Politicians condemn violent acts on the fringes of Gen Z protests, Berlin’s centre-left and left-wing political parties begin coalition negotiations, sharp metal objects found in Halloween candies and more news from Germany on Monday, November 2nd.
Violence after Germany’s ‘Gen Z’ demos slammed by politicians
On Saturday, tens of thousands of people participated in mostly peaceful protests organised by the group “GenZ regelt!” (Gen Z regulates!) to demand attention to youth priorities, ranging from the cost of living to education spending and budget cuts.
But on the sidelines, masked rioters looted shops in Frankfurt, and violence broke out in major cities including Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg. Police fired water cannon at youths hurling Molotov cocktails.
The demonstrations were inspired by similar movements in France and Italy.
Multiple German politicians on Sunday criticised clashes and looting the day before on the margins of youth-led demonstrations, though several also warned that the acts should not eclipse the protesters’ demands.
Such “violent acts” were “totally unacceptable”, the minister-president for the state of Hesse, Boris Rhein, said on X.
The head of Germany’s far-left Die Linke (The Left) party, Ines Schwerdtner, told the Rheinische Post daily that the demands made by those “demonstrating peacefully will not disappear because small angry groups followed up with acts of vandalism”.
The co-head of the Greens party, Franziska Brantner, criticised the violence, which she told the same outlet “harmed the legitimate cause of many people who demonstrated peacefully”.
The “Gen Z regelt!” movement said on its website that it was calling for fresh demonstrations on November 14, calling them “just the start”.
Riot Police block the street in Frankfurt am Main on October 31. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
Red-green-red coalition talks begin in Berlin
Six weeks after the election to the Berlin House of Representatives, coalition negotiations between the Left Party, the Greens and the Social Democrats (SPD) are to begin on Monday morning. The three-way talks are likely to last a few weeks — there is no set timetable.
The coalition negotiations will be led by an umbrella working group of top politicians from the three parties. In addition, there are about a dozen specialist working groups.
A coalition agreement could be in place by December, but that is not certain.
The Left Party cleared the way for this important step in forming a government on Saturday: At a party conference, a broad majority of delegates voted for coalition negotiations.
The Greens and SPD had already agreed on October 19th.
READ ALSO: How a left-wing coalition in Berlin would reshape housing and integration
After the Berlin election on September 20th, the Left Party had become the strongest force with 25.7 percent.
They are followed by the CDU (18.8 percent), AfD (16.3 percent), Greens (14.3 percent) and SPD (12.1 percent).
The CDU/SPD coalition, which has been in power until now, lost its majority in the capital city.
Justice minister to present draft law with harsher punishments for sexual crimes
Federal Minister of Justice Stefanie Hubig (SPD) is pushing ahead with the planned tightening of criminal law for rape.
The announced draft law is ready and is to be sent today to states and associations with the opportunity to comment, the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) reported. The draft, which is available to the RND, also provides for the punishment of verbal sexual harassment.
The SPD politician had recently said that she considers a five-year statute of limitations for rape to be too short. For both rape and sexual assault committed jointly, the statute of limitations is to be twenty years in the future.
“It must not be the case that such serious crimes go unpunished just because the victim only learns years later what was done to her,” Hubig told RND.
Anyone who harasses another person through a sexually determined statement or gesture will in future be liable to prosecution “if the statement or gesture is likely to intimidate or harass the other person,” the draft says.
“Sexual assaults are unacceptable – this applies to physical violence as well as to verbal harassment and threats,” Hubig said.
READ ALSO: Why deepfakes and sexual violence was a big talking point in Germany this year
Needles and screws found in Halloween candy in several states
Children have found needles or other metal objects in their Halloween candy in several places in Germany.
The police reported corresponding cases in Thuringia, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate, among others.
According to police in Leinefelde-Worbis (Eichsfeld district) in Thuringia, the sweets seem to have been deliberately prepared with the needles.
Children had collected candy from numerous homes in the Wintzingerode district on Saturday evening, so it was not initially possible to trace where exactly the affected sweets came from.
It is being investigated for attempted dangerous bodily harm.
There was a similar case in Herbsleben (Unstrut-Hainich district).
There were also cases of sharp metal objects founds in Halloween candy in Filderstadt in Baden-Württemberg, in Rielasingen-Worblingen in the Konstanz district, and also in Landshut, Nuremberg and Neuburg in Bavaria.
Individual cases were reported elsewhere, including in Bremen, Hanover and Appenheim in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Police advise that parents carefully check their kids’ sweets before eating them. If anything suspicious is found, bring the candy along with its packaging to the local police.
With reporting by DPA and AFP.
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