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Germany updates: Poland to extend border checks – DW – 07/24/2025
The border controls with Germany and Lithuania were due to expire next month. Meanwhile, Germany's second-largest airport is reportedly planning a "repatriation terminal" to process migrant deportations. DW has Left Party () has criticized the German government's decision not to sign an appeal to end the war in the Gaza Strip immediately and called for a special parliamentary debate on the subject.
A total of 28 countries, plus the executive body of the European Union, the European Commission, have signed the appeal which calls on Israel to "adhere to its commitments in regards to international humanitarian law" by ending its war in Gaza.
Germany, however, is not among the signatories, arguing that the appeal is not explicit enough in naming the attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023, as the cause of the war.
Left Party chairs Heidi Reichinnek and Sören Pellmann called the government's failure to sign the appeal as "a complete admission of failure" and insisted: "Germany must also join the public pressure [on Israel] and finally turn words into actions."
The far-left opposition party, which has 64 seats (10.16%) in the Bundestag, has also called for a special sitting of parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee.
"The government continues to close its eyes to the suffering in Palestine and is not prepared to live up to its responsibility and act," said Reichinnek and Pellmann, adding that lawmakers must be informed of "all information on the current situation" in Gaza.
Representatives of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), including Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan, and the environmentalist Green party have also called on the German government to sign the appeal.
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) has referred to constant, ongoing discussions between the German and Israeli governments concerning the latter's actions in Gaza.
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The German Football Federation (DFB) says Euro 2025 was a "success" for Germany, despite Wednesday night's dramatic semifinal defeat to Spain, and has backed head coach Christian Wück to lead the team into the future.
"We are one hundred percent convinced by Christian and his path," said DFB President Bernd Neuendorf before the departure of the German delegation from Zürich on Thursday morning. "He aimed to bring about a transformation and we have to say he has succeeded."
Germany lost 1-0 to Spain on Wednesday night, taking the world champions to extra-time just days after holding on for over 130 minutes with just ten players to beat France on penalties in a dramatic quarterfinal.
President Neuendorf was full of praise for the young German team, saying: "This is precisely the path we want to be on."
An average of 14.26 million German viewers tuned into watch the semifinal, and head coach Wück said he was "proud" that his team had "generated such euphoria."
Germany's Federal President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who was in the stadium to support the team in person on Wednesday, called the players "true role models" and praised them for "playing this tournament with so much passion and footballing ability."
Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is known to be a supporter of Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund, wrote on Instagram: "You fought until the very end … thank you for these brilliant football moments – we are proud of you!"
Spain will face reigning European champions England in the final on Sunday.
The western German city of Duisburg on Wednesday night marked the 15th anniversary of the Love Parade tragedy, which saw 21 people killed and more than 650 injured in a deadly crush at a music festival on July 24, 2010.
Although experts found numerous failings in the planning and authorization of the event, no individuals were ever brought to justice for one of the deadliest tragedies in modern German history.
After a decade-long investigation, charges of involuntary homicide and physical injury resulting from negligence brought against the city of Duisburg and the event organizers were dropped in 2020 on the grounds that no relevant blame could be leveled at any individuals. Rather, the court found that a "number of circumstances" led to the tragedy.
Wednesday night's memorial event, which saw 1,000 candles lit for the victims, is likely to be the last of its kind, with the association responsible for organizing it set to be wound up.
"For some, the tenth anniversary was already the opportune moment to find closure," said spokesperson Jürgen Widera, saying that the emotional need for an annual event was dropping off.
A permanent memorial at the site of the tragedy just south of Duisburg city center features the words (Love never ends) in seven languages to reflect the mother tongues of the victims from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, China and Australia.
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Police in the southern German state of Bavaria last week carried out raids and made arrests in connection with a suspected million-euro fraud case related to COVID-19 medication, it was confirmed on Thursday.
Raids took place at 16 premises in the Bavarian cities of Munich, Regensburg, Bamberg and Bayreuth, resulting in the arrest of two people who remain in custody on suspicion of selling the government-procured drug Paxlovid "outside the prescribed distribution mechanism" — in other words, on the black market — in 2023.
State prosecutors are investigating damages of up to €2.6 million ($3 million).
The German government purchased large amounts of Paxlovid at the height of the pandemic and the drug was approved in January 2022. Doctors could prescribe the drug to patients who could then receive it for free at pharmacies, which in turn were compensated by the state.
Germany's Police Union (GdP) has called for tighter immigration checks at German airports after a media report highlighted thousands of cases of "secondary migration," or asylum claims being made in Germany despite asylum having already been granted elsewhere in the European Union (EU).
"The federal police control bridges, motorways and major roads on the borders with Poland and Austria, checking for irregular entry attempts being made by migrants and asylum seekers," said a spokesman. "But there's a loophole at airports."
The comments came after a report by Germany's media group revealed that around 8,000 recognized asylum seekers had applied for asylum in Germany between January and May this year, despite having already been granted asylum in Greece, which is also in the EU.
The group obtained the figures from the German Interior Ministry, which said that a total of 26,000 such secondary applications had been made in 2024.
According to EU law governing "secondary migration" in the bloc's free-movement Schengen zone, recognized asylum seekers may spend up to 90 days in another EU country, but may not make another application for asylum there.
"People who have been granted protection in Greece must make use of that protection there," said a ministry statement.
In April, Germany's Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig ruled that single, healthy migrants who are able to work could legally be deported to Greece, where the court said they would face no extreme hardship. The Greek government, however, has said it will not take back refugees who make asylum claims in Germany, even if they've first made claims in Greece.
Refugee aid organizations continue to speak of an "inhumane situation" for refugees in Greece. "No bed, no bread, no soap," one such group told the group, a "drastic formula" which "has not changed in years."
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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron put on a show of unity during the latter's visit to Berlin on Wednesday.
But while the two presented a united European front in response to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump and an intention to discuss corruption issues with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, disagreements remain regarding the development of the joint Franco-German FCAS next-generation fighter jet and the condemnation of Israeli actions in Gaza.
"Big topics, great unity," headlined German public broadcaster on Thursday morning, while news magazine quipped: "No fish rolls, at least" – a reference to Macron's visit to Germany in October 2023 when Merz's predecessor Olaf Scholz treated him to a , a local Hamburg delicacy with an acquired taste.
Read more about what Merz and Macron discussed on DW.
The Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) said on Thursday that it was "appalled" by the suffering being endured by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and called on the German government to ensure the enforcement of international law.
"The humanitarian situation for the civilian population in Gaza is catastrophic," ZdK President Irme Stetter-Karp told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND).
While acknowledging that Israel "has a legitimate right to defend itself against the terrorist organization Hamas," she said that didn't absolve the Israeli government from its responsibility to respect international law.
Stetter-Karp also said Israel's military operations were impacting the civilian population to an "unjustifiable" extent and highlighted the acute threat of starvation, illness and death facing children in the besieged enclave.
"We are aghast that 875 Palestinians have been killed while trying to access aid at the distribution centers in Gaza," she said. "This approach by the Israeli government must end immediately!"
Stetter-Karp also highlighted the plight of Palestinian Christians in the occupied West Bank, who she said were increasingly the targets of Israeli settler violence.
Germany's second-largest airport is reportedly planning to construct a special deportation terminal in which police will process the repatriation of migrants to be deported.
According to a planning document seen by the Reuters news agency, the so-called "repatriation terminal" at Munich Airport is to be around 60 meters (about 200 feet) long and spread over two floors.
The facility, which is designed to facilitate "up to 100 arrivals and departures processing up to 50 individual measures and group charter flights daily," is planned for 2028 and will also include a "central check-in in order to coordinate repatriations efficiently," according to the document.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt and Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann, both of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), have taken a strong stance on deportations of migrants with criminal convictions or rejected asylum claims.
Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter, of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), said the deportation of those convicted of crimes to their home countries was a sensible measure. "Therefore I don't think it's fundamentally wrong to propose such a terminal," he said.
But political support is not universal. Local Green party politician Gülseren Demirel told the broadsheet: "We are more than critical of a specific terminal for deportations."
While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter, Berlin Briefing.
Welcome to DW's coverage of developments in Germany on Thursday, July 24.
Despite Germany's dramatic defeat in the Euro 2025 semifinal last night, we all have to carry on, so here's what's on the agenda today:
