News from Germany

> Germany is horrified by the deadly stabbing in Solingen

> European elections

> More than 200,000 foreign nationals granted German citizenship

> Germany legalises the recreational use of cannabis

"We only wanted to celebrate, then we were met by death

TERRORIST ATTACK IN SOLINGEN

Germany is horrified by the deadly stabbing in Solingen. Visitors at the largest Muslim gathering in Europe pray for the victims

August 2024: A stabbing attack on Friday (23 August 2024) that left three people dead at a local festival in the western German city of Solingen is being treated as terrorism, German prosecutors said.

The suspect in the attack, a 26-year-old man from Syria, was living in a refugee shelter a few hundred yards from where it took place, the police added. “He was wearing bloodstained clothes when he turned himself in late on Saturday night (24 August 2024).” The federal prosecutor’s office said it believed the suspect had joined the Islamic State “at an undeterminable” time before the attack.

According to the German news magazine Der Spiegel, the alleged perpetrator is a 26-year-old Syrian who arrived in Germany at the end of December 2022 and applied for asylum in Bielefeld. This was rejected - and the man was supposed to be deported to Bulgaria last year under the Dublin Convention. The native Syrian had entered the European Union there.

Der Spiegel further explained that the alleged assailant was Issa Al H., a 26-year-old Syrian born in Deir ez-Zor, who has been living in Germany since 2022, where he has applied for asylum. A year after he arrived in Germany, he was granted subsidiary protection, a status accorded to people who can prove that they are threatened in their own country due to armed conflict.

The terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack although the German police have not yet confirmed whether the confession letter received in Düsseldorf was indeed genuine. IS posted on its social media channels a message that called the suspect a “Soldier of Islam” who carried out his act to avenge Muslims in Palestine and everywhere. Police and the prosecution authorities will now have to determine whether Issa Al H did indeed have links to the IS, whether the organisation directly inspired his act or whether it was an opportunistic claim.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other leading politicians expressed their shock and horror. The Chancellor spoke of a terrible crime and declared that such offences must be dealt with with the full force of the law. On Monday (26 August 2024), Scholz announced a rapid tightening of gun laws. “Everything within our power’ should be done now, he said during a visit to Solingen. This applies in particular to the use of knives as weapons.”

The Chancellor was more cautious about a possible tightening of asylum laws. Scholz referred to the German parliament’s recent decisions to increase the number of deportations. He emphasised that enforcement must now take place consistently. “If necessary, there would also have to be further changes to the law,” Scholz said he was furious about the offence. His anger is directed at the Islamists who threaten peaceful coexistence.

After the attack, the City of Solingen cancelled the festival, originally planned for three days.

The far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party (AfD), which is poised to make significant gains in three state elections next month (September 2024), was quick to react. Even before the suspect’s identity was confirmed, one of the party’s leaders called for “migration and security policy changes.” One party member called immigrants “the source of all evil.”

Germany’s Muslim Ahmadiyya community has condemned the knife attack in Solingen as appalling. “It was terrible and above all, it saddened us because it was allegedly carried out in the name of Islam, by the so-called Islamic State (IS). That is why it is doubly sad for us,” Imam Sharjil Khalid told German TV broadcaster SWR. “The congregation is praying for the victims.”

The annual meeting of the Ahmadiyya community, which was this year held in Mendig, near Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate, was attended by 55,000 visitors. It is the largest Muslim gathering in Europe.

“We hope that our peaceful event will also enable people to differentiate between extremist Muslims and the majority of peaceful Muslims. We are coming together here to stand up for respect and love for our neighbours.”

EUROPEAN ELECTIONS

European elections: Pro-European parties retain a strong majority but German eurosceptic far-right makes gains

June 2024: In the elections to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 9 June 2024, pro-European party groups retained the majority despite suffering heavy losses in some cases. Out of 720 seats in parliament, staunchly pro-European party groups won 489 seats. However, they lost 36 seats. Eurosceptic groups won 131 seats, an increase of 13 seats. The 100 independents and non-defined members of parliament probably include a considerable number of Eurosceptics. For example, the 15 deputies sent to Strasbourg from the German far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) belong to this group after the party was expelled from the Identity and Democracy grouping in the European Parliament.

In Germany, voter turnout was higher than ever after 16 and 17-year-olds were allowed to vote for the first time. Almost 65% of those eligible to vote cast their ballot. In the first all-German EU election in 1994, the turnout had been exactly 60 percent, in later votes only between 40 and 50 percent.

Around 65 million people in Germany were eligible to vote. The European elections are seen as a mood test for the German parties for the state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg in the autumn and for the parliamentary (Bundestag) elections in the autumn of next year.

Distribution of seats in the European Parliament

(by party groupings)

Pro-European

European People’s Party Group (EEP), centre-right – 185 seats (gained 9 seats)

Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), centre-left – 137 seats (lost 2 seats)

Renew Europe (RE), liberal / strongly pro-European – 79 seats (lost 23 seats)

Greens – European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA), 52 seats (lost 19 seats)

The Left in the European Parliament (GUE/NGL), 36 seats (lost 1 seat)

Eurosceptic

European Conservatives and Reformists, anti-federalists (ECR), 73 seats (gained 4 seats)

Identity and Democracy (ID), right-wing nationalists, 58 seats (gained 9 seats)

Others

Independents 46 seats (lost 16 seats)

Various others - 54 seats

How Germany voted

Christian Democrats (CDU)/CSU), centre-right – 30.0%, 29 seats

Alternative for Germany (AfD), far-right – 15.9%, 15 seats

Social Democrats (SPD) ,centre-left – 13.9%, 14 seats

The Greens, centre-left – 11.9%, 12 seats

Coalition Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), populist, 6.2%, 6 seats

Free Democrats (FDP), centre-right – 5.2%, 5 seats

The Left, leftist, 2.7%, 3 seats

Free Voters, centre-right, 2.7%, 3 seats

Volt Germany, pro-European, 2.6%, 3 seats

IN GREATER DETAIL

CITIZENSHIP

More than 200,000 foreign nationals granted German citizenship in 2023

May 2024: In 2023, more than 200,00 people from 157 countries were granted German citizenship. Former Syrian nationals alone accounted for more than a third (38%) of naturalisations. The five most frequently represented nationalities Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Romania and Afghanistan together accounted for more than half (56%) of all naturalisations. Naturalised citizens were on average 29 years old and therefore significantly younger than the population in Germany (45 years). At 45 per cent, the proportion of women among naturalised citizens was lower than in the overall population (50 per cent).

With 75,500 people, 27,100 more (+56%) than in the previous year, Syrian nationals were the largest group of naturalised citizens in 2023. In 2022, their number had already more than doubled year-on-year to 19,100; in 2021, it had even increased sevenfold to 6,700.

Syrian citizens who received a German passport in 2023 were on average 24.5 years old and 64 per cent of them were men. Before being naturalised, they had lived in Germany for an average of 6.8 years. The high number of naturalisations of Syrians is therefore linked to the high influx of Syrian asylum seekers between 2014 and 2016, who now increasingly fulfil the requirements for naturalisation, including language skills and minimum length of stay. Spouses and underage children can also be naturalised without a minimum period of residence. This applied to around some 28,000 (37%) of naturalised Syrians.

Turkish and Iraqi nationals together made up the second largest group of origin of naturalised citizens in 2023 with 10,700 naturalisations each. The number of naturalisations of Iraqi nationals increased by 3,900 (+57%) compared to 2022, while the number of naturalisations of Turkish nationals fell by 3,500 (-25%).

The number of naturalisations of Ukrainians rose by 300 (+6%) to 5,900 in 2023, after almost tripling from 1,900 to 5,600 between 2021 and 2022 in the wake of the Russian attack on Ukraine. Naturalisations of Ukrainian citizens accounted for three per cent of all naturalisations in 2023.

CANNABIS

Germany legalises the recreational use of cannabis, but conditions apply

April 2024: On 1 April 2024, following Malta in 2021 and Luxembourg in 2023, Germany became the largest country in the European Union (EU) to legalise cannabis for recreational use. Possession of up to 25 grams of dried cannabis is now permitted in public places, as is home cultivation of up to 50 grams and three plants per adult. However, cannabis smokers will have to wait another three months before they can legally buy drugs through so-called ‘Cannabis Social Clubs’.

The situation will change in July with the introduction of the clubs. These non-profit associations will be able to sell their members a maximum of 25 grams a day and no more than 50 grams a month. These clubs, a kind of shared cannabis garden, will be able to grow the drug on an outdoor plot, in a greenhouse or an uninhabited building. Checked at least once a year by the authorities, each association will be able to welcome, for a membership fee, a maximum of 500 people who have been resident in Germany for at least six months.

According to the German government, the new legislation should make it possible to combat trafficking more effectively. Believing that the policy of prohibition has failed, Health Minister Dr (med) Karl Lauterbach regularly points out that countries such as Canada, which have implemented legalisation, have been able to reduce the black market. The minister said cannabis was coming out of the taboo zone. "It's better for real help for drug addicts, prevention for young people and the fight against the black market", he added.

But many medical associations fear an increase in consumption, particularly among young people. Up to the age of 25, cannabis use entails greater risks for the still-developing brain, according to experts, who point in particular to the danger of developing psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia.

Germany's health minister has promised increased resources to raise awareness among young people of the dangers of cannabis, without announcing any specific amounts. The authorities point out that cannabis remains banned for under-18s. Consumption is also banned within a 100-metre radius of schools, crèches and playgrounds.

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