Angela merkel

It’s not only Germany that covers up mass sex attacks by migrant men… Sweden’s record is shameful

We’re closing 2016 by republishing our ten most-read articles of the year. Here’s No. 5: Ivar Arpi’s piece, which was written following the mass sex attacks on women celebrating New Year’s Eve in Cologne. In his article, Arpi says that authorities in Sweden covered up similar incidents involving migrant men    Stockholm It took days for police to acknowledge the extent of the mass attacks on women celebrating New Year’s Eve in Cologne. The Germans were lucky; in Sweden, similar attacks have been taking place for more than a year and the authorities are still playing catch up. Only now is the truth emerging, both about the attacks and the

Germany remains a prisoner of its past

In 1942, a man called Manfred Alexander turned up, unannounced, on my grandfather’s doorstep in Berlin. My grandfather knew him only slightly. He hadn’t seen him for several years. Like countless Jews, Manfred had been herded onto an eastbound train the year before, bound for God knows where. He’d ended up in a Concentration Camp in Minsk, run by the Ukrainian SS. There, after a terrible winter, a German guard whom he hardly knew hid him beneath the coal in the tender of a steam train which was carrying wounded German soldiers back to Berlin. Back in Berlin, cold and hungry, Manfred headed straight for my grandfather’s apartment on Grolmanstrasse.

Anis Amri’s unchecked passage across Europe is nothing short of a scandal

That the Tunisian terrorist who slaughtered 12 people in Berlin on Monday was even in Europe, let alone able to move about Europe with ease, is a scandal. It shows that the policy of the European Union and its member nations on the migrant crisis is a complete and dangerous failure. The collective refusal of the European liberal elite to face up to this fact promises further disaster. Anis Amri, 24, had no legal let alone moral right to be in Europe, and yet he had been here since 2011 when he arrived in a migrant boat on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa. Shortly afterwards, he was jailed for four

Germany is facing a ticking time bomb of rage

I’ve learned that it’s best not to say anything about a terrorist atrocity on social media, especially not if it confirms one’s political prejudices. It just looks crass, or it has when I’ve done it. Try not to say anything profound either, as it will probably look insipid; also ideally do not make any point about similar atrocities occurring in less well known parts of the world, as people will quite reasonably think you’re just scoring points. And best not to bother with the tweets of solidarity, which are superfluous these days surely; France and Belgium and Germany are our close allies, friends and neighbours, and it goes without saying

Could the German left join forces to oust Angela Merkel?

German party politics has been overshadowed by yesterday’s atrocity in Berlin. But in light of this tragic event, which Angela Merkel has said was probably a terrorist attack, party politics actually matters more than ever. Increasingly, it seems next year’s Bundestag elections will be the defining event of 2017, not just for Germany but for Europe – and last week’s change of government in Berlin was a sign of things to come. On the face of it, ‘Social Democrats take control of Berlin’s city council’ looks like an inconsequential story. Berlin has always been an SPD stronghold after all. However, there’s more to this story than meets the eye. Before September’s

Ross Clark

It’s nonsense to claim that Isis benefits from Brexit. But that won’t stop some people trying

While a storm has blown up between Nigel Farage and Brendan Cox this morning over the role played by Angela Merkel’s migrant policy in the Berlin Christmas market attack, the Today programme managed to find a man with a possible alternative explanation for the carnage: Brexit. Yes, really. This morning’s show ended with a man, introduced as a political scientist who has advised the French and German governments on counter-terrorism, offering the wisdom: ‘Brexit isn’t helpful…I mean so-called Islamic State were celebrating Brexit…we need to grow stronger, we need to find responses which are not only security-based , we need a common foreign policy.’ The idea that Islamic State ‘celebrated’

Katy Balls

Nigel Farage says events like Berlin attack will be the ‘Merkel legacy’

As details begin to emerge regarding the identities of those involved in the Berlin Christmas market attack which left at least 12 people dead, Nigel Farage has been quick off the mark to level the blame at Angela Merkel for her immigration policy. The former Ukip leader announced on Twitter that the ‘terrible news’ had come as ‘no surprise’ because ‘events like these will be the Merkel legacy’. This has led to much outrage with Brendan Cox, the husband of the late Jo Cox, warning him against blaming politicians for the acts of extremists — describing it as ‘a slippery slope’. However, with a migrant — who denies carrying out

Tom Goodenough

Twelve killed after lorry ploughs into Berlin Christmas market

Twelve people have been killed after a truck ploughed into shoppers at a Christmas market in Berlin. Dozens more were injured, some seriously. Police were initially cautious about the motives behind the incident, describing what took place as a ‘probable terrorist attack’. But at a press conference this morning, Angela Merkel said ‘we must assume it was an act of terrorism’. The German chancellor also said that: This is a very difficult day. I, like millions in Germany, am outraged, shocked and deeply saddened by what happened yesterday in Berlin. Twelve people who were still with us yesterday, who were looking forward to Christmas and had plans for the holiday, are no

How Angela Merkel divided Germany

Crisis? What crisis? Here in prosperous Munich, it’s hard to believe the EU has taken such a battering this year – but then again, the Bavarian capital has always been a place apart. It has the strongest economy and the lowest unemployment of any German city. It is the headquarters of world beating companies such as Allianz, Siemens and BMW. Its cultural scene (and its football team) is among the best in Europe. During Advent, its city centre is especially handsome – a boozy maze of Christmas markets. People are earning and spending, having fun and getting tipsy. I mean to say, what’s not to like? Superficially, Munich’s residents seem to

Brexit’s breaking points

Trying to write the first draft of history on the EU referendum and the leader-ship mess that followed had both its dramatic and its comic elements. My phone never stopped ringing with Eurosceptics keen to tell me why their contribution to a meeting that had previously escaped my notice was the decisive factor in securing victory. But when a vote is so close — 52 per cent to 48 per cent — then it would not have taken much to push the result the other way. Donald Trump’s victory adds some credence to the idea that Brexit was pre–ordained, part of a wave of history. But the campaign turned on

Martin Schulz’s return to German politics will make Brexit more bitter

Shock news! Hold the (virtual) front page! Martin Schulz, arch bogeyman of every British Brexiteer – and even a few Remainers – is leaving the EU. No, Schulz hasn’t renounced his support for ‘ever closer’ European Union. Rather, he’s stepping down as President of the European Parliament to stand as an MP for the SPD, Germany’s Social Democrats. Why should British voters care? Because Schulz has been widely tipped as a potential leader of the SPD, the only party with a real chance of beating Angela Merkel’s CDU in next year’s Bundestag elections. And the winner of that election will steer EU policy throughout the Brexit process, and beyond. Second

Angela Merkel wants to be liberal Europe’s answer to Donald Trump

So, Angela Merkel has ignored the Spectator’s advice and has decided to run for a fourth term as German Chancellor in next year’s federal elections. If she wins and serves a full term, she’ll overtake Helmut Kohl as the longest serving German Chancellor since Bismarck. What does Merkel’s bid for four more years mean for Germany – and Britain? And after this year’s dreadful regional election results, how on earth has she survived to fight another day? Last month Merkel looked like a busted flush, an electoral liability. Her decision to open Germany’s borders to over a million fleeing refugees led to a surge in support for Alternative fur Deutschland,

What the papers say: Boris’s ‘indiscreet’ way with words and Project Fear comes unstuck

In the run-up to the referendum, the Treasury warned that unemployment would rise by half-a-million. Today, this prophecy comes in for criticism in the papers following yesterday’s news that the number of Brits out of work had tumbled to an 11-year low. It’s not only Project Fear which gets a hard time in the editorials though. The moaning ‘anti-Brexit mob’ are also criticised – while the Guardian savages Boris Johnson for making a ‘fool of himself’. The Sun launches an attack on the moaning ‘anti-Brexit mob’ in its leader this morning, saying that it seems that the better the economic outlook since the referendum ‘the louder the caterwauling’ from those unhappy with the

Is Germany becoming the new sick man of Europe?

It’s not going well for Germany at the moment. Their largest bank is on the verge of collapse while their second largest bank is laying-off staff. And Frau Merkel is having to cope with the political fallout of her open-door immigration policy – not least a rise in populist nationalism and a dip in her own popularity. Germans have also been told in recent months to stockpile food, while a leaked document suggested a return to national service, which stopped in 2011, was being considered. But that’s not all: the country’s economy recently slipped in the World Economic Forum’s competitive ranking. All this makes for a grim picture. So having lived for 14 years

David Davis, parliamentary poacher turned executive gamekeeper

David Davis batted away demands for parliament to be given a vote on the timing of Article 50 or the government’s negotiating stance. Whenever his opponents—who included Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg—brought up how Davis himself had previously said there should be a white paper on the government’s negotiating stance, Davis side-stepped the issue. He also claimed that his views on how the executive should be accountable to parliament hadn’t changed, but that there was a difference between scrutiny and micro-managing. What the government wanted out of the Brexit talks, said Davis, was control of the UK’s borders and laws, co-operation on justice and security matters that is at least

Who comes after Merkel?

A year from now, 60 million Germans go to the polls in the most important general election in mainland Europe for a generation. The result will define German — and European — politics for the next four years. There are huge questions to be resolved, from the refugee crisis to the financial crisis, but right now the question in Germany is: will Mutti run again? Angela Merkel’s nickname, Mutti (Mummy) is a memento of happier times. A year ago, her position as matriarch of the Bundesrepublik seemed unassailable. And then, last September, she opened Germany’s borders to hundreds of thousands of fleeing Syrians. Over a million refugees arrived last year.

The Spectator took on Chancellor Merkel and President Erdogan – and won

Hurray!  It is not often one gets good news, but here is some.  Jan Boehmermann, the German comedian who read out a rude poem about Sultan Erdogan on German TV, has had the prosecution against him dropped.  In the last couple of hours prosecutors in Mainz said that they did not have ‘sufficient evidence’ against him. Well I say ‘Ha’ to that, for it is purest face-saving.  The evidence was broadcast out on German television in March for any and all to see.  President Erdogan complained and with the approval of Chancellor Merkel an ancient and outdated German law (about not insulting foreign rulers) was dusted off and Jan Boehmermann

Want a bank rescued? Don’t ask a German

Make a car? Sure. Win a Word Cup? Yup. Write a symphony? Without doubt. There are lots of things that you rather have a German doing than anyone else in the world. But there are also a few things you’d rather they didn’t. Right now, rescuing a bank is right at the top of the list. All this week, the financial markets have been gripped by the slow-motion car-crash of Deutsche Bank. An institution that was once the mightiest in Europe, and a by-word for financial stability, is now teetering on the edge of collapse. Its share price has halved this year, and today is hitting a fresh 30-year low.

If Deutsche Bank goes down without a bailout, I really will eat my hat

‘Can anyone seriously imagine the German state and corporate establishment allowing the bank that bears their country’s name to go down?’ I asked in February, adding rather bravely, ‘Of course they won’t.’ And that, I fear, makes my next question, ‘Am I about to eat my hat?’ Shares in Deutsche Bank have plunged to their lowest level since 1992 as the US Department of Justice seeks to impose a $14 billion fine relating to Deutsche’s issuance of mortgage-backed securities before the 2008 crisis, and rumours say Chancellor Angela Merkel has ruled out a state bailout. Deutsche boss John Cryan says the bank hasn’t asked for her help to fight its

Borderline sanity

Only now does Angela Merkel concede that her admitting a million refugees last year was a mistake. It was obvious to most people in Europe at the time that her warm-hearted gesture would lead to catastrophic results. In declaring that all Syrian refugees would be welcome if they made it to Germany, she doubled the fortunes of the human trafficking industry. The asylum seekers came from Syria and North Africa through Austria and Hungary, having landed on the shores of Italy and Greece. Thousands died on the way. When Theresa May addressed the United Nations this week in New York, she was able to point to a British way of