International
Germany celebrates 34 years of reunification but with political cracks due to populism
The Germans celebrate 34 years of reunification, a process that ended with the division of the two Germanys, although the recent electoral behavior of the East Germans, where populist parties have become strong, cracks the traditional political scenario of the country.
Behind the festive atmosphere marked by the events of the 34º anniversary of the reunification led by Chancellor Helmut Kohl, a concern weighs the political reality: the booming populism of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the leftist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW).
The results of these parties in appointments such as the European elections last June or the recent elections of the federal states of Eastern Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg, have hit the Central European nation, in which new political divisions between East and West seem to be opening up.
“In 1989, the two Germanys started from different economic and social points and the expectation was that soon there would be an equalization and that would also equalize political points of view,” Martin Schulze Wessel, historian at the University of Munich and expert in Eastern Europe, told EFE.
“At the socio-economic level there is still no equalization, although progress is being made in that direction, but with regard to the vision of politics and political culture, that equalization has not taken place, moreover, there have been new divergences,” he said.
Schulze Wessel alludes to the fact that, after 35 years of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the standard of living in what was the German Democratic Republic (GDR) has increased although the gap between the east and the west is still observed in data such as that the East Germans receive a salary 14% lower than the Westerners, according to data from the Hans Böckler Foundation, a study center specialized in the Teutonic world of work.
This Thursday, in a speech delivered in the city of Schwerin (northeast), Scholz invited to abandon the idea that total equality between east and west in Germany can take place.
“The idea that unification would end completely when the situation in the east would be exactly the same as that in the west, when there is no west that is a single unit, is an idea that does not help us,” Scholz said in the context of the celebration of German Unity Day.
Strong populism in the east
Politically, the east has a different dynamic, as shown by the fact that in the last European elections AfD was – with few exceptions such as Berlin – the most voted force in what constituted the GDR, while in the western territory it swept away the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
In those elections, the CDU won with 30% of the votes, followed by the AfD, with 15.9%, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD, 13.9%) and The Greens (11.9%).
In the European elections, BSW broke out with 6.7%, a percentage celebrated as a success because that formation was barely a few months old and because, in East Germany, the party of the leftist figure Sahra Wagenknecht managed to be the most voted party, after AfD and the CDU.
According to Daniel Kubiak, a researcher at the Humboldt University of Berlin, told EFE, “we can see that the party system of East Germany differs from the West, because in the west there are still two majority parties (CDU, SPD), which have been joined by the Greens, the FDP and AfD, and it is largely stable.”
“The east is more volatile and people tend to vote for parties located at the ends,” he added.
This, according to Kubiak, is not something unique in Europe, since the vote has also become more volatile in other nations of Europe, such as France, Italy, Poland or Austria, the latter country in which the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) won the legislative elections last Sunday.
The end of the consensus on aid to Ukraine
Among the issues with which AfD and BSW differed in the European elections, but also in the federal states of the east that voted in September, where the far-right formation won in Thuringia, while the Wagenkecht party is emerging as a government partner in Saxony and Brandenburg, is the opposition to military support for Ukraine.
AfD and BSW want Germany to break with the current policy of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has turned his country into the nation in Europe that provides the most military aid to Ukraine.
“The European elections and the elections in the federal states of the east have shown a division and that there are populist parties, the far-right AfD and BSW, that go out of the consensus of the other parties, and there seems to be a rift between east and west,” Schulze Wessel concluded.
International
Chile declares state of catastrophe as wildfires rage in Ñuble and Biobío
Wildland firefighting crews are battling 19 forest fires across the country, 12 of them concentrated in the Ñuble and Biobío regions, located about 500 kilometers south of Santiago.
“In light of the severe fires currently underway, I have decided to declare a state of catastrophe in the regions of Ñuble and Biobío. All resources are now available,” the president announced in a post on X.
Authorities have not yet released an official report on possible casualties or damage to homes.
According to images broadcast by local television, the fires have reached populated areas, particularly in the municipalities of Penco and Lirquén, in the Biobío region, which together are home to nearly 60,000 people. Burned vehicles were also reported on several streets.
“The Penco area and the entire Lirquén sector are the most critical zones and where the largest number of evacuations have taken place. We estimate that around 20,000 people have been evacuated,” said Alicia Cebrián, director of the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred), in an interview with Mega TV.
In recent years, forest fires have had a severe impact on the country, especially in the central-southern regions.
On February 2, 2024, multiple wildfires broke out simultaneously around the city of Viña del Mar, located 110 kilometers northwest of Santiago. Those fires resulted in 138 deaths, according to updated figures from the public prosecutor’s office, and left approximately 16,000 people affected, based on official data.
International
Former South Korean President Yoon sentenced to five years in prison
Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol was sentenced on Friday to five years in prison for obstruction of justice and other charges, concluding the first in a series of trials stemming from his failed attempt to impose martial law in December 2024.
The sentence is shorter than the 10-year prison term sought by prosecutors against the 65-year-old conservative former leader, whose move against Parliament triggered a major political crisis that ultimately led to his removal from office.
Yoon, a former prosecutor, is still facing seven additional trials. One of them, on charges of insurrection, could potentially result in the death penalty.
On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court ruled on one of the multiple secondary cases linked to the affair, which plunged the country into months of mass protests and political instability.
International
U.S. deportation flight returns venezuelans to Caracas after Maduro’s ouster
A new flight carrying 231 Venezuelans deported from the United States arrived on Friday at the airport serving Caracas, marking the first such arrival since the military operation that ousted and captured President Nicolás Maduro.
On January 3, U.S. forces bombed the Venezuelan capital during an incursion in which Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured. Both are now facing narcotrafficking charges in New York.
This was the first U.S.-flagged aircraft transporting migrants to land in Venezuela since the military action ordered by President Donald Trump, who has stated that he is now in charge of the country.
The aircraft departed from Phoenix, Arizona, and landed at Maiquetía International Airport, which serves the Venezuelan capital, at around 10:30 a.m. local time (14:30 GMT), according to AFP reporters on the ground.
The deportees arrived in Venezuela under a repatriation program that remained in place even during the height of the crisis between the two countries, when Maduro was still in power. U.S. planes carrying undocumented Venezuelan migrants continued to arrive throughout last year, despite the military deployment ordered by Trump.
Guatemala prison uprisings leave 46 guards held by gangs
Chile declares state of catastrophe as wildfires rage in Ñuble and Biobío
Former South Korean President Yoon sentenced to five years in prison
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
-
International5 days agoColombian Defense Chief Meets U.S. Officials to Advance Bilateral Narcotics Strategy
-
International4 days agoUkraine declares nationwide energy emergency amid russian attacks and extreme cold
-
Central America4 days agoBukele warns crime can become a ‘parallel government’ during visit to Costa Rica
-
International2 days agoU.S. deportation flight returns venezuelans to Caracas after Maduro’s ouster
-
International4 days agoIran closes airspace amid U.S. threats and deadly nationwide protests
-
International4 days agoX moves to block Grok from creating sexualized images of real people amid legal scrutiny
-
International4 days agoHillary Clinton skips Epstein inquiry as house panel threatens contempt charges
-
International4 days agoFrance joins Denmark’s ‘Operation Arctic Resistance’ in Greenland amid U.S. tensions
-
Central America19 hours agoGuatemala prison uprisings leave 46 guards held by gangs
-
International3 days agoCanada accuses Iran of killing its citizen during anti-government unrest
-
International4 days agoUK Intelligence estimates russian casualties in Ukraine at over 1.2 million
-
International4 days agoU.S.–Denmark tensions escalate as Trump pushes NATO to back U.S. claim on Greenland
-
International4 days agoSwiss Canton of Valais Grants Emergency Aid to Victims of Crans-Montana Bar Tragedy
-
International5 days agoPeruvian Court Orders Definitive Dismissal of Money Laundering Case Against Keiko Fujimori
-
International3 days agoSheinbaum highlights anti-drug gains after U.S. says challenges remain
-
International4 days agoU.S. to suspend visa processing for applicants from 75 countries
-
International19 hours agoChile declares state of catastrophe as wildfires rage in Ñuble and Biobío
-
International2 days agoFormer South Korean President Yoon sentenced to five years in prison