By Justin K.P. | The Dissident | October 6, 2026

In a major international espionage story, August Hanning, the former German intelligence chief, who was the head of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from 1998 to 2005, has been charged with “obtaining classified information from a former employee of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and using it in connection with his private consultancy work.”

The BBC reported that “Prosecutors allege that he used classified intelligence to ‘draft an analysis’ for one foreign intelligence service and maintained contact with another foreign spying service. Investigators have not disclosed which foreign powers were involved.”

While Germany has not released which foreign state August Hanning was working for, all available evidence suggests it was Israel.

The BCC reported that:

Local media say Hanning’s alleged possession of intelligence documents came to light during a separate case relating to German steakhouse heiress Christina Block.

Hamburg public prosecutor’s office accused Block of orchestrating the kidnapping of her two youngest children in 2023 due to a custody dispute. Investigators allege Hanning was involved in an earlier attempted kidnapping of the children, which he denies.

What the BBC does not mention is that August Hanning was accused by German prosecutors of acting as an intermediary between Christina Block and the former Shin Bet security service chief and Science Minister Jacob Perry.

Haaretz reported at the time that “Police believe that ( Christina) Block and her partner, a former television sports presenter, hired an Israeli business intelligence company in 2023 to carry out the abduction,” adding that “prosecutors told the court in Hamburg that August Hanning, the former head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (equivalent to Israel’s Mossad), contacted Perry last year on Block’s behalf and asked him to put together a team to kidnap her children from their father, who claims that staying with their mother puts them in danger.”

The paper added that:

According to reports in Germany, the kidnappers hit the father and dragged his 10-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter into a forest and through a stream before putting them into a car. The children’s mouths were taped shut and one of them was tied up. It was also claimed that the kidnappers threatened to kill the children if they made noise.

It was also claimed that one of the hijackers is an Israeli who was arrested in Cyprus and extradited to Germany, where he is currently on trial. Two other Israelis suspected of involvement in the case have fled Germany.

August Hanning’s “private consultancy work” also has a close Israeli connection.

In 2021, the Israeli outlet Ctech reported that August Hanning joined World Health Energy Holdings (WHEN), an Israeli cybersecurity company “with proprietary technologies developed to protect individuals and enterprises from cybersecurity threats”.

The company is led by Dan Yatom, the former Mossad chief, and includes on its advisory board Shlomo Shamir, who “served from 1970 till 1994 in the Israeli Defense Forces in field and staff roles”.

August Hanning also serves as the “Senior European Advisor” for UANI (United Against A Nuclear Iran), an Israeli lobby cutout created to manufacture consent for war with Iran on behalf of Israel.

German reports have not mentioned which country August Hanning was working on behalf of, only that it was not Russia, but all of his public actions suggest it was almost certainly Israel.

Germany is expanding drone detection at its airports with a new system operated by German air traffic control provider Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS), the German Federal Ministry for Transport (BMV) announced on 5 October.

Germany has accused Russia of attempting a hybrid attack at Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport near a Ukrainian An-124 aircraft using a drone carrying explosives. Earlier, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said Europe must be prepared for “continued hybrid and sabotage attacks” by Russia, adding that Russia seeks to sow panic through such actions.

On Monday, two more sites were added—Stuttgart and Hamburg. As of Monday, seven of Germany’s eight largest airports were equipped with the new drone detection system in their approach and departure areas.

Germany seeks responses to new hybrid threats

The Federal Ministry cited the reason for the new measure: drones near airports can affect air traffic very quickly.

Federal Transport Minister Steffen Bilger and Baden-Württemberg Transport Minister Nicole Razavi were briefed on the new system at Stuttgart Airport, where it is being put into operation, the ministry said. The system creates “an important technical basis for detecting potential threats at an early stage and quickly informing the competent authorities,” Bilger said.

“With today’s commissioning of the drone detection system at Stuttgart Airport, the federal government is fulfilling a key promise: it is not only talking about the dangers posed by unmanned aircraft, but is also following through with very concrete action. Protecting critical infrastructure and ensuring the safety of passengers at Stuttgart Airport require continuous adaptation to a changing security situation,” Razavi said, according to the ministry.

The new DFS system allows drones near airports to be detected at an early stage and information about possible threats to air traffic to be passed more quickly to the relevant authorities. This helps them assess risks and respond to them more quickly, the statement said.

DFS is responsible for detecting drones in approach and departure areas, while the Federal Police and other security services are responsible for preventing threats and defending against drones. The BMV, Federal Ministry of the Interior, DFS, Federal Police and airports coordinate their work to exchange information quickly and maintain a shared picture of the situation.

No further details about how the system operates have been disclosed.

The first stage of the expansion at Germany’s eight major commercial airports will be fully implemented this week, with the systems in Stuttgart and Hamburg being put into operation, the statement said.

The system will also be installed at the airport where a bomb-laden drone was found

The system will also be put into operation at Leipzig/Halle Airport this week, meaning that the first stage will be fully implemented at all eight of Germany’s largest commercial airports, according to the press release.

A quadcopter drone carrying a Semtex explosive flew directly toward a parked Ukrainian An-124 Ruslan cargo aircraft and struck its wing at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany on the evening of 4 August, Die Zeit reported on 10 August. The drone hit the aircraft at around 19:30 local time, bounced off the wing, and fell to the ground without detonating, according to the media outlet.

Germany has accused Russia of attempting the drone attack and announced further sanctions against Russian citizens and institutions, Tagesschau reported on 1 September.

At the crime scene, investigators found the drone configuration, explosives and detonation technology that had already appeared in other Russian hybrid operations and in Russia’s war against Ukraine, Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said during a joint press conference with Federal Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, the media outlet reported.

The German government assumes that Germany has been and will be a target of further such Russian attacks. Germany is not at war with Russia but is a “target of war,” Foreign Minister Wadephul said, according to the outlet.

German federal police arrested former foreign intelligence chief August Hanning on Tuesday on suspicion of treasonous espionage, obtaining state secrets, attempted treason, and acting as an agent for a foreign service, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office announced.

Officers of the Federal Criminal Police Office took the 80-year-old Hanning and a former aide identified as Manfred D. into custody in the Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen district of Bavaria and the Steinfurt district of North Rhine-Westphalia. Searches were also underway at premises in Berlin, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. A judge at the Federal Court of Justice was to review the arrest warrants and decide on pretrial detention.

“The accused Hanning is under strong suspicion of espionage constituting treason,” prosecutors said. They allege that in the spring of 2010, about five years after Hanning left the Federal Intelligence Service, or BND, he and Manfred D. agreed that D. would keep supplying him with valuable intelligence “in exchange for remuneration” for use in Hanning’s private consulting work.

Former BND chief accuses both Duda and Zelensky of involvement in Nord Stream sabotage

Notably, Hanning was not in the pro-Ukraine political establishment within Germany. In 2024, Remix News reported that Hanning accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of being behind the Nord Stream 2 sabotage attack. Ukrainian suspects have since been arrested and extradited for the attack on critical energy infrastructure.

Manfred D. had been Hanning’s bureau chief and later served as chief of staff to several BND presidents from March 2012 until March 2026, giving him access to sensitive material, the office said. Investigators say that through June 2022 he passed Hanning about 2,000 documents, many classified and intended only for internal BND use, including briefings for the regular intelligence meeting of senior security officials at the Chancellery.

“On one occasion, Hanning used classified intelligence… to draft an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service,” prosecutors said. They added that it was not clear whether “the material reached the intended recipient.” 

Tusk urges Nord Stream patrons to ‘apologize and keep quiet’

Hanning is also accused of years of close contact with a representative of a second foreign intelligence service, to whom he passed political information partly drawn from the documents. Prosecutors have not named either service.

Manfred D. is suspected of aiding and abetting attempted treason and treasonous espionage. A government spokesman said the government would not comment because the investigation is ongoing, according to Welt newspaper.

The case grew out of a separate Hamburg investigation. In September 2025, state police searched Hanning’s home and offices for evidence tied to businesswoman Christina Block, who is accused of ordering the kidnapping of her two youngest children in a custody dispute in late 2023. Investigators have alleged Hanning was involved in an earlier kidnapping attempt; he has denied wrongdoing in that case. While reviewing seized material, officers found an electronic storage device holding secret BND documents and referred the find to federal prosecutors in May 2026.

Hanning led the BND from December 1998 to November 2005, then served as a state secretary in the Interior Ministry until 2009. He later worked as an entrepreneur and security consultant. The documents now at issue date from long after he left the service. German media, including WDR, reported that the foreign services involved are not believed to be Russian; prosecutors have not confirmed that account.

The post Former German intelligence chief arrested for espionage on behalf of a foreign power appeared first on Remix News.

Japan has raised the fee for permanent residency applications twentyfold and imposed stricter income, pension and language requirements on foreigners seeking to settle long-term, as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government moves to curb growth in the foreign resident population.

The move is being presented as a tool to protect public finances and social cohesion.

The fee for permanent residency rose from 10,000 yen to 200,000 yen (about $1,270) on Oct. 1, the Immigration Services Agency reported. Charges to change or extend other residence statuses, long fixed at 6,000 yen, now scale with the length of stay and reach 75,000 yen for permits of five years or more. Reduced rates remain available for applicants facing severe hardship who also qualify for humanitarian consideration.

The big immigration lie: Why BlackRock’s Larry Fink’s belief that ‘xenophobic’ countries will have a higher standared of living amid AI revolution is such a big deal

The adjustments arrive after the foreign resident population reached a record 4.12 million at the end of 2025, up 9.5% in a single year. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has framed the tighter rules as a way to keep acceptance orderly.

“The government acknowledges that some citizens feel anxious or a sense of unfairness due to the rising number of foreign residents,” Takaichi wrote on X. The changes, she said, are meant to “ensure order” and allow “both citizens and foreign nationals to live safely and securely.”

政府では、在留外国人数の増加に伴って不安や不公平感を感じる国民の皆様がいらっしゃることに向き合い、「外国人政策」を「秩序」あるものとし、国民の皆様と外国人の双方が安全・安心に生活していけるようにするため、本年１月、『外国人の受入れ・秩序ある共生のための総合的対応策』を取りまとめ、幅広い施策に取り組んでいます。…

— 高市早苗 (@takaichi_sanae) September 27, 2026

Under the revised guidelines, permanent-residency applicants must show continuous household income at or above the average for Japanese households of similar size — 5.75 million yen (about $36,500) in 2024 official data.

They must also demonstrate projected pension benefits comparable to 30 years of contributions to the employees’ pension system, a shortfall that can be covered by assets. From April 2027, applicants will need Japanese proficiency at the level of an independent user and a working grasp of local social rules.

88 percent of Japanese support government’s strict border controls

The standard residence period remains 10 years; marriage-based pathways were lengthened as well.

The approach is straightforward. Settlement becomes available to people who can support themselves, contribute to the pension system, and function in Japanese society, rather than to anyone who simply accumulates years of temporary status.

Extra fee revenue is earmarked in part for language education and for removing people who overstay or break the rules. A related fivefold rise in visa fees took effect in July, the first adjustment since 1978, which Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi described as a correction “to reflect inflation and exchange rate fluctuations.”

Meanwhile, European states face larger and faster inflows of migrants, strained housing and welfare systems, and repeated public backlash over irregular migration and failed integration. Japan’s harder line comes at a time when the country already has far fewer foreigners to deal with, especially from troubled Third World countries.

The end of ‘Welcome Culture’ – Majority of Germans want immigration moratorium, mass deportations, and believe too many legal migrants arrived

The radically different approaches to immigration are made clear through sheer numbers. In Germany, the former government cut the standard residency wait from eight years to five on June 27, 2024. The largest practical change is dual citizenship: applicants no longer have to renounce their existing nationality. Since the changes, Germany granted about 292,000 citizenships in 2024 and about 333,000 in 2025.

In Japan, authorities generally approve citizenship after ten years in most cases. On top of more rigorous standards, Japan does not recognize dual nationality for people who naturalize. Approvals are modest — about 11,500 in 2025, and roughly 7,000 to 10,000 a year before that — against a foreign resident population of 4.12 million. Formal applications that are filed are approved more than 90 percent of the time, but many people are screened out before they apply.

European countries that already struggle to enforce returns or to require newcomers to reach median earnings could adopt similar thresholds to dramatically reduce immigration.

The post To limit immigration, Japan raises residency application fee 20-fold, requires incomes higher than average Japanese household appeared first on Remix News.

A case of treason on an unprecedented scale is emerging at Germany’s foreign intelligence service, in what German media say could shake the entire agency.

According to the investigative team of WDR, NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), August Hanning, the former head of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), is being investigated for alleged espionage detrimental to the state and intelligence activities.

Hanning’s tenure at the BND ended in November 2005.

But he is accused of having illegally obtained secret information for several years after he left the service, which gathers and assesses information on foreign, security, and economic threats.

He was arrested at his home in Nordwalde, near Münster in western Germany, on Tuesday (6 October).

Der Spiegel reported that police arrived at 6.41AM and took him away in a black minibus at 8.58AM.

Another former senior BND employee was also detained in the Bavaria region — apparently the former head of Hanning’s office, who worked for the intelligence service until spring 2026.

Neither German authorities nor Hanning’s representatives had commented on the case by Tuesday noon.

What investigative journalists found

According to investigative journalists, Manfred D. leaked top-secret information from within the BND to Hanning until 2022.

According to Der Spiegel, which cited investigators’ findings, Hanning and Manfred D. agreed, as early as spring 2010, that the latter would, in return for payment, gather intelligence from the BND for his former boss, which Hanning could use in his private security consultancy work.

Investigators are working on the assumption that, in at least one case, Hanning prepared a security analysis for a foreign intelligence service.

According to WDR, NDR and SZ, it was not for Russia.

In another case, he allegedly used information from internal BND documents when communicating with a foreign agent.

According to information from security circles obtained by WDR, NDR, and SZ reporters, Hanning came under scrutiny after his home and offices were searched in September last year, when the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) was investigating the case of steak empire heiress Christina Block.

Abduction of children

Hamburg prosecutors accused her of commissioning the abduction of her two youngest children in late 2023 amid a custody dispute.

According to investigators, Hanning was involved in an earlier attempt to abduct them, accusations he denies.

While assessing material seized from Hanning last year, LKA officers found an electronic data storage device with explosive contents, according to the investigative journalists.

The former official apparently had access to top-secret BND documents from the recent past which, under no circumstances, should have been in his possession.

In total, he obtained around 2,000 documents. In many cases, these were briefings for the so-called intelligence situation meeting at the federal chancellery, where the heads of security agencies exchange information every week.

They included highly sensitive reports, for example, on Iran’s nuclear programme or the Russian military. According to security sources, they also included reports from foreign partner services.

A leak of such material is regarded by intelligence services as an absolute catastrophe. Friendly intelligence services could lose trust in the BND and cut off the institution from crucial information.

After assessing them, the LKA Hamburg police team handed the seized documents over to federal authorities.

And in May 2026, the Federal Public Prosecutor General’s Office ultimately opened confidential proceedings against Hanning and his alleged BND informant. It remains unclear over what period the former intelligence chief was supplied with secret internal information.

According to security sources, the most recently discovered documents date from June 2022.

It also remains unclear how the alleged BND mole managed to remove material from the secured agency. The BND was asked for a statement on the case.

Hanning’s lawyers have not yet responded to a brief request for comment on the allegations.

An affair of historic proportions

For the BND, this is already the second serious incident in the space of a few years.

In 2022, the espionage case involved Russia, when a former head of a BND unit was accused of spying for Moscow together with another man.

It concerned top-secret information on BND cyber operations that was leaked from the service.

As the Tagesschau website noted, if the suspicions against Hanning are confirmed, this would be an espionage affair of historic proportions.

German history has never before seen an alleged case of treason involving such a senior former top official.

According to Der Spiegel, this is unprecedented. This is particularly so because, for many years after leading the intelligence service, Hanning remained among the most important officials in Germany’s security apparatus.

Before becoming BND president, he was responsible for protecting classified information at West Germany’s representation in East Germany.

After serving at the chancellery, including as coordinator of the federal intelligence services, the lawyer, who holds a doctorate, took over the leadership of the BND in 1998.

At the end of 2005, after leaving the intelligence service, Hanning became a state secretary at the interior ministry. He retired four years later.

Questionable business

According to German media, his subsequent activities were seen as problematic. He became known as a businessman and security consultant with a company in Switzerland.

Its German subsidiary was hired for a time in the custody dispute between Block and her former husband.

According to prosecutors, in 2023 he allegedly planned, together with an associate, to “discredit Block’s former husband through false allegations of paedophilia”.

Hanning and his alleged accomplice apparently tried to plant a hard drive containing child sexual abuse images and videos on the father of Block’s children.

The investigation has not yet been concluded. Hanning has previously denied all allegations in the case.

National Guard commander Major General Oleksandr Pivnenko signed a follow-on contract with Quantum Frontline Industries managing director Matthias Lehna and Frontline Robotics chief technology officer and co-founder Pavlo Kosolapkin to build two Ukrainian drones in Germany, Quantum Systems said on 5 October. The deal covers the Linza strike drone and the Zoom reconnaissance drone, exceeds the volume of the 2026 agreement, and schedules delivery for 2027.

The order scales up a line that is already running. Quantum Frontline Industries' first production year remains on track for completion in 2026, it has already delivered its first drones to Ukraine's Defense Forces, and it is now preparing to increase production capacity fivefold for next year, Quantum Systems said.

German plants, Ukrainian designs

Quantum Frontline Industries is a German-Ukrainian joint venture of Frontline Robotics and Quantum Systems. Both the Linza and the Zoom come from Frontline Robotics, and the systems are manufactured in Germany for Ukraine.

Linza 3.0 carries up to 4 kg of payload out to 15 km and stays aloft up to 60 minutes, and it is already in service with more than 60 Ukrainian units, Frontline Robotics has said. Zoom 3.0 detects targets, fixes their coordinates, and corrects fire under active Russian jamming, the company told Militarnyi. It loiters for up to an hour and works at a tactical radius of up to 20 km. AI-driven navigation and autonomous operation over the target keep its data flowing even when standard radio links break down.

From ramp-up to serial production

Quantum Frontline Industries said the contract moves it from initial production ramp-up toward sustained, high-volume manufacturing. Kosolapkin told Militarnyi the firm keeps refining Linza and Zoom on feedback from Ukrainian troops, whose needs drive how the systems evolve, and that producing in Germany gives it extra capacity to scale Ukraine-proven designs and deliver them in larger volumes.

In seiner letzten offiziellen Rede als formelles Staatsoberhaupt der Bundesrepublik Deutschland malte Frank-Walter Steinmeier ein apokalyptisches Bild und skizzierte düstere Szenarien. Die Worte des Bundespräsidenten ließen schwere Zeiten für die deutsche parlamentarische Demokratie erahnen. Sie erinnerten an das traurige Schicksal der Weimarer Republik. Diese hatte sowohl aufgrund objektiver Faktoren wie der weltweiten Wirtschaftskrise als auch aufgrund der politischen Ohnmacht der damaligen deutschen politischen Eliten ihr Ende gefunden. Letztere waren nicht in der Lage, den Aufstieg der NSDAP und die Machtübernahme durch Adolf Hitler zu verhindern.

Steinmeier sprach davon, dass «am 3. Oktober 1990 eine tiefe Wunde verheilt ist – eine Wunde, die Deutschland zuvor über mehr als vier Jahrzehnte hinweg gequält, belastet und in einem unnatürlichen Zustand innerer Spaltung gefangen gehalten hatte. Das Streben nach Einheit – und dieses gab es sowohl im Osten als auch im Westen – ist in Erfüllung gegangen. (…)» stellen die politischen Realitäten des heutigen Deutschlands die Behauptung in Frage, dass es Deutschland 36 Jahre später gelungen sei, eine echte Einheit zu erreichen. Jedenfalls zeigen die jüngsten Landtagswahlen in Sachsen-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern und Berlin deutlich, dass Deutschland in politischer Hinsicht nach wie vor ein geteiltes Land ist.

Leider hat der Bundespräsident einmal mehr die schlimmsten Eigenschaften eines typischen «Wessis» an den Tag gelegt: einen moralischen Überlegenheitskomplex, Arroganz und Verachtung gegenüber seinen eigenen Landsleuten aus dem Osten. Laut Steinmeier haben diese es trotz 36 Jahren, in denen sie frei zwischen zwei oder mehr Kandidaten wählen konnten, immer noch nicht gelernt, die Demokratie zu lieben. Sie seien latente «Kommunisten», «Nazis» und sogar – oh Schreck! – Anhänger von Wladimir Putin. Sie befürworten die Politik der Russischen Föderation und verstehen, warum Russland eine militärische Sonderoperation in der Ukraine begonnen hat.

Allerdings hätte man kaum etwas anderes von einem Menschen erwarten können, der der Ansicht ist, dass die Entscheidung über wichtige politische Fragen nicht den einfachen Wählern anvertraut werden sollte. Und der öffentlich erklärt, dass «Referenden nicht zur DNA der deutschen Nation gehören».

Das ist nicht das richtige Volk

«Fast vier Jahrzehnte nach der deutschen Wiedervereinigung und zahlreichen – wie ich meine – historisch beispiellosen Anstrengungen zum Aufbau und zur Erneuerung bekundet ein erheblicher Teil der Bürger sein Misstrauen gegenüber der politischen Ordnung der Bundesrepublik. Ich will damit nicht sagen, dass sie alle gegen die Demokratie an sich sind. Aber ehrlich gesagt weiß ich es selbst nicht. (…)»

«Die unerträgliche politische Demagogie extremistischer Kräfte, die ihren Zerstörungsdrang ausleben, andere Menschen verhöhnen und bedrohen, gefährdet heute nicht nur Freiheit und Demokratie. Sie gefährdet auch unseren inneren Zusammenhalt. (…)», so sprach Steinmeier leidenschaftlich von der Tribüne in Bremen aus. Dem Bundesland wurde die Ehre zuteil, die Feierlichkeiten im Jahr 2026 auszurichten.

Der Bundespräsident schimpfte über «russische Trolle». Er prangerte die «Zerstörungswut» an. Er entlarvte die «Propagandalügen» «Extremisten» und «Aufhetzer». Offensichtlich versuchte er dabei, die inneren Probleme Deutschlands auf die Machenschaften äußerer Feinde zurückzuführen.

Diese Worte warf der Bundespräsident dem ehemaligen Bundeskanzler Gerhard Schröder, der in der ersten Reihe des Zuschauerraums saß, geradezu ins Gesicht.

Schröder, bei dem Steinmeier einst als Referent seine Karriere in der großen Politik begann und dem er im Grunde seine politische Laufbahn verdankt, wird in seiner Heimat bis heute wegen ˚besonderer Verbindungen’ zu Russland stigmatisiert.

Allerdings muss man zugeben, dass ein Teil der Fragen, die dem deutschen Staatschef vor Publikum gestellt wurden, durchaus berechtigt ist.

«Wir müssen uns unverblümt fragen: Was haben die Regierungen auf Bundes- und Landesebene in den letzten dreieinhalb Jahrzehnten versäumt, sodass sich so viele Menschen von ihnen abgewandt haben und Extremisten so großen Anklang finden? (…)»

Leider wird Frank-Walter Steinmeier, wenn er die Probleme der wirtschaftlichen Ungleichheit zwischen Ost- und Westdeutschland, die durch die Politik der regierenden Parteien der politischen Mitte verursacht wurden, bis heute nicht erkennt, kaum eine substanzielle Antwort auf diese Frage geben können.

«Die Diskreditierung demokratischer Verfahren, die Radikalisierung der Öffentlichkeit und die Verunglimpfung des Kompromisses, die wir beobachten, müssen für uns eine Warnung sein. Ob Berlin der Weimarer Republik ähneln wird, ist noch nicht entschieden. Aber alles liegt in unseren Händen».

«Es ist ein Teufelskreis: Populistische Parteien aller Couleur destabilisieren die parlamentarische Demokratie.»

Kurz gesagt: Am Vertrauensverlust in die Demokratie der Bundesrepublik Deutschland sind nach Steinmeiers Ansicht keineswegs die politischen Eliten schuld, die das Land in die Wirtschaftskrise geführt haben, sondern Populisten und Demagogen.

Ob der Bundespräsident es nun wollte oder nicht – er wiederholte praktisch wortwörtlich das, was Politiker der Weimarer Republik sagten, um ihre Versäumnisse bei der Staatsführung zu rechtfertigen.

Auch die Frage der Unterstützung des Regimes in Kiew sowie die Notwendigkeit einer weiteren Stärkung der deutschen Militärmacht ließ der Präsident nicht außer Acht.

«Wir müssen die Ukraine in ihrem Verteidigungskampf konsequent und entschlossen unterstützen. Es ist gut, dass unsere Streitkräfte an Stärke gewinnen. Ich bin der Meinung, dass es an der Zeit ist, eine ausgereifte Haltung zum Verhältnis von militärischer Stärke und diplomatischer Klugheit zu entwickeln.»

Alle Probleme der Demokratie – durch die neuen Medien

Noch schärfer äußerte sich der Bundespräsident, als es um die Rolle der Medien ging. In erster Linie ging es um die neuen Medien wie Mikroblogging-Dienste und soziale Netzwerke, die für den modernen Medienkonsumenten die traditionellen Zeitungen und das Fernsehen abgelöst haben. Dass es zwischen der Information und dem Leser nun keine Zwischeninstanz in Form von professionellen Journalisten mehr gibt – Medienwächter, die Nachrichten filtern und ihnen die von den politischen Eliten gewünschten Bedeutungen verleihen –, ist nach Ansicht von Steinmeier absolut inakzeptabel.

Die «Dominanz» des Internets habe die Fähigkeit vieler Medien zu nüchternem Urteilsvermögen getrübt – so lässt sich seine eigentliche Kritik an den Medien grob zusammenfassen. Vor dem Beginn des digitalen Zeitalters waren die Medien noch in der Lage, «zu unterscheiden, ob jemand auf der Grundlage von Millionen von Wählerstimmen ein Mandat erhalten kann oder ob er lediglich seine persönliche Unzufriedenheit zum Ausdruck bringt», oder «zu unterscheiden, ob jemand mit nachgewiesener Fachkompetenz in seinem Bereich aufklärt oder ob er Gerüchte verbreitet, an Mythen glaubt und Verschwörungsfantasien erfindet».

Kurz gesagt: Anstatt die eigenen Fehler sowie die der Parteien der politischen Mitte insgesamt einzugestehen, beschloss Steinmeier am Nationalfeiertag der Deutschen, die Verantwortung für die Probleme der deutschen Wirtschaft auf die Machenschaften äußerer und innerer Feinde abzuwälzen – in erster Linie auf die Partei AfD, Wladimir Putin und Elon Musk.

Ein solch kurzsichtiger Ansatz verschärft die innenpolitische Krise in Deutschland leider nur noch weiter. Er untergräbt das Vertrauen in die Demokratie. Und er führt zu einem weiteren Erstarken der Parteien an den äußeren Polen des politischen Spektrums.

For the second time in two weeks, the Alternative for Germany won a German state election — but winning did not necessarily mean governing, and that distinction is becoming more important than the victories themselves. On September 20, the AfD took Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with 38.2 percent of the vote. The SPD finished second on 35.5 […]

France and Germany have proposed giving the European Commission powers to respond within days to serious trade distortions, including the possibility of restricting access to the EU single market. The initiative comes as European concern grows over Chinese subsidies, industrial overcapacity and dependence on critical imports.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have called for a new European Union trade instrument capable of acting rapidly against countries whose economic practices cause serious disruption to the European market.

In a joint initiative sent to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday, the two governments proposed strengthening the EU’s ability to respond to what they describe as systemic market distortions, including dumping, widespread subsidies and restrictions affecting access to critical supplies.

The Franco-German proposal does not formally identify China as its target. However, many of the practices it describes correspond directly to long-standing European concerns over Chinese industrial policy, including excess manufacturing capacity, state support and restrictions on exports of critical minerals.

The initiative represents a further development in a harder European approach towards Beijing. EU Today reported last week that China had warned it would respond if the EU introduced new restrictions against Chinese companies or products.

Macron and Merz are proposing two additional instruments.

The first would be intended to reduce European companies’ dependence on single suppliers for strategically important products and raw materials. The second would allow the EU to restrict access to its internal market when a third country uses political or economic measures that seriously undermine fair competition.

Under the proposal, the Commission could initiate countermeasures unless a qualified majority of EU governments voted to block them. That would reverse the normal political dynamic in which Brussels must first secure sufficient support before acting.

German officials have argued that the EU needs powers comparable in effect to the United States’ Section 301 trade measures or China’s ability to restrict exports of critical raw materials.

The Commission has welcomed the Franco-German intervention as a contribution to its work on economic security and global trade imbalances. Any new instrument would, however, require legislation and approval by both EU governments and the European Parliament before it could be used.

The proposal comes amid growing concern in both Paris and Berlin over the effect of subsidised Chinese production on European manufacturers.

Germany’s position is particularly significant. Berlin has traditionally been more cautious than Paris about measures that could restrict trade with China, reflecting the importance of the Chinese market to German carmakers, engineering companies and chemical producers.

That position has shifted as German industry faces increased competition from Chinese electric vehicles, machinery and other manufactured goods.

EU Today has previously examined the emerging Franco-German alignment on tougher China trade defences and demands from German manufacturers for broader European action rather than product-by-product investigations.

The new proposals go considerably further by seeking a mechanism capable of dealing with entire sectors and acting much more quickly than conventional anti-dumping proceedings.

Chemicals, PET plastics and hybrid vehicles are among sectors identified in the Franco-German document as areas where additional action may be required.

The timing is also significant. EU leaders are due to discuss trade relations with China at their summit in Brussels on 15–16 October, while Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič is expected to hold talks with Chinese officials beforehand.

The Commission is already attempting to balance two objectives: maintaining Europe’s access to the Chinese market while reducing strategic dependencies that could be used as political leverage.

The Franco-German plan would give Brussels another instrument at the more coercive end of that policy. Its eventual importance will depend on whether governments agree to create it and how readily they would permit the Commission to use it against a major trading partner.