump that he would want to “get” the island.
A new poll, published by Danish newspaper Berlingske and Greenland’s Sermitsiaq, said that 85% were against, with just 6% in favour. 9% had no preference.
The survey comes just a day after Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen met with German chancellor Olaf Scholz, French president Emmanuel Macron and Nato secretary general Mark Rutte to rally the support for her government’s position on Greenland.
Quoted by TV2, Frederiksen reacted to the poll by insisting that it is up to Greenlanders to decide their future, but that she was happy to see what she saw as high support for further “close cooperation” with Denmark.
Earlier this month, an amateur poll conducted by two students, and now debunked by Danish media as disinformation, got some traction after it suggested the opposite result. Berlingske has an investigation into how it spread, saying it got some help from the Russian media.
Serbian president hints at snap election in April
Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić hinted at the possibility of a snap election in April after the resignation of his prime minister, Miloš Vučević, on Tuesday.
Vučević’s resignation came after months of nationwide protests, which began after 15 people were killed when part of the canopy roof came crashing down on 1 November, a disaster blamed on rampant corruption.
Speaking to the press last night, president Vučić said his party would take 10 days to decide whether to form a new government or hold a snap parliamentary election, which he said could come as early as April.
Vučic’s Serbian Progressive party won a comfortable victory in parliamentary elections in December 2023, but government critics said the vote was fraudulent, while international observers found “instances of serious irregularities, including vote-buying and ballot-box stuffing.
The president also dismissed the protesting students’s proposals for an interim government, made up of experts and university professors.
His response is likely to fail to placate the public anger, with Lazar Stojaković of the Faculty for Organisational Science at Belgrade University capturing the students’ frustrations in a social media post:
“Those who have been fuelling tensions for the past 13 years are now trying to defuse tensions. It is not going to work … See you in the streets again.”
Morning opening: The German firewall is crumbling
Jakub Krupa
Friedrich Merz, favourite to become the next German chancellor, will bring proposals to radically change asylum and immigration laws before parliament today, even if they end up being passed with the support of Alternative für Deutschland.
As our Berlin correspondent, Kate Connolly, explains, Merz has been accused of shifting his position on the country’s “firewall” against the far-right party with the proposed law change, which would aim to dramatically increase the number of deportations.
The proposals include effectively closing German land borders to irregular migration and allowing the federal police to request arrest warrants for people who do not have the legal right to remain in Germany. Critics say the proposals could break European law.
The policy shift follows an attack in Aschaffenburg last week in which a two-year-old child and a 41-year-old man were stabbed to death by an asylum seeker from Afghanistan who had been scheduled for deportation. Chancellor Scholz will speak about the attack today, too.
On Tuesday night, the German Catholic and Protestant churches warned against Merz’s plan, saying in a letter seen by Reuters that “the timing and the tone of the debate appear deeply strange to us,” and worrying that the move could “defame all migrants living in Germany, stir up prejudices, and does not contribute to solving the real issues.”
The joint letter warned against dropping the firewall against the far-right, saying: “We fear that German democracy will suffer massive damage if this political promise is abandoned.”
Separately, over the weekend, tens of thousands of Germans took to the streets to demonstrate against the far-right and to denounce Merz’s plans.
However, less than four weeks before the elections on 23 February, their calls are likely to fall on deaf ears as toughening the language on migration is seen as necessary to secure the best possible result at the polls.
On Monday, Merz said: “There are 40,000 asylum applicants who need to be deported. A local politician told me this weekend that there are ticking timebombs walking around our towns and communities.”
His senior ally, Thorsten Frei, told reporters: “We are at a point where we have to depart from tactical considerations. We have to do things that have to be done.”
All of this is to come as part of what was supposed to be a sombre and reflective sitting of the German parliament, opening at midday with a ceremony to mark the Holocaust Memorial Day. Given the many warnings from survivors about the rise of the far-right movements in Europe, it feels wrong and weirdly apt at the same time.
I will bring you the latest on this throughout the day.
We will also take a look at the latest in Serbia, Italy, Ireland, Ukraine, and, of course, Denmark and Greenland. Much more to come during the day, no doubt.
It’s Wednesday, 29 January 2025, and this is Europe live. It’s Jakub Krupa here.
Good morning.