Questions tagged [germany]
Questions about Federal Republic of Germany politics and policy.
240
questions
0
votes
1
answer
225
views
Does Germany have a strict definition of what a military target is as it allows Western-supplied weapons to strike military targets in Russia?
German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck has said he regrets that the
government led by Olaf Scholz did not allow Ukraine to deploy
Western-supplied weapons to strike military targets in Russia sooner.
...
- 45.4k
-4
votes
2
answers
214
views
Attitudes to man-made famine in WW1
Have any western governments condemned the use of famine as a weapon of war in World War 1 (or acknowledged their culpability)? Have there been attempts to prosecute the responsible for the genocide?
...
- 24.6k
15
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Why did Nicaragua file a case against only Germany at the ICJ?
On Monday April 8, Nicaragua filed a case against Germany at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing it of “facilitating the commission of genocide” against Palestinians through its military ...
- 993
7
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Why isn't the German police allowed to use PimEyes (social network tracking via face recognition)?
I read about the capture of Daniela Klette, via Google Translate:
In Germany, the criminal police claimed that they were not authorized to use this type of AI [PimEyes], due to data protection ...
- 3,760
-1
votes
1
answer
279
views
Has any German politician proposed an official national policy that individuals must support Israel?
Many German states and institutions have put in place rules that German citizens must support Israel.
For example, Berlin wanted to force artists to denounce any criticism of Israel in order to ...
5
votes
3
answers
8k
views
Why is Europe (Germany in particular) apparently paying so little for US troop presence/protection, compared to South Korea?
CNBC wrote in that 2020 about the cost-sharing agreement for US troop presence in South Korea
In the last one-year, cost-sharing agreement, Seoul agreed to pay roughly $900 million and in ...
11
votes
8
answers
6k
views
Anti-immigration left-wing parties
Recently the long time left-wing German politician, Sahra Wagenknecht, formed a left-wing anti-immigration party.This is unusual, as the left is normally associated with pro-immigration policies. Are ...
- 4,142
3
votes
2
answers
516
views
Is the ascendancy of extremists in the AfD driven more by their growing share of East German (than West German) party membership?
Background
The BfV classified around 36% of AfD members as right-wing extremist for the year 2022. With no dedicated critics of the AfD's extremist faction (aligned with Björn Höcke, formerly called ...
- 199
4
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Why was an inscription commemorating Dresden's bomb deaths removed?
There was an inscription commemorating those who died from the UK and the US bombing Dresden in February 1945, when an estimated 22-25,000 civilians were killed.
Recently, according to Bild, the ...
- 823
3
votes
1
answer
217
views
What are the past examples of a third party influencing the International Court of Justice decisions?
According to Ynetnews, Germany to request join as third party in Hague case: 'Israel is not committing genocide'
Germany plans to intervene as a third party before the International Court of Justice (...
- 24.6k
1
vote
5
answers
475
views
Does farming need government support to work efficiently?
In 2020, there were farm law protests in India, related to concern of farmer losing certain government support from Indian govt.
I thought this was maybe due to India being a third world country and ...
- 3,287
2
votes
0
answers
209
views
Is there a poll in Germany on perceptions whether the antisemitism label is correctly used in the German political discourse?
I stumbled upon this US poll (conducted by U. of Maryland & Ipsos in June 2023) containing some questions on the public perceptions of the correct use of the antisemitism label, but also having ...
2
votes
1
answer
110
views
Is the German CDU 26-point migration plan publically available?
The CDU (currently the biggest opposition party in Germany) handed the government a 26-point plan with their demands on the topic of migration. It seems like every major newspaper has an article on it ...
- 9,212
-2
votes
1
answer
317
views
Do the AfD need special protection for their events and leaders? [closed]
The leaders of the German AfD party claim to be under attack. Alice Weidel fled to Mallorca, and Tino Chrupulla claimed to have been attacked by an injection. They requested more protection of their ...
- 161
6
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Does the increase in German exports to Russia's neighbors make up for losses in Russia proper?
DW has this "slide" in one of their YouTube reportages:
It shows German exports to Kyrgyzstan increasing by 773% in in Q1 2023, and to a lesser extent a similar pattern happens in Armenia ...
5
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Why does the ECB hold a large foreign currency reserve?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_foreign-exchange_reserves
In addition to capital subscriptions, the NCBs of the member states
participating in the euro area provided the ECB with ...
- 45.4k
1
vote
1
answer
895
views
What did North Korea's diplomatic mission achieve in Germany?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diplomatic_missions_of_North_Korea
I was looking at the article and noticed that North Korea has an embassy with Germany surprisingly enough. Knowing that there's ...
- 45.4k
0
votes
2
answers
342
views
Germany's subsidy for employees' cars
But subsidies such as tax breaks for company cars, which make it
worthwhile for employees to forgo a part of their salary in exchange
for a high-end vehicle, are not going away. More than two in three ...
- 1,681
14
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Does Germany hold by-elections?
I understand at a high level how the Mixed Member system used in German general elections works during the general election.
Pages such as Electoral Reform cover this area reasonably well.
What I don'...
- 24.9k
4
votes
1
answer
245
views
What is the maximum number of seats possible in the Bundestag?
As we know, the German Bundestag uses a mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system, with constituency votes that are majoritarian (299 seats) and party votes that are proportional (299 seats), ...
0
votes
2
answers
1k
views
What legal means exist for the German government to prevent Turks living in Germany from voting in the Turkish election?
Turkey recently had presidential elections and apart from around 62 million Turks living in Turkey people with Turkish nationality but permanent residency in some other country were eligible to vote. ...
- 9,212
6
votes
2
answers
700
views
Is Germany making a net profit or net loss from providing free university education to internationals?
Many people pride Germany in having free education. However, there is a fine print in it. You have to take care of the living costs, usually smallish fees from the university (much lower than, say, in ...
- 3,287
26
votes
4
answers
8k
views
Why is there dog tax but no cat tax in Germany?
I believe the most two popular pets one can have are either a dog or a cat. In Germany, one must pay for tax when owning a dog (Hundesteuer). However a similar tax doesn't exist for cats, why?
- 3,287
23
votes
15
answers
9k
views
Why do the right claim that Hitler was left-wing? [closed]
This is taken from a speech by Adolf Hitler, April 12, 1921:
There are only two possibilities in Germany; do not imagine that the people will forever go with the middle party, the party of ...
-2
votes
4
answers
385
views
Does German constitution provide preference to people who are ethnic German?
Does German constitution provide preference to people who are ethnic German?
How does it define related terms? For example -
what does ethnicity mean? Who are ethnic German?
Does it mean that people ...
- 129
27
votes
10
answers
14k
views
Are the UK, Germany and USA not concerned about their (donated) tanks being captured and researched by Russia?
It has been well established that several NATO countries are donating armoured vehicles (and training crews) to Ukraine. Some of the more notable vehicles that are being delivered include the American ...
- 1,029
6
votes
2
answers
357
views
Can the CSU circumvent the new election laws of Germany?
The German Bundestag changed the election laws today.
The CSU could now face the following situation at the next general election: They win nearly all constituencies in Bavaria, but they only get 4,9% ...
- 670
6
votes
5
answers
499
views
Why is Germany increasing its reliance on Huawei despite the security risks?
https://www.reuters.com/technology/germany-ups-reliance-huawei-5g-despite-security-fears-survey-2022-12-16/
BERLIN, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Germany has become even more dependent on
Huawei for its 5G ...
- 45.4k
4
votes
2
answers
255
views
Why would the SPD prefer a coalition where they are the junior partner to one where they are the largest party?
In the 2023 Berlin elections, the result for the largest parties was:
Party
Seats
CDU
52
SPD
34
Greens
34
Left
22
(the SPD received 53 votes more than the Greens)
80 seats are needed for a ...
- 48.6k
16
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Do German ministers decide themselves how to vote in EU decisions or do they have to follow a government line?
Example/ background: The EU is currently discussing whether there should be a strict law against the sale of cars with a combustion engine starting in 2035. Volker Wissing (of the FDP party) is the ...
- 9,212
6
votes
1
answer
271
views
Is membership in the European Parliament incompatible with membership in German district councils?
Inspired by another question:
According to European Parliament legislative resolution of 3 May 2022, Article 24.1:
The office of Member of the European Parliament shall be incompatible with the ...
- 1,678
9
votes
1
answer
648
views
Does Germany have a law on foreign influence agents (similar to the US' or Russia's)? Or proposals for something like that?
It seems it's perfectly legal in Germany for parliamentarians to have their trips sponsored by a foreign country. And likewise for more run-of-the-mill influencers, e.g. rally organizers.
So, I'm ...
5
votes
2
answers
941
views
What's AfD's vision for the Ukrainian refugees in Germany?
Reportedly
While protesting in Leipzig in October against Russia’s war in Ukraine, Anastasia, 21, was confronted by AfD counter-protesters screaming “Nazis out” at her and fellow Ukrainians.
The AfD ...
9
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What did Scholz say about Putin's motive?
I remember reading a news article claiming that the chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, said something to this effect: "In my face-to-face meeting with Putin in February 2022, I talked with
him ...
- 3,857
6
votes
4
answers
468
views
What is responsible for the "missing consensus" on donating non-Bundeswehr Leopard 2s to Ukraine?
From Reuters, about Leopard 2s for Ukraine
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said he could not say when there would be a decision on the tanks but Berlin was prepared to move quickly if there ...
8
votes
5
answers
913
views
What is the German government's rationale for not allowing Leopard 2 tanks to be given to Ukraine?
There are many news articles today about how the German government is reluctant to allow Leopard 2 tanks to be given to Ukraine. For example, the BBC reports:
Under German law, the government in ...
5
votes
2
answers
883
views
Who exactly in the German government said that they won't be sending Leopards to Ukraine unless the US sends Abrams tanks?
I've seen this widely reported, e.g. the BBC says
Berlin has reportedly been unwilling to send the vehicles ["much-coveted Leopard tanks"] unless the US commits to providing its own Abrams ...
15
votes
6
answers
2k
views
What if no party crosses the electoral threshold in a parliamentary election?
In some countries, there is an electoral threshold that political parties must cross to win seats in the parliament.
For example, in Germany, the threshold is 5% of national votes, in Sweden the ...
- 10.5k
9
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How effective has Germany's co-determination policy been at improving labor condition in Germany?
To simplify, Germany's co-determination policy states that, for large companies, virtually 50% of the seats on the Board of Directors must be elected by the workers.
In theory, this arrangement should ...
- 10.5k
16
votes
7
answers
5k
views
What is the argument made by Gregor Gysi against the delivery of weapons by Germany to Ukraine?
In a TV debate the prominent left wing politician Gregor Gysi made the following argument. (Translated)
Interviewer: You didn't change your opinion on weapons delivery to Ukraine? You are still ...
- 1,181
11
votes
3
answers
3k
views
What position exactly did Merkel express about the Minsk agreements in this December 2022 interview?
Former German chancellor Angela Merkel gave an interview to the Zeit - but the Zeit is paywalled and I don't speak German. In that interview, she supposedly said:
I thought that the introduction of ...
- 8,895
24
votes
4
answers
6k
views
Why is ex-East Germany more tolerant towards Russia than many other ex Warsaw Pact countries?
I am happy to be corrected that this is not the case, but from fairly frequent news items it seems to me that sentiment towards Russia in historic East Germany isn't all that negative. Or at least is ...
4
votes
3
answers
568
views
What is the Austrian/Swiss rationale for maintaining weapons supply neutrality amidst Russian invasion?
Austria and Switzerland are neutral which mean (as far as I understand) that they don't supply any military or double-target anything to the fighting countries, don't treat the wounded soldiers, etc.
...
- 1,182
2
votes
2
answers
615
views
Did the German Bundesrat ever have a vote with deliberate invalid votes?
The German Bundesrat contains representatives of the governments of each of the 16 Bundesländer (states). Certain laws from the federal government also need to pass a vote of the Bundesrat.
Each state ...
- 9,212
-4
votes
3
answers
505
views
Why did Denmark, Sweden, and Germany reject a joint investigation offered by Russia?
Why did Denmark, Sweden, and Germany reject a joint investigation offered by Russia regarding the explosion of the NordStream pipeline?
What are their respective problems?
1
vote
1
answer
241
views
Why does it have to be 50-50 in Germany's Bundestag [duplicate]
In Germany's Bundestag, 299 seats are for proportional representation and the other 299 are for regional representation in a first-past-the-post system. Is it just a coincidence that the seats are ...
- 187
19
votes
3
answers
7k
views
Why does the "Tanks for Ukraine" discussion focus on the Leopard 2?
It may simply be my media bubble but it seems that the discussion on providing main battle tanks to the Ukraine focuses strongly, almost entirely, on the German Leopard 2. Why is that?
Now I ...
- 301
17
votes
7
answers
6k
views
Why is Germany subsidizing the cost of electricity for everyone rather than only the poorest households?
According to Reuters:
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz set out a 200 billion euro ($194
billion) "defensive shield", including a gas price brake and a cut in
sales tax for the fuel, to protect ...
- 51.4k
45
votes
11
answers
11k
views
Why is Germany still opposed to nuclear power despite the energy crisis?
Germany has recently announced that while they’ll keep two of their nuclear power plants operational during the winter, they’re still planning to shut them down in the spring. But why aren’t they ...
- 51.4k
4
votes
1
answer
74
views
Locating Primary Sources of SOFA and Mutual Defense Treaties
I'm doing a research project that requires me to examine the revision history of the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) and Mutual Defense treaties between the US and Germany (via NATO), the US and ...
- 41