Free Republic

School strikes are taking place across Germany to protest against the possible reintroduction of compulsory military service. One of the organisers of the strike, Bela Breitner, from School Strike Against Compulsory Military Service said the federal government was "serious about gradually reintroducing compulsory military service". At one protest in Hamburg, demonstrators waved flags and held up banners emblazoned with the words "We won't take part in your wars". German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has made boosting Germany's military a priority following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A new law introducing voluntary military service came into force in January, with the aim of...

Recent historic election victories appear to be putting wind in the sails of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which continues to widen its lead over the establishment and expand its support base. After two major first-place finishes this month in the local elections in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the anti-mass migration AfD has seen its lead over the supposedly centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of Chancellor Friedrich Merz grow to its largest in history. According to the first national survey after Sunday’s elections, the AfD has seen its support rise to 29.5 per cent, a record high recorded by...

NATO endorsed an agreement between the US and Denmark to expand Washington's military presence in Greenland, potentially forestalling President Donald Trump's demands to take over the Arctic territory. The agreement provides a potential US veto power over Russian and Chinese investments on Greenland, makes permanent Washington's military presence, and allows for more US bases. The deal notably falls short of American ownership — an earlier demand by Trump that had strained NATO to its breaking point. The deal should "begin the process of healing," Atlantic Council experts said, though the specter of US aggression against treaty allies kicked off a...

BERLIN — Germany’s embattled Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his conservatives suffered a second major defeat to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in a regional vote Sunday — a result Merz conceded was a “disaster.” But the chancellor moved to quickly quell a rising storm of speculation that he would move to step aside following the loss, which comes only two weeks after another historic defeat to the AfD in a regional contest. He appeared before cameras just minutes after the polls closed Sunday to say he would continue to push through his reform agenda and act as an anchor...

The Great Greenland Crisis has ended, and Donald Trump has declared victory. Last Friday, the president announced that he had reached a deal with the Danes that would give “the United States permanent control over security, and all other needs, in Greenland, completely addressing ALL of our many U.S. concerns.” The barren, icy prize is finally ours. Or is it? Despite the usual bluster, bravado, and social media posts showing Greenland colored in with the Stars and Stripes, Trump’s avowed aim of annexation was not accomplished. The Dannebrog will still flutter in the Arctic breeze. According to a statement put...

Germany's AfD was projected to win ​the most votes in ‌the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Sunday, ​exit polls showed, but ​the far-right party is ⁠unlikely to govern as ​other parties rule out ​working with it. The exit poll, conducted for public broadcaster ARD, ​showed the AfD ​at 37.0% and the governing centre-right ‌Social ⁠Democrats at 35.5%. Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU slumped to 5.5% of the vote, ​its ​worst ⁠result in any state election since ​1949. With the ​threshold ⁠set at 5%, it remained unclear whether the ⁠party ​would secure seats ​in the state parliament.

The German federal prosecutor’s office recently announced that it indicted seven people for allegedly securing weapons for the Hamas terrorist organization, with the goal of launching terrorist attacks on the second remembrance date of the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel. The indictment has catapulted the danger of Hamas’ network in Europe to Israeli, American and European installations and citizens into the spotlight. According to the prosecutor’s office, "All of the accused belong to the foreign terrorist organization Hamas. Some time ago, the organization’s military wing (the so-called Qassam Brigades) began establishing weapons depots in Europe. No later than July 2025,...

Embattled German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to stay on despite exit polls in two local elections suggesting damaging defeats for his centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party. In the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the party was projected to only just scrape into parliament, while the AfD was on track to win the most votes. Merz called the result "a disaster" for his party. In Berlin, the ruling CDU was also expected to be beaten by Die Linke (The Left). Merz is under mounting pressure, with poor approval ratings and rumours he could even be replaced mid-term in a so-called...

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the era of “unconditional” ties between the US and Europe built since World War II are over, at least for now, the latest pronouncement of a breakdown in relations under US President Donald Trump’s presidency. “This era of unconditional transatlantic friendship is probably over for the foreseeable future,” Merz told party members in Berlin on Sept 17. “On the other side of the Atlantic, we are seeing a change in political attitudes, a change in the assessment of the transatlantic alliance, which we might not have thought possible.” Merz, giving a stump speech at his...

Friedrich Merz has cancelled a trip to New York to attend the UN General Assembly amid political pressure at home. The German chancellor was due to fly to the US next Tuesday, where he was to be awarded the "Henry Kissinger Prize" by the American Academy in Berlin. He was also due to address the UN General Assembly. However, he cancelled the trip following his Christian Democrats (CDU) party's poor performance after the hard-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD)'s triumph in the Saxony-Anhalt election and growing discontent within his own party. The loss, in which the AfD was close to securing...

A transgender policewoman has confessed to raping a 15-year-old girl in a McDonald's toilet in Germany. Maja S., 55, confessed before the Traunstein Regional Court wearing handcuffs and leg irons amid the ongoing trial. She will likely face three and a half years in prison, according to Judge Andreas Bartschmid, in exchange for the confession. After her arrest, Maja S. was initially held in the women's section of the Bamberg prison in Bavaria. For the past five months, however, she has been in the men's section of the Stadelheim prison. Her lawyer, Peter Dürr, told BILD: 'This is a serious...

This past Saturday, Sep. 5, 2026, the German city of Erfurt hosted a so-called Christopher Street Day (CSD) event, which is basically the European version of what in the United States is a ‘gay pride’ parade. The idea behind such an event is for sodomites and aberrosexuals of every kind, as well as their supporters, to walk through the streets while flaunting their attachment to unnatural vice, which they celebrate and glorify. In this manner they also reinforce their social presence and march for greater acceptance, equal rights, etc., ad nauseam. The Christopher Street Day 2026 parade in Erfurt included...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that events in Europe, including the far-right victory in a German state election, were the ​result of "system errors" committed by globalists in the West. Putin, speaking to reporters ‌in a pool report on the first day of a visit to India, also said the conflict in Ukraine was the fault of the West for constantly putting pressure on Moscow and seeking ​to "drag" Ukraine into the NATO alliance. The Russian president said he would offer no ​comment on Sunday's top result for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party ⁠in the German state...

Friedrich Merz cancelled a phone call with Donald Trump hours after the US president celebrated the AfD's election win. The leaders had been scheduled to hold a call on Wednesday until Mr Trump posted on Truth Social. A spokesman for the German chancellor declined to give a reason for the snub, but noted that it was not because of scheduling conflicts. On Tuesday night, Mr Trump wrote: "Wow! The populist party in Germany just had a really big night. They finally got tired of the absolutely horrible immigration rules and regulations which have hurt Germany so badly. "They are on...

Repeatedly heckled by AfD MPs, the chancellor told Weidel that one in six skilled workers had a migration background, and if her party had its way then its policy would amount to "nothing other than an ethnic cleansing in the skilled trades based on skin colour and origin". While the government understood some deportations were needed, he said it made a careful distinction between those who contributed to German prosperity and those without permanent residency. Disruption by AfD MPs became so loud that at one point Bundestag President Julia Klöckner threatened to start expelling people from the chamber: "We are...

U.S. President Donald Trump attributed the ​win of Germany's far-right Alternative for ‌Germany (AfD) party in a state election to existing immigration ​rules and regulations ​that he cast as "horrible." "Wow! The ⁠Populist Party in Germany ​just had a really big ​night. They finally got tired of the absolutely horrible Immigration ​rules and regulations which ​have hurt Germany so badly," Trump ‌wrote ⁠on Truth Social on Tuesday. The AfD surged into first place in state ​elections in ​Saxony-Anhalt ⁠on Sunday, putting a far-right party within ​reach of power ​at ⁠the state level for the first time since ⁠World ​War Two.

Germany will send Patriot air defence missiles to Ukraine from its national ​stocks, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Tuesday, warning that ‌Russia was likely to intensify its air campaign against Ukrainian infrastructure as winter approaches. Speaking at a videoconference of nations supporting Ukraine, Pistorius said he had decided to "deliver urgently" additional PAC-2 ​interceptor missiles. Patriot missiles are currently the only effective defence against Russian ​ballistic missile attacks on Ukraine, officials say. "Since Russia is only ⁠advancing very slowly at the front line, it is trying to destroy ​Ukraine's economic base and critical infrastructure by way of air raids...

BSW says it prefers an AfD-only minority government with give and take with parties outside government on specific issues.

Following its record election success, the far-right Alternative for Germany aims to form a government. What options does it have without a majority?

French government ministers expressed their worries on Monday over ​the impact of the victory of far-right ‌party Alternative for Germany in the Saxony-Anhalt state election on Sunday. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party surged into ​first place in the Saxony-Anhalt state elections, ​exit polls showed, putting a far-right ⁠party within reach of power at the ​state level for the first time since World ​War Two. "It clearly sends out a very, very worrying signal," French Finance Minister Roland Lescure told RTL ​radio. "This shows that we face a ​major challenge in the face of a populist wave ‌which ⁠is spreading...