Germany

Christians

Germany seeks Cologne Cathedral attack suspect’s deportation Authorities are seeking to expel the 25-year-old arrested on suspicion of planning a New Year's Eve attack on the historic cathedral. The Tajik national was arrested along with three others, but they were later released.

January 13, 2024   

(Deutsche Welle) German police said Saturday that they are pressing forward with deportation proceedings for a young man accused of planning a New Year’s Eve terror attack on Cologne Cathedral. The Dortmund District Court had granted a deportation warrant for the 25-year-old […]

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 — […]

Law Enforcement

German court upholds ban on PKK symbols, pictures of its ringleader Regional court rules banning public display of images of Abdullah Ocalan, head of PKK terrorist group, is in line with laws, regulations

January 8, 2024   

(Anadolu) Banning images of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed head of the PKK terrorist group, is in line with laws and regulations, a German regional court ruled on Monday. The Higher Administrative Court in North Rhine-Westphalia turned down a complaint filed by a […]

Christians

Cologne Cathedral attack: Austria issues warrant for suspect Austrian authorities want to speak to a man being held in connection with a year-end terrorist plot targeting Cologne Cathedral.

January 7, 2024   

(Deutsche Welle) Austrian authorities have issued a European arrest warrant for a suspect detained in Germany over an alleged plot to attack the historic cathedral in Cologne, German police said on Sunday. On Christmas Eve, a 30-year-old Tajik national was held in the city of Wesel, […]

Christians

Police ramp up security at Cologne Cathedral for New Year’s German authorities are on high alert following a warning about a possible attack on the Cologne Cathedral on New Year's Eve.

December 30, 2023   

(Deutsche Welle) Authorities in the German city of Cologne have increased security measures around its cathedral ahead of New Year’s Eve. Police officers armed with submachine guns were being deployed to protect people planning to ring in the new year near the […]

Demonstrations

Police in Berlin ban pro-Palestinian New Year rally Authorities in Berlin have said the planned pro-Palestinian rally would carry a risk of 'crimes,' including displays of antisemitism and glorification of violence.

December 30, 2023   

(Deutsche Welle) Berlin police announced on Saturday that a pro-Palestinian rally scheduled for New Year’s Eve in Berlin’s Neukölln district should not take place. Officials said the decision had been taken because of an imminent danger “that the gathering will result in […]

Christians

Warning of ‘increased risk’ of ISIS terror attacks across Europe on New Year’s Eve Experts say terror group remains a 'serious threat' as arrests made in Spain, Austria, France and Germany

December 26, 2023   

(National-UAE) Security services across Europe have uncovered an ISIS plot to use explosives to target churches. Counter-terrorism experts say the group remains a “serious threat” and is taking advantage of the conflict in Gaza to motivate its supporters. Over the Christmas period, […]

Christians

Germany: Man detained over Cologne Cathedral threat Police said a 30-year-old man would be detained until 7 January. German police had received an alert that a group may be planning an attack on the Cologne Cathedral on New Year's Eve.

December 26, 2023   

(Deutsche Welle) German police said on Tuesday they had detained a man in connection with a dangerous threat at the iconic Cologne Cathedral in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). Police announced the arrest of five men after searching an apartment in Wesel, some […]

Legal

Germany charges 2 Syrians with war crimes over IS ties Authorities accuse the two Syrians in German custody of membership in a terrorist group and having committed war crimes in Damascus a decade ago.

December 22, 2023   

(Deutsche Welle) German prosecutors have charged two Syrian men with war crimes they are accused of having committed some 10 years ago in the Syrian capital Damascus, as part of the so-called Islamic State militant group. In line with German privacy rules, the […]

Crime

Germany braces for potential New Year’s Eve riots Police have stepped up preparations to deal with violence against them and emergency service staff on New Year's Eve. There are worries that the situation in the Middle East could worsen the problem.

December 21, 2023   

(Deutsche Welle) Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said she fears a repeat of New Year rioting and attacks on emergency services in Berlin and other cities. “I’m worried that New Year’s Eve could once again be a day on which we are forced […]

Law Enforcement

German police raid pro-Palestinian feminist group The raids were part of a probe into allegations that members of the group Zora were using emblems of the PFLP, which Israel, the EU and the US have designated a terrorist organization.

December 20, 2023   

(Deutsche Welle) Police in Berlin, Germany’s capital, conducted on Wednesday a raid targeting members of a pro-Palestinian, left-wing feminist group, German media reported. The Zora group is accused of backing the radical, left-wing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The European […]

Immigration

Germany deports Iraqi over ‘terror’ suspicion The 20-year-old was suspected of planning a 'terrorist attack' targeting a Christmas market in eastern Germany. He has been permanently banned from reentering the country.

December 16, 2023   

(Deutsche Welle) A 20-year-old Iraqi has been deported back to his home country after German authorities suspected he was planning a “terrorist attack,” Germany’s Interior Ministry announced on Saturday. The Interior Ministry of the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt accused the unnamed man of […]

Government & Politics

Germany’s CDU redefines stance on Islam in new manifesto Under Friedrich Merz, Germany's Christian Democratic Union is revising its manifesto, sparking controversy with its new stance on Islam and migration. The party's new direction marks a departure from the Merkel era.

December 12, 2023   

(Deutsche Welle) The new color scheme a few months back was only a cosmetic step. Now, Germany’s center-right Christian Democrats are going under the hood. For the first time since 2007, the party that ruled Germany for most of the republic’s young […]

Citizenship

Germany: CDU fears Islamist bloc as millions of Turkish migrants to be granted voting rights Progressive plans to naturalise millions of migrants, many of them Turkish, [are] unsettling German conservatives as Turkey continues its collision course with the West.

December 7, 2023   

(European Conservative) New German citizenship laws that expand voting rights to up to 2.5 million recent migrants are unnerving even the usually complacent CDU, with one conservative lawmaker airing fears that the new arrangement could enable a potential Islamist bloc to attain […]

Interfaith

Germany on guard against terrorism Against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war and one-off attacks closer to home, German authorities are confronting a 'complex threat situation.' Some observers warn against exaggerating the danger.

December 5, 2023   

(Deutsche Welle) A handful of isolated but high-profile incidents have put politically motivated crime high on Germany’s security agenda. The renewed fears follow a German tourist getting stabbed to death in Paris last weekend, allegedly by a man with a history of criminal […]

Children & Teens

Germany: Teens allegedly planned Christmas market attack Two teenagers arrested this week allegedly planned to set off an explosion at a Christmas market in Leverkusen. Prosecutors said they then planned to join an offshoot of the so-called 'Islamic State' group.

November 30, 2023   

(Deutsche Welle) Two German teenagers are accused of plotting a terror attack on a Christmas market in the western German city of Leverkusen, German prosecutors said on Thursday. The suspects, a 15-year-old boy in North Rhine-Westphalia and a 16-year-old boy in the […]

Government & Politics

German intelligence warns of heightened terror risk Germany's domestic intelligence agency says the danger of a terror attack in the country is 'higher than it has been for a long time.' It cited the October 7 Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israel-Hamas war as factors.

November 29, 2023   

(Deutsche Welle) Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the [Constitution] (BfV) on Wednesday said the danger of an Islamist terror attack on German soil had significantly increased. The agency said the raised risk of attacks against the Jewish community or “the […]

Interfaith

German police raid suspected Hamas and Samidoun properties Berlin had banned activities related to Hamas — a designated terrorist group — and the international pro-Palestinian network Samidoun at the beginning of November.

November 23, 2023   

(Deutsche Welle) The German Interior Ministry on Thursday said police had conducted raids on properties in four federal states connected to suspected Hamas and Samidoun members. Germany, along with the US, the EU and others, has designated Hamas a terrorist organization. Samidoun […]

Government & Politics

Germany: Faeser seeks Hamas condemnation at Islam conference Germany's interior minister has said she will seek clear positions on Hamas from faith groups at the government's annual Islam conference. Nancy Faeser said they should assume 'their responsibility in society.'

November 21, 2023   

(Deutsche Welle) The ongoing conflict in Gaza in the aftermath of Hamas’ October 7 terror attacks against Israel looked sure to overshadow the German government’s annual Islam conference in Berlin on Tuesday. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said ahead of the event on […]