CSU (Germany)

Government & Politics

German government nears deal with Taliban on deportations The German government is maintaining its tough stance on the deportation of rejected asylum seekers to Afghanistan. Critics say promises made to former personnel now at risk of reprisals should be honored.

September 19, 2025   

(Deutsche Welle) Despite strongly worded criticism from numerous aid organizations, the German government has now confirmed a report in the mass-circulation newspaper Bild that envoys of Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt are holding talks in Afghanistan with the ruling Islamist Taliban about deportations […]

Crime

German-Afghan relations under scrutiny over deportations The German government's policy of deporting Afghan criminals to Afghanistan relies on cooperation with the Taliban government in Kabul. The Islamists are hoping this is the first step toward diplomatic recognition.

July 24, 2025   

(Deutsche Welle) “We have succeeded in organizing another deportation flight with convicted criminals to Afghanistan,” German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said in a press release on July 18, following the departure of a plane from Leipzig to Kabul with 81 Afghan men with […]

Government & Politics

Germany urged to clarify refugee policy for Palestinians After having just lifted a controversial 18-month freeze on asylum rulings, Germany is being pressed to grant full refugee status to Palestinians as Israel's actions in Gaza claim ever more civilian casualties.

July 24, 2025   

(Deutsche Welle) Shafiq* is a Palestinian man who ended up in limbo after he managed to get out of Gaza and make his way via Egypt and Turkey to Germany, where he applied for asylum. The right to asylum is enshrined in […]

Government & Politics

German Cabinet approves stricter asylum measures The German government has proposed several new measures as it pushes on with plans to further curb irregular migration. This comes despite a legal setback this week when a court ruled pushbacks at the border unlawful.

June 4, 2025   

(Deutsche Welle) The German Cabinet on Wednesday approved several measures to tighten Germany’s asylum laws, including a plan to make it easier to determine “safe countries of origin” and thus to deport rejected asylum-seekers. This comes after another policy put in place […]

Government & Politics

Germany: Solingen knife attack trial set to begin The trial of a Syrian man accused of killing three people in a knife attack in the western city of Solingen last August has brought Germany's asylum policies and security loopholes into focus.

May 26, 2025   

(Deutsche Welle) The man accused of a mass stabbing at a festival in the western German city of Solingen is due to face court in the North Rhine-Westphalia capital of Dusseldorf. Federal prosecutors have charged Syrian Issa Al H. with three counts […]

Crime

Germany turns first asylum seekers away at border — report In the two days since the new German government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz tightened border controls, 19 people who had applied for asylum have reportedly been turned away.

May 11, 2025   

(Deutsche Welle) Germany has begun rejecting asylum seekers at its borders with other European countries, the first such action since the new government tightened immigration, a German newspaper reported Sunday. On Thursday and Friday, out of 365 undocumented entries at all borders, 286 migrants and […]

Government & Politics

German government denies report on ‘national emergency’ plan to curb migration 'The chancellor is not declaring a national emergency,’ government spokesman Stefan Kornelius tells BILD newspaper

May 8, 2025   

(Anadolu) The German government on Thursday denied a media report which said that Chancellor Friedrich Merz had declared a state of “national emergency” to restrict migration. “The chancellor is not declaring a national emergency,” government spokesman Stefan Kornelius told the BILD newspaper. […]

Government & Politics

Germany continues Afghan migrant flights despite coalition pledge The outgoing government continues to bring in migrants, sparking controversy over security risks and broken promises.

April 14, 2025   

(European Conservative) Germany’s government is moving forward with plans to bring in more Afghan migrants, despite the incoming CDU/CSU-SPD coalition’s promise to shut down these resettlement programs. A flight carrying over 150 Afghans is set to arrive in Leipzig soon, according to […]

Citizenship

Germany could withdraw citizenship due to ‘antisemitism’ 'Terror supporters, antisemites and extremists' could have their German citizenship revoked — if they hold a second nationality, according to planning documents. Critics of the move say it will lead to unequal treatment.

April 1, 2025   

(Deutsche Welle) The ongoing coalition negotiations between the conservatives of the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) are said to have been riddled with heated arguments — sometimes to the point of doors […]

Demonstrations

Munich car ramming attack by Afghan man heats migrant debate Police said the man from Afghanistan who allegedly drove his car into a crowd of people in Munich was motivated by Islamism.

February 14, 2025 , and   

(Deutsche Welle) On Thursday morning, a young man drove his car into a crowd of demonstrators in the center of Munich. The suspected perpetrator was named by police as 24-year-old Farhad N., an asylum-seeker from Afghanistan. He was arrested at the scene and, […]

Government & Politics

Immigration: German voters want to accept fewer refugees A majority of Germans believe the country should accept fewer refugees, according to the latest Deutschlandtrend poll. However, most are in favor of EU-wide solutions and are against their country 'going it alone.'

January 31, 2025   

(Deutsche Welle) The date January 29, 2025, will be remembered for a long time in Germany. It was the day the conservative group comprising the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union, the largest opposition force in the Bundestag, put forward a […]

Children & Teens

Scholz hardens rhetoric on migrants after fatal knife attack The chancellor, lagging in the polls ahead of the Feb. 23 election, called for an investigation into why the Afghan suspect was even in Germany.

January 22, 2025 and   

(Politico) Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s response to a fatal knife attack allegedly perpetrated by an Afghan man in southern Germany on Wednesday marks a clear shift in his rhetoric on migration ahead of a national election. The attack on a group of pre-school […]

Government & Politics

Europe’s Syrians shaken by debate over repatriation to their war-ravaged homeland For many Syrian refugees in Europe, joy at the fall of Assad has been tempered by immediate calls for them to go home.

December 12, 2024   

(Politico) When Osama Sabsabi learned that opposition forces had captured the city of Homs, where he grew up, he did something that would have been unthinkable just days earlier: He booked a ticket home. “We, the Syrian people, are experiencing an indescribable […]

Government & Politics

Germany: Solingen attack suspect named, remanded in custody A Syrian man accused of killing three people in Solingen, Germany, has been remanded in custody. Authorities link him to the 'Islamic State' group.

August 25, 2024   

(Deutsche Welle) German prosecutors on Sunday released the name of the 26-year-old Syrian man suspected of a multiple stabbing attack in the western city of Solingen that killed three people and injured eight others. Issa Al H., who was identified without his family name due […]

Government & Politics

German far right seizes on knife attack ahead of crucial state elections The AfD accuses the ruling coalition and the moderate center-right opposition of shortcomings on security.

August 24, 2024 and   

(Politico) A brutal knife attack in the German city of Solingen has reignited a debate about public security a week ahead of important state elections in eastern Germany, with the far right hammering the government coalition and other parties over alleged shortcomings. […]

Demonstrations

Hamburg ‘caliphate’ rally prompts calls for punishment German politicians have called for action after reports of a rally in which speakers demanded Shariah law in Germany. A leading Bavarian conservative said such appeals should lead to jail time and citizenship removal.

May 1, 2024   

(Deutsche Welle) A top Bavarian politician on Wednesday demanded tougher consequences for people advocating for Germany to become a “caliphate,” saying they should face prison terms and lose citizenship. Alexander Dobrindt, who heads Bavaria’s conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) in Germany’s Bundestag, […]

Clerics & Preachers

German MP: Taxpayers should fund German mosques to prevent radicalisation Critics agree that foreign funding should be banned, but say German Muslims should fund their own mosques.

January 9, 2024   

(European Conservative) A top Christian Democrat politician wants to amend the constitution if necessary, so that German taxes can be used to pay for mosques.  Jens Spahn — a former minister and deputy leader of the opposition center-right CDU/CSU’s parliamentary group — […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

Germany: Hostility toward Muslims is widespread How great is the resentment, racism and discrimination against Germany's 5.5 million Muslims? The Federal Interior Ministry's findings paint a bleak picture.

June 29, 2023   

(Deutsche Welle) A hostile attitude toward Muslims is widespread in large sections of German society. Its manifestations are an everyday reality. One in two people in Germany agrees with anti-Muslim statements. These are the findings published this Thursday (June 29) by the Independent […]

Government & Politics

German government agrees to ban Hamas flag after antisemitic incidents The German government wants to send a message to Jewish citizens after several antisemitic incidents took place amid pro-Palestinian protests last month.

June 20, 2021   

(Deutsche Welle) All parties in Germany’s grand coalition government have agreed to ban the flag of Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper said in a report published Sunday. The move comes after several antisemitic incidents occurred last month in […]

Government & Politics

Germany: Conservatives seek to isolate Islamist groups Germany's governing conservative bloc is planning to cut all government ties with groups suspected of supporting political Islamism, according to a report in Die Welt. Large Muslim umbrella organizations may be affected.

April 13, 2021   

(Deutsche Welle) The parliamentary group of Germany’s ruling conservative bloc has called for an end to cooperation with groups suspected of supporting political Islamism, the newspaper Die Welt reported on Tuesday. The bloc, made up of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and […]

Crime

German minister wants ‘criminals’ expelled to Syria, despite asylum safeguards Interior Minister Horst Seehofer wants Germany's general ban on deportations to war-torn Syria weakened to return persons deemed criminal or dangerous. Rights groups accuse him of pandering to the far right.

November 27, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) Germany’s current general deportation stop to Syria should not be extended, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Friday, urging that individual case-by-case decisions be made “at least for criminals and those considered a threat.” In 2012, Germany passed a ban on […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

Germany’s Seehofer touts expert panel on Islamophobia after Hanau killings An expert group to tackle Islamophobia in Germany has been floated by Chancellor Angela Merkel's interior minister. The move follows a racist multiple shooting last week and precedes an integration summit in Berlin.

February 29, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) Interior Minister Horst Seehofer announced on Saturday the creation of an “independent expert group on Islamophobia” (Muslimfeindlichkeit), saying it would emulate current ministerial panels on anti-Semitism and antiziganism, meaning hostility toward Jewish and Roma communities respectively. His call follows a charge […]