UWI presents the recent social and political developments in Germany with a selection from the prominent German press.
Gender transition law
“Self-Determination Act”, submitted to the parliament by the government on August 23, 2023, was accepted by the majority of votes. The law, which came into force on April 12 made gender change. Every adult German citizen will have the right to change gender at the civil registry office once a year. Individuals between the ages of 14-17 must obtain written permission from their parents. While the Social Democratic Party, Free Democratic Party and Green supported the law, conservative and nationalist parties responded with a strong opposition.
Tagesschau (National and international television news service produced by German public-service television network ARD): It was an emotional debate, but in the end a clear majority of the Bundestag voted for the Self-Determination Act.
For trans and intersex people, as well as people who identify as neither male nor female, changing the gender becomes a purely administrative procedure. The previous transgender law of 1980 had been requiring submission of two psychological reports to change their gender or name registration.
ZDF (Germany’s national public television): The CDU/CSU wants to partially repeal the government’s self-determination law if they win next year’s federal elections. Deputy leader of the CSU parliamentary group Andrea Lindholz announced this in an interview with ZDFheute.
Lindholz criticizes the fact that in the future everyone will be able to change their gender by going to the civil registry office once a year.
Criticism of the law also comes from the AfD and Bundestag member Sahra Wagenknecht.
FAZ (a national daily and business newspaper): Things are heating up in the Bundestag when Sahra Wagenknecht leaves the podium. Representatives of government groups are outraged. Wagenknecht said: “Your law is misogynistic. And your law turns parents and children into guinea pigs for an ideology that only benefits the pharmaceutical lobby and industry. We say no to this dangerous madness.”
“Genocide lawsuit” from Nicaragua against Germany
The state of Nicaragua officially filed a lawsuit against Germany in the international court, alleging that it supports the genocide against Palestinians in Israel. Immediately after the lawsuit, Nicaragua closed its embassy in Germany and gave a one-week ultimatum to German diplomats in Nicaragua.
FAZ: Nicaragua has finally closed its embassy in Berlin after Nicaragua filed a lawsuit against Germany for its complicity in the “genocide in the Gaza Strip”. Official affairs between the two countries will be taken over by Nicaragua’s diplomatic mission in Austria, an official of the Nicaraguan Embassy in Vienna told the German Press Agency.
President Daniel Ortega’s authoritarian government had previously announced in the official gazette that Nicaragua’s ambassador to Vienna, Sabra Murillo, had been accredited as ambassador to Germany. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, several hundred Nicaraguan citizens live in Germany and nearly a thousand Germans live in Nicaragua.
Spiegel (one of the most-read German weekly news magazine): Germany rejected Nicaragua’s claim of complicity in the genocide in the Gaza Strip as unfounded. “These allegations have no legal or factual basis,” said Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, head of the German delegation, in her speech in front of the International Court of Justice in the Hague. “Germany is not violating the Genocide Convention or international humanitarian law. Germany’s actions in this conflict are firmly rooted in international law” she added.
The United Nations’ top 16 judges will assess the urgent application from Nicaragua. Nicaragua demands, among other things, an immediate halt to arms deliveries to Israel and the resumption of contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees and the UN Palestine aid agency in the Gaza Strip. A decision from the court is expected in about two weeks.
Iranian strikes against Israel
In the attack carried out by the Israeli air force on the Iranian embassy in Damascus on April 1, 2024, the Iranian officials including generals from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard had lost their lives. Two weeks after the attack, that is, on Sunday, April 14, Iran struck Israel for the first time with nearly 300 drones and rockets.
Deutschlandfunk (Public-broadcasting radio station): Iran fulfilled its threat and attacked Israel directly for the first time on the night of April 14. According to the Israeli military, the country has fired more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel. The damage is apparently minor, but the attack is still serious. The conflict in the Middle East may escalate further. The West guaranteed support for Israel.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz also “strongly condemned” Iran’s air strikes on Israel. “Iran risks a regional conflagration with this irresponsible and unjustified attack. Germany stands by Israel in these difficult times,” the government spokesman said.
Stern (Weekly magazine): Is Scholz in the wrong place at the wrong time? Maybe. It is a perfect time to sit through a one-hour exam with the head of a world power in front of you.
China has influence over the Iranian regime. It’s unclear how big it actually is. But what stood out at the Prime Minister’s Office was how interested Chinese President Xi has been in gaining diplomatic credibility lately. Maybe something is happening right now. China has also experienced better economic times. The country does not need turbulence in the global economy right now. Shouldn’t it also be in Xi’s interest to get involved in the Middle East?
The chancellor’s team likes to recall that during his first visit to Beijing in 2022, Scholz pushed the Chinese president to publicly warn against the use of nuclear weapons. It’s an important signal to Russia because China is arguably the Kremlin’s most important ally. It will now be important for China to work, at least in the background, to end Iran’s war games. Anything helpful is welcomed.
Focus (Weekly magazine): According to Prof. Dr. Joachim Krause, Director of the Institute for Security Policy Kiel University, Iran made clear during the attacks that this was a one-off action as a warning to the Israelis. Krause says that from this it can be concluded that the previous attack on the consulate building in Damascus was, from the Israeli perspective, a “direct hit” that greatly weakened the ability of the Revolutionary Guard to act in their small war against Israel. Iran’s statement that revenge has been taken and nothing more will come from now on clearly shows that those in power in Tehran are also worried about what Israel’s reaction will be. Because one thing is certain: Israel is far superior to Iran when it comes to air warfare, long-range missiles and missile defense. For Israel, Iran’s main threat is its nuclear weapons program. We can now hear from many reliable sources that Iran is making further progress in enriching uranium and is increasingly freeing itself from currently existing international controls. The time it will take for Iran to produce its first nuclear weapon will likely be several months. From Israel’s perspective, Iranian nuclear weapons would be an existential threat because Israel is so small that three to four nuclear strikes would be enough to destroy the Jewish state. This is exactly the goal to which the Islamist rulers in Iran have devoted themselves for more than 45 years.
Israel itself has nuclear weapons for deterrence and existential self-defense and, in my opinion, would not hesitate to use them if Iran made preparations to use nuclear weapons against Israel. The Iranians also know this and have so far refrained from testing nuclear weapons. The question now is: Will the Israeli armed forces use the opportunity to attack the infrastructure of Iran’s nuclear weapons program? I think this option is now being seriously considered by the Israeli government. The only question is whether the Israel Defense Forces can carry out this very difficult and risky operation alone.
Rote Fahne (Newspaper of the Communist Party of Germany): There is no fundamental difference between an embassy building and a consulate building. Both are considered untouchable in international law. The basis for this is the “Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations” (ratified by Israel) and the “Vienna Convention on Consular Relations” (signed but not ratified by Israel), under which the premises of diplomatic missions are considered inviolable. It is recorded that this situation is clearly stated again for consulate buildings.
Israel’s attack was strongly condemned by many countries, like China, Russia and Saudi Arabia. The US announced that it was not involved in this. It has not been condemned in any way by the German federal government, which shows their double standards and hypocrisy. Due to the ongoing and increasing arms shipment to Israel, Germany is being charged by Nicaragua at the International Criminal Court in the Hague on the grounds that it supports the genocide in Gaza.
Schröder’s 80th birthday
Gerhard Schröder, the 7th Chancellor who served between 1998 and 2005, celebrated his 80th birthday on April 8, 2024.
Spiegel: A party without party friends? No problem for former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Despite ongoing criticism about his Russian connections, everyone was welcome at the birthday celebration.
The former Chancellor takes the accusations with equanimity. Schröder said he worked well with Putin during his chancellorship, and this led to a friendship. “This relationship could be useful in terms of continuing to talk and making a small contribution to ending the war,” Schröder said.
Berliner Morgenpost (daily newspaper based in Berlin): Schröder’s loyalty to Putin, despite his campaign against the Ukrainian people, can no longer be rationally explained. He must know how brutal this war is. Well- intentioned people think that he cannot break away from Putin because of his stubbornness. To the less well-intentioned, this is a reminder of Gazprom’s millions and Schröder’s difficult youth. “We were the anti-social one. I ate glass putty for years,” Schröder recalls of his toughest years.
In any case, it is tragic that Schröder’s political successes are being dampened by persistent lobbying efforts in Russia. But his successes remain to be there. “Agenda 2010” was the key to overcoming unemployment. “No” to the Iraq war, which could be a bloody adventure. Also the “Hartz rules” put many people back to work. They have long been abolished by the new party leadership and replaced by “citizen money”.