Questions tagged [germany]
Questions about Federal Republic of Germany politics and policy.
225
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Does the increase in German exports to Russia's neighbors make up for losses in Russia proper?
DW has this "slide" in one of their YouTube reportages:
It shows German exports to Kyrgyzstan increasing by 773% in in Q1 2023, and to a lesser extent a similar pattern happens in Armenia ...
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2
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Why does the ECB hold a large foreign currency reserve?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_foreign-exchange_reserves
In addition to capital subscriptions, the NCBs of the member states
participating in the euro area provided the ECB with ...
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What did North Korea's diplomatic mission achieve in Germany?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diplomatic_missions_of_North_Korea
I was looking at the article and noticed that North Korea has an embassy with Germany surprisingly enough. Knowing that there's ...
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2
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Germany's subsidy for employees' cars
But subsidies such as tax breaks for company cars, which make it
worthwhile for employees to forgo a part of their salary in exchange
for a high-end vehicle, are not going away. More than two in three ...
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13
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2
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Does Germany hold by-elections?
I understand at a high level how the Mixed Member system used in German general elections works during the general election.
Pages such as Electoral Reform cover this area reasonably well.
What I don'...
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3
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1
answer
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What is the maximum number of seats possible in the Bundestag?
As we know, the German Bundestag uses a mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system, with constituency votes that are majoritarian (299 seats) and party votes that are proportional (299 seats), ...
0
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What legal means exist for the German government to prevent Turks living in Germany from voting in the Turkish election?
Turkey recently had presidential elections and apart from around 62 million Turks living in Turkey people with Turkish nationality but permanent residency in some other country were eligible to vote. ...
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Is Germany making a net profit or net loss from providing free university education to internationals?
Many people pride Germany in having free education. However, there is a fine print in it. You have to take care of the living costs, usually smallish fees from the university (much lower than, say, in ...
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4
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Why is there dog tax but no cat tax in Germany?
I believe the most two popular pets one can have are either a dog or a cat. In Germany, one must pay for tax when owning a dog (Hundesteuer). However a similar tax doesn't exist for cats, why?
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Why do the right claim that Hitler was left-wing? [closed]
This is taken from a speech by Adolf Hitler, April 12, 1921:
There are only two possibilities in Germany; do not imagine that the people will forever go with the middle party, the party of ...
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Does German constitution provide preference to people who are ethnic German?
Does German constitution provide preference to people who are ethnic German?
How does it define related terms? For example -
what does ethnicity mean? Who are ethnic German?
Does it mean that people ...
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Are the UK, Germany and USA not concerned about their (donated) tanks being captured and researched by Russia?
It has been well established that several NATO countries are donating armoured vehicles (and training crews) to Ukraine. Some of the more notable vehicles that are being delivered include the American ...
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2
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Can the CSU circumvent the new election laws of Germany?
The German Bundestag changed the election laws today.
The CSU could now face the following situation at the next general election: They win nearly all constituencies in Bavaria, but they only get 4,9% ...
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5
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Why is Germany increasing its reliance on Huawei despite the security risks?
https://www.reuters.com/technology/germany-ups-reliance-huawei-5g-despite-security-fears-survey-2022-12-16/
BERLIN, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Germany has become even more dependent on
Huawei for its 5G ...
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2
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Why would the SPD prefer a coalition where they are the junior partner to one where they are the largest party?
In the 2023 Berlin elections, the result for the largest parties was:
Party
Seats
CDU
52
SPD
34
Greens
34
Left
22
(the SPD received 53 votes more than the Greens)
80 seats are needed for a ...
- 47.4k
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2
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Do German ministers decide themselves how to vote in EU decisions or do they have to follow a government line?
Example/ background: The EU is currently discussing whether there should be a strict law against the sale of cars with a combustion engine starting in 2035. Volker Wissing (of the FDP party) is the ...
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Is membership in the European Parliament incompatible with membership in German district councils?
Inspired by another question:
According to European Parliament legislative resolution of 3 May 2022, Article 24.1:
The office of Member of the European Parliament shall be incompatible with the ...
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9
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1
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Does Germany have a law on foreign influence agents (similar to the US' or Russia's)? Or proposals for something like that?
It seems it's perfectly legal in Germany for parliamentarians to have their trips sponsored by a foreign country. And likewise for more run-of-the-mill influencers, e.g. rally organizers.
So, I'm ...
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What's AfD's vision for the Ukrainian refugees in Germany?
Reportedly
While protesting in Leipzig in October against Russia’s war in Ukraine, Anastasia, 21, was confronted by AfD counter-protesters screaming “Nazis out” at her and fellow Ukrainians.
The AfD ...
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What did Scholz say about Putin's motive?
I remember reading a news article claiming that the chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, said something to this effect: "In my face-to-face meeting with Putin in February 2022, I talked with
him ...
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4
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What is responsible for the "missing consensus" on donating non-Bundeswehr Leopard 2s to Ukraine?
From Reuters, about Leopard 2s for Ukraine
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said he could not say when there would be a decision on the tanks but Berlin was prepared to move quickly if there ...
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What is the German government's rationale for not allowing Leopard 2 tanks to be given to Ukraine?
There are many news articles today about how the German government is reluctant to allow Leopard 2 tanks to be given to Ukraine. For example, the BBC reports:
Under German law, the government in ...
5
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2
answers
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Who exactly in the German government said that they won't be sending Leopards to Ukraine unless the US sends Abrams tanks?
I've seen this widely reported, e.g. the BBC says
Berlin has reportedly been unwilling to send the vehicles ["much-coveted Leopard tanks"] unless the US commits to providing its own Abrams ...
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15
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6
answers
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What if no party crosses the electoral threshold in a parliamentary election?
In some countries, there is an electoral threshold that political parties must cross to win seats in the parliament.
For example, in Germany, the threshold is 5% of national votes, in Sweden the ...
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9
votes
1
answer
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How effective has Germany's co-determination policy been at improving labor condition in Germany?
To simplify, Germany's co-determination policy states that, for large companies, virtually 50% of the seats on the Board of Directors must be elected by the workers.
In theory, this arrangement should ...
- 10.4k
16
votes
7
answers
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What is the argument made by Gregor Gysi against the delivery of weapons by Germany to Ukraine?
In a TV debate the prominent left wing politician Gregor Gysi made the following argument. (Translated)
Interviewer: You didn't change your opinion on weapons delivery to Ukraine? You are still ...
- 1,045
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3
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What position exactly did Merkel express about the Minsk agreements in this December 2022 interview?
Former German chancellor Angela Merkel gave an interview to the Zeit - but the Zeit is paywalled and I don't speak German. In that interview, she supposedly said:
I thought that the introduction of ...
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4
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Why is ex-East Germany more tolerant towards Russia than many other ex Warsaw Pact countries?
I am happy to be corrected that this is not the case, but from fairly frequent news items it seems to me that sentiment towards Russia in historic East Germany isn't all that negative. Or at least is ...
4
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3
answers
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What is the Austrian/Swiss rationale for maintaining weapons supply neutrality amidst Russian invasion?
Austria and Switzerland are neutral which mean (as far as I understand) that they don't supply any military or double-target anything to the fighting countries, don't treat the wounded soldiers, etc.
...
- 1,171
2
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2
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Did the German Bundesrat ever have a vote with deliberate invalid votes?
The German Bundesrat contains representatives of the governments of each of the 16 Bundesländer (states). Certain laws from the federal government also need to pass a vote of the Bundesrat.
Each state ...
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3
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Why did Denmark, Sweden, and Germany reject a joint investigation offered by Russia?
Why did Denmark, Sweden, and Germany reject a joint investigation offered by Russia regarding the explosion of the NordStream pipeline?
What are their respective problems?
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1
answer
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Why does it have to be 50-50 in Germany's Bundestag [duplicate]
In Germany's Bundestag, 299 seats are for proportional representation and the other 299 are for regional representation in a first-past-the-post system. Is it just a coincidence that the seats are ...
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3
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Why does the "Tanks for Ukraine" discussion focus on the Leopard 2?
It may simply be my media bubble but it seems that the discussion on providing main battle tanks to the Ukraine focuses strongly, almost entirely, on the German Leopard 2. Why is that?
Now I ...
- 301
17
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7
answers
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Why is Germany subsidizing the cost of electricity for everyone rather than only the poorest households?
According to Reuters:
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz set out a 200 billion euro ($194
billion) "defensive shield", including a gas price brake and a cut in
sales tax for the fuel, to protect ...
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44
votes
11
answers
11k
views
Why is Germany still opposed to nuclear power despite the energy crisis?
Germany has recently announced that while they’ll keep two of their nuclear power plants operational during the winter, they’re still planning to shut them down in the spring. But why aren’t they ...
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4
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1
answer
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Locating Primary Sources of SOFA and Mutual Defense Treaties
I'm doing a research project that requires me to examine the revision history of the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) and Mutual Defense treaties between the US and Germany (via NATO), the US and ...
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4
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Why is Poland demanding $1.3 trillion in reparations from Germany, but not $x trillions from Russia?
It's a safe assumption that Russia won't pay a dime. However, comparing 5+ years of German vs 's 50-ish years of Russian occupation, couldn't Poland make a point about the colonial damaged caused by ...
- 2,319
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Was now really the right moment for Poland to demand concrete reparations from Germany? [duplicate]
According to this Reuters article, Poland is demanding approximately $1.3 trillion in reparations from Germany. If it wasn't Reuters, I would think this is just what many here call "Russian ...
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What are the pros and cons of demanding 1.3 trillion in reparation from Germany for the Polish government?
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/poland-officially-demand-ww2-reparations-germany-says-ruling-party-boss-2022-09-01/
What are the pros and cons of demanding 1.3 trillion in reparation from Germany?...
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Has Russia, as of August 21st, violated any gas contracts with Germany?
With the looming winter, the question of Russia delivering sufficient gas for power, warmth, and industry is frequently discussed across German media. However, as far as I am aware, only the possible ...
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Could the German government decide to free Russian citizen Vadim Krasikov from prison?
So there are currently discussions between Russia and the US about some possible prisoner exchange to release US citizens Griner and Whelan from Russia. Apartently Russia made a request (through ...
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Did Björn Höcke sue (and win?) for being called "new Hitler" or "AfD fascist"?
Somewhat related to a recent question, where in answers we find out out that several AfD members won defamation lawsuits for being called "Nazi", Höcke was called "new Hitler" and ...
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3
answers
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Is AfD officially considered a "Nazi" party by German courts?
In Have any prominent politicians in the West called for Ukraine to surrender territory to Russia? user @o.m. states that:
He is a member of the German parliament for the AfD, a nazi party. (Some ...
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1
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GDP per capita of areas formerly belonging to East Germany vs those of northern England
The BBC wrote (at beginning of Feb) regarding UK's "levelling up" plan:
The problem that the government seeks to solve with its "levelling up" agenda is clear - the fact that the ...
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4
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Why does Germany subsidize the Dolphin-class submarines sold to Israel?
Wikipedia article says -
On 6 July 2006, the Government of Germany decided to finance an advance to start the construction, about €170 million, planned for delivery in 2012.[31] The two submarines ...
4
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6
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Why is the left/right spectrum defined so ambiguously? (Europe)
I am currently in Germany so my views are from an European perspective. I never could quite comprehend how the definitions of "left" and "right" are used here.
Right seems to be ...
13
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6
answers
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How did Angela Merkel's refugee stance change so drastically?
In 2015, there was this famous interview involving Angela Merkel and a young refugee girl (?) where the girl requests better policies/rights (?) for refugees from Merkel, and Merkel gives a ...
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3
votes
3
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607
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Any adverse effects/repercussions due to Ukraine's "serious snub" of German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier lasting longer than a few news cycles?
Wikipedia's Frank-Walter Steinmeier; 2022 Kyiv visit says:
In April 2022, Steinmeier abandoned plans to visit Kyiv after admitting he would not be welcome in Ukraine in what was seen as a serious ...
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11
votes
3
answers
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Germany putting industries or facilities "under state management" if they don't cooperate; provisions for it in the constitution? Precedent?
Fox News' April 28, 2022 Germany drops opposition to Russia oil embargo: report includes the following:
The reversal from Germany – which had been one of the main opponents of the EU severing its oil ...
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6
votes
3
answers
2k
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Guardrails against the German president from "going rogue"; violating norms and guidelines and unilaterally making/blocking foreign policy decisions?
I first saw the following line in Politico's April 13, 2022 Zelenskyy’s Steinmeier snub triggers backlash in Germany referring to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz:
...
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