Germany’s car industry has hit a rough patch, having its worst quarter since after the financial crisis in 2009. Meanwhile, in Berlin, EU, US and Ukrainian representatives are discussing a US peace plan.
Bundestag holds ceremony for Sydney Hanukkah event victims
The Bundestag, the German lower house, commemorated the victims of the terrorist attack at a Hanukkah event in Sydney.
According to Bundestag Vice President Bodo Ramelow, the attack was “a murder that happened to all of us,” with government antisemitism commissioner Felix Klein adding that the German state has a responsibility to act against the hatred of Jews.
Daniel Botmann, managing director of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, said that the attack was “on the way we want to live in a free world.”
“We must not accept that terrorists set the narrative, but must stand together in dark times.”
Farmers hold protests as butter prices sink
German farmers took to the streets in their tractors in protest against discount retailers’ low milk and butter prices.
According to police, 140 vehicles took part in the protest, which took place in front of the offices of discount giant Lidl in Bad Wimpfen, a town located in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, while the organizers said some 250 tractors were in attendance.
Protests also took place at Lidl’s logistics center in the city of Radeburg, located in the eastern part of Germany.
With analysts saying milk and butter prices falling worldwide, the prices in Germany are currently at their lowest level in years.
A pack of 250 grams costs less than €1 ($1.18).
Protesters’ representatives say that many can no longer afford necessary investments under the current pricing.
The company said the price cuts are a result of an oversupply of raw milk.
“If these quantities are not sold, there is a risk of an ever sharper price drop,” the supermarket chain said.
German Jewish community offers condolences to ‘Australian brothers and sisters’
The Central Council of Jews in Germany has issued a statement of solidarity with the Australian Jewish community following an antisemitic mass shooting.
Fifteen people, including a 10-year-old girl, a Holocaust survivor, and a local rabbi were killed when gunmen attacked a Hannukah celebration at Sydney’s popular Bondi Beach.
“We must realize that this attack on a Hanukkah celebration did not happen by chance. It is a pattern of antisemitic terror to choose holidays to murder innocent and defenseless people,” said Dr. Josef Schuster, head of the council.
“Attacks on Jewish institutions and events worldwide are becoming increasingly frequent and deadly. The terrorists want to destroy our Western way of life and celebration. We must never allow this to happen. As the Jewish community in Germany, our thoughts are with our brothers and sisters in Australia.”
Berlin prosecutors charge AfD parliamentarian over Hitler salute
Berlin prosecutors on Monday charged Matthias Moosdorf, a Bundestag parliamentarian from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, with using the symbols of unconstitutional organizations.
The charges stem from accusations that the 60-year-old from the eastern German state of Saxony clicked his heels and gave the so-called Hitler salute — which is strictly forbidden under German law — to a fellow party member in the Bundestag cloakroom in June 2023, while in the presence of others.
Moosdorf has denied the allegation, calling it “bizarre” and “absurd.”
The Bundestag lifted Moosdorf’s diplomatic immunity over the issue in October.
Moosdorf joined the AfD in 2016 and until recently served as the AfD’s foreign policy spokesman as well as leading its decidedly pro-Russian foreign policy working group.
In October 2024, it became known that Moosdorf had been awarded an honorary professorship in Moscow.
In September, the party fined him €2,000 ($2,350) over unauthorized travel to Russia.
Berlin hosts EU, US, Ukraine talks on ending Russia’s war
European leaders are gathering in Berlin for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US representatives on Monday as they look for a way to end Russia’s nearly four-year assault on Ukraine.
The meeting follows talks between Zelenskyy and US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at the German Federal Chancellery on Sunday.
Witkoff said “a lot of progress was made,” in a social media post after the five-hour Sunday meeting.
Washington is pushing for a quick end to the war, though the terms that Witkoff has so far put forth appear to come at a heavy cost to Kyiv.
European leaders are skeptical of the Trump administration’s push for a quick fix to the conflict, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz saying of Putin: His aim is “a fundamental change to the borders of Europe, the restoration of the old Soviet Union within its borders. If Ukraine falls, he won’t stop.”
Monday’s talks are set to take place at the Chancellery in the evening.
Germany offers new home to Belarus opposition figures
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt on Sunday said Berlin will offer refuge to Belarus opposition leaders Maria Kalesnikava and Viktar Babaryka, both of whom were freed Saturday after more than five years in prison.
Speaking of protest organizer Kalesnikava and former presidential candidate Babaryka with German public broadcaster ARD, Dobrindt said: “We have a great interest in strengthening this democracy movement, even if it now has to develop outside of Belarus. And that is why we will take in today two of the outstanding politicians, opposition politicians, who were in prison.”
Both leaders were among 123 political prisoners released by Belarus after US negotiators promised partial sanctions relief for Russia-ally Belarus and its authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
Kalesnikava and Babaryka were among those prisoners sent to Ukraine after their release.
At a press conference on Sunday, Kalesnikava said: “I think that I will not stay in Ukraine because I can live in another country. My sister is in Europe, and my family is also in other countries.”
Though she previously lived in Germany and speaks fluent German, Kalesnikava said she had not yet begun planning for the future when asked about the prospect of taking up the government’s offer.
Babaryka, a former banker who was barred from running for the presidency in 2020, was jailed for 14 years on corruption charges that he denied.
Alongside Kalesnikava at the Kyiv press conference, Babaryka said had no plans to go to Germany at the moment.
German car industry hits the skids
German car manufacturers turned in their worst quarter since the days of the 2009 global financial crisis, according to a report released by financial consultancy EY.
Together, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) at Germany’s biggest automakers, Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, plummeted by nearly 76% in the quarter between July and September.
The statistics indicate that although sales and revenue remained stable, production and running the business has become much more expensive, and carmakers are earning less from sales.
Between July and September, the earnings amounted to €1.7 billion ($2 billion), the lowest since quarter 3 in 2009, the study showed.
The average EBIT of 19 of the world’s larges carmakers in the study shrank by 37% to around €18.9 billion — the lowest since 2018.
EBIT is a measure showing a company’s profit from core operations, and excludes effects on the bottom line from financing and taxes.
EY’s report had Germany as the worst-performing car manufacturing nation in its analysis in terms of profit and revenue.
The global auto industry has been in the midst of a profitability crisis for a while, with EY noting that a weak market, high tariffs, adverse exchange rates and big EV and restructuring investments have all contributed to dragging it down.
EY automotive expert Constantin Gall explained: “The global automotive industry is in a deep crisis. However, it is currently the German car companies that are suffering particularly badly.”
Germany’s auto industry is a key pillar of the country’s economy.
EY called the automobile market extremely competitive, adding that a weakening economy has impacted the sale of premium segment cars, though sales of electric vehicles are growing steadily.
Source : https://www.dw.com/en/germany-news-automakers-see-worst-profits-since-2009/live-75158691