The European Union has postponed a decision regarding whether plant-based products can continue to use names traditionally associated with meat, such as “Veggie-Burger,” “Tofu-Wurst,” or “Soja-Schnitzel.” Negotiations between EU member states and the European Parliament failed to reach a consensus…
Irene Barley, Vice-President of the European Parliament, has stated that there should be a minimum age requirement for all products and activities that are addictive and potentially harmful, including social media platforms. She emphasized the importance of protection, suggesting that…
On December 10, 2025, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) held a joint press conference with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković at the German Chancellery in Berlin. The event marked Plenković’s official visit to Germany. Both leaders discussed bilateral relations and…
The German chemical industry is signaling a severe crisis with production, sales, and capacity utilization declining amid rising costs and regulatory pressures. Industry representatives report a ‘knockout’ scenario as traditional sites face threats; BASF has already shifted some production abroad,…
In many German debates, “integration” is treated as if it were a one-sided exam: newcomers are the candidates, the “natives” are the invisible jury. If you speak German without an accent, avoid complaining too much, never criticise government policy and…
We often talk about “the media” as if it were one unified actor with a single agenda. In reality, today’s media landscape is a battleground between two very different projects: a project of manufacturing fear and a project of building…
Our main public square today is no longer the marketplace – it is the smartphone screen. Through this screen, we follow the news, join discussions and, inevitably, run into hate speech and sometimes openly extremist content that justifies violence or…
When public debates in Germany turn to “extremism”, many people immediately think of Islamist terrorism. Media coverage and political campaigns often amplify this association. Yet, if we look at Germany’s own official documents, a different picture emerges: right-wing extremism is…
In 2015, Farhad Azizi arrived in Germany from Iran as a refugee. Like many others, he brought only a few personal belongings – and a set of skills he had learned in his uncle’s small tiling workshop back home. He…
Germany has been facing a severe shortage of skilled workers for years in sectors such as healthcare, engineering, IT and skilled trades. The updated Skilled Immigration Act (Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz) is the central policy response, built on a three-pillar model and complemented…
