Polish President Karol Nawrocki visited Budapest to celebrate Polish-Hungarian Friendship Day and meet with top Hungarian officials. The commemoration led to an embarrassing moment for Polish PM Donald Tusk.
A conversation with Prime Minister Orbán was scheduled to last over an hour and took place without media participation, according to Do Rzeczy.
Thanking both Hungary’s president, Tamás Sulyok, and Orbán for “the fruitful discussions,” Nawrocki posted: “We are bound by centuries of shared history and common national heroes. Hungary extended a hand to us when we defended ourselves against Russian Bolshevism in 1920, and we showed them solidarity in 1956 when Kremlin imperialism crushed their freedom.”
“We, Poles, love Hungarians, and we hate the war criminal Putin. Russia will always be a threat to us, Hungary an eternal friend. Long live Poland! God bless the Hungarians!’ he concluded his post.
On Monday, Orbán also welcomed leaders from the Patriots for Europe grouping in the European Parliament as well. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski suggested that the timing of Naworcki’s visit might have been to support Orbán’s election campaign. Prime Minister Donald Tusk expressed a similar opinion, speaking of a “fatal mistake” and actions that could weaken the European Union and strengthen Russia. However, the president’s office was clear that this was to celebrate the official day of Hungarian-Polish friendship.
Responding to a reporter’s question about Russia after a press conference with Sulyok, Nawrocki clapped back, stating: “Listen to what the President of Poland is saying. Vladimir Putin is a criminal.”
🇵🇱 Polish President Karol Nawrocki loses his temper at a TVN24 journalist's line of questioning on Viktor Orbán and Vladimir Putin.
"Get a grip and listen to what the President of Poland is saying. Vladimir Putin is a criminal, do you understand?" pic.twitter.com/Vdw1LhHVbm
Tusk addressed the matter, writing on X: “Please don’t shout at journalists. They didn’t get you into this Russian mess.” The head of government’s post, in turn, sparked an immediate reaction from Law and Justice politicians, who defended the president and criticized him, accusing him of hypocrisy and recalling his earlier policy of “resetting” with Russia, with one commenter posting a fun collage of pics of Tusk with Putin.
One commenter on Remix’s own video of the interaction posted a clear photo of Tusk’s past friendship with Putin (also posted by others elsewhere), with the caption referencing the plane crash in Russia that killed the brother of PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński: “President Kaczyński was still lying in the Smolensk mud when Tusk was giving high fives with (P)utin.” PiS has long believed that Tusk and Russia either knew something about the crash or played some part in covering up its cause.
President Kaczyński was still lying in the Smolensk mud when Tusk was giving high fives with Tutin pic.twitter.com/jevsCUaw0k
Prosecutors say a jealous ex-husband “came to kill” when he ambushed his ex-wife and her new lover outside their home in Frankfurt last year, carrying out a frenzied knife attack that saw her new partner stabbed more than 70 times.
According to the indictment, cited by Bild, 37-year-old Emral M. lay in wait outside the apartment on Friedrich-Stampfer-Strasse in the Bonames district on July 2, 2025, after suspecting his ex-wife had begun a new relationship.
Investigators say he was unable to enter the apartment unnoticed and instead remained outside until both victims left. “He wanted to punish them for adultery,” Senior Public Prosecutor Dominik Mies said.
When they stepped outside, the suspect is accused of launching a sustained and brutal assault on 46-year-old Tasin S., stabbing him more than 70 times before slitting his throat. Melyat M., his ex-wife, was also attacked but managed to escape with serious injuries. The couple’s two children were not present and did not witness the attack.
Prosecutors have charged Emral M. with murder and attempted murder, arguing the attack was premeditated and that he intended to kill both victims.
The case has drawn particular attention because of the suspect’s prior history and the timing of the attack. Earlier in 2025, Melyat M. had filed complaints accusing her ex-husband of rape and domestic violence. A restraining order was issued, and after he violated it, he was taken into custody for several days before being fitted with an electronic ankle monitor.
The monitoring, however, is legally limited to four months. Authorities said the suspect complied with all conditions during that period, meaning the measure expired on June 23, 2025, and could not be extended.
Just nine days later, the fatal attack took place.
“The tragic case in Bonames clearly shows that we need a change in the law on protection against violence,” Mies said. “It must be possible to wear an ankle monitor for a longer period.”
As cited by Hessenschau, Hesse’s Justice Minister Christian Heinz echoed that assessment at the time of the attack, stating, “Cases like this show that we need a change in the law on protection against violence so that wearing the ankle monitor for a longer period is possible.”
Frankfurt city official Tina Zapf-Rodríguez said the killing highlights a systemic gap, noting that the suspect “was already known to the police for similar offenses” and that the homicide occurred “just over a week after the four-month period had expired.”
She added that lawmakers must examine how to guarantee protection for vulnerable individuals “even beyond rigid time limits.”
Authorities confirmed the case had been handled by a specialized domestic violence risk management unit up until the end of the monitoring period, with no legal grounds to extend the measure further due to the suspect’s formal compliance.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has officially called for a high-level investigation into allegations of espionage targeting Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó with the help of a Hungarian journalist.
“It’s a serious matter,” said Orbán. “The fact that the foreign minister of a sovereign country is being intercepted with the intervention of the authorities and secret services of another country, using Hungarian journalists, or at least one for sure, is very serious.”
Orbán went on to say that he believes it is clear the rival opposition party, the Tisza Party, was well aware of the wiretap.
“But the most serious thing is that it seems clear that all this was done with the knowledge of the Tisza Party, and I see that it was done for its benefit,” said Orbán.
Following a report by Mandiner, it was revealed that journalist Szabolcs Panyi, associated with anti-Orbán news outlets Direkt36 and VSquare, had reportedly worked with a foreign EU intelligence service to conduct wiretaps on Szijjártó.
Hungarian commentators have also pointed out that such an espionage case comes with potentially serious penalties for Panyi if he is tried and convicted. Máté Tóth, a lawyer, writes that “the historical facts are quite clear, so I will state the verdict here. (…) Panyi, as a Hungarian citizen, contacted or maintains contact with a foreign government or foreign organization for the purpose of violating Hungary’s independence, territorial integrity or constitutional order, which is punishable by 5 to 15 years in prison for a crime.”
He continued, writing: “The penalty is imprisonment from 10 to 20 years or life imprisonment if the treason is committed for a serious benefit, as there was a good chance here. The classified case includes the fact that Panyi is engaged in intelligence activities against Hungary for a foreign power or foreign organization, which is also punishable by two to eight years in prison in the basic case of a crime.”
He wrote that if all the charges were added up, Panyi faces life imprisonment for espionage coupled with treason.
Currently, it is not clear whether Panyi will be charged, but the allegations remain serious.
🇭🇺🔴Leaked audio reveals Hungarian journalist reportedly helped wiretap Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó's telephone.
The bombshell information has shaken Hungarian politics right before elections. The recording has journalist Szabolcs Panyi telling a female that he… pic.twitter.com/5DCpPVtLd8
Orbán announced via social media that he has “instructed the Minister of Justice to immediately investigate the information related to the wiretapping of Péter Szijjártó.” The scandal centers on claims that foreign intelligence services monitored the Foreign Minister’s communications.
According to a whistleblower identified as the “Fourth Power Branch,” an audio recording and email sent to Mandiner suggest a coordinated operation involving foreign entities and domestic political figures.
Panyi is accused of acting as a conduit for a foreign intelligence agency within the EU by providing the service with Szijjártó’s private phone number. On the leaked recording, Panyi reportedly describes the monitoring process, noting that “the way this works is they’re watching a number and they have who that number was talking to and they see who’s calling that number or who that number is calling.”
When asked by a female interlocutor which specific country was receiving this data, Panyi allegedly stated, “I can’t say that,” before requesting the woman keep the matter strictly confidential.
It remains unclear how the “Fourth Power Branch” obtained these recordings.
The Mandiner report further suggests a web of connections linking the journalism sector to the opposition.
The investigation reportedly points toward Anita Orbán and the Tisza Party. Mandiner claims that Panyi and Anita Orbán are collaborators, alleging that should Péter Magyar’s party take power, Panyi would gain access to sensitive Ministry of Foreign Affairs documents and influence staffing decisions under a potential Anita Orbán leadership.
In a follow-up video on Facebook, Viktor Orbán emphasized the gravity of the situation, indicating that he “considers further consultation necessary” to address the national security breach.
An 18-year-old Afghan intern is under criminal investigation after allegedly exposing himself and touching his erect penis in front of two second-grade girls during his placement at a primary school in Düsseldorf. Police have searched his apartment and seized his mobile phone. The incident has infuriated the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has called for his deportation in a video produced about the incident.
The alleged flashing at Brehm School took place on March 9 during afternoon care and only came to light only after a father called the school.
A spokeswoman for the Düsseldorf district government told Bild it had been an unobserved moment at a sink — though a teacher was in fact present in the room at the time.
🇩🇪🔴An Afghan intern allegedly exposed his erect penis to 2nd grade students at German elementary school. Now, the AfD is calling for his deportation.
He also confessed to police that he groped the class teacher’s buttocks.
The teacher had been showing the class a film and was unaware of what was happening nearby. After the child witnessed the Afghan touching his penis and reported it to her parents, the school subsequently banned the intern from the premises, according to Bild newspaper.
The case did not stop there. The same teacher recalled a separate incident from three days earlier, on March 6, in which the intern had grabbed her buttocks.
She had initially written it off as accidental contact, but the second incident changed her assessment entirely. Notably, neither the school nor its sponsoring organization reported either incident to the authorities — it was the teacher herself who went to the police.
An investigator familiar with the case told Bild: “Unfortunately, we often see this with regard to crimes in schools, where schools prefer to keep a low profile.”
The teacher was due to give a further statement to the police this week but fell ill unexpectedly.
When questioned by police, the young Afghan admitted to groping the teacher. Since he holds asylum seeker status, officers notified the immigration authorities following his interrogation. His internship at the school had been scheduled to last three weeks. The examination of his confiscated phone is still underway.
The Düsseldorf public prosecutor’s office confirmed to Bild that an investigation is open but declined to provide further details, citing the age of those involved.
The AfD produced a video about the incident, describing the Afghan as someone who has “never known mixed-gender schools before. In Afghanistan, girls are excluded from the school system. During Tarek’s internship, something happened that left everyone stunned. The Afghan dropped his trousers and exposed himself to two little girls in the classroom, and this despite the fact that even the teacher was in the room, who claims not to have noticed anything.”
The report further notes that the incident only came to light when the girls in the school spoke to their parents.
“The parents of the traumatized girls had to arrange this on their own. Tarek was banned from the school grounds and is not allowed to continue his internship. No further consequences,” the video reads.
The party further states that the Afghan “does not belong in the classroom, he belongs on an airplane. Back to Afghanistan.”
Exit polls from Italy’s constitutional referendum on justice reform indicate a narrow advantage for the “No” camp, in what would mark a political setback for Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government if confirmed by final results.
Initial data from the Opinio Italia consortium for RAI put the “No” vote between 49 percent and 53 percent, with the “Yes” camp trailing closely at 47 percent to 51 percent. Separate projections from Tecnè for Tgcom 24 similarly show the “No” side ahead, with estimates ranging from 50 percent to 54 percent.
An instant poll conducted by YouTrend for Sky TG24 also points in the same direction, placing the “No” vote between 49.5 percent and 53.5 percent, compared to 46.5 percent to 50.5 percent for “Yes.”
Partial official figures show turnout at 58.55 percent, based on roughly half of polling stations counted.
The referendum centered on a package of justice reforms that would significantly reshape Italy’s judicial system, particularly by separating the careers of judges and public prosecutors, who currently belong to the same professional body and can move between roles. Under the proposed changes, magistrates would be required to choose a single career path from the outset, a move the government argues would strengthen impartiality in trials.
Pronta per il voto. Ricordate: c’è tempo fino alle 15 di oggi per recarsi al seggio. Partecipare è importante. pic.twitter.com/7EKzKDSTFZ
The reform would also alter the structure and selection process of the Superior Council of the Judiciary, the body responsible for overseeing appointments and discipline within the legal system. Additional measures would tighten disciplinary rules for magistrates and introduce changes intended to increase accountability.
The referendum has been framed by opponents as a broader test of confidence in Meloni’s leadership. The “No” campaign, backed by opposition parties and civil society groups, appears to have mobilized effectively, with campaign organizers expressing cautious optimism following the exit polls.
At the headquarters of Meloni’s Brothers of Italy (FdI) party in Rome, senior figures said they would await firmer projections before drawing conclusions. Internal sources suggested the relatively high turnout offered some grounds for hope, but acknowledged uncertainty over the outcome.
Despite the referendum’s uncertain outcome, recent polling suggests Meloni’s political position remains relatively strong. A BiDiMedia survey conducted between late February and early March places Brothers of Italy comfortably in first place with around 29 percent support, well ahead of the Democratic Party on roughly 22 percent, while the Five Star Movement trails at around 13 percent.
With support for the right-wing coalition government remaining stable, a defeat in the referendum may not be as politically damaging for the current administration as opponents would like it to be.
A 49-year-old man with a migration background has been arrested after allegedly beating his 38-year-old partner to death with a hammer and seriously injuring their 13-year-old daughter in the early hours of Monday morning in Barsinghausen, a town of around 34,000 residents in the Hanover region of Lower Saxony.
Police received an emergency call at 2:10 a.m. Officers rushed to the scene, a single-family home on Rehbrinkstrasse where the family of seven was living.
“A 15-year-old boy said his father attacked his 38-year-old mother,” said police spokesman Michael Bertram.
The suspect was standing at the door when officers arrived. According to Welt, the 15-year-old son had managed to persuade his father to leave the house before calling police.
Bertram confirmed: “The 49-year-old allowed himself to be arrested without resistance.”
Inside, officers found the mother lifeless on the floor. Emergency responders attempted resuscitation but were unable to save her. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
“The suspect’s critically injured daughter was also discovered in the house. She, too, was apparently attacked by her father,” Bertram said. Investigators learned the weapon used was a hammer.
The daughter was rushed to the hospital in a critical condition. The couple’s son and three other children, including two infants, were taken to safety. Investigators are now working to establish the full circumstances surrounding the killing.
The family only moved into the house around a year ago and had been well received in the neighborhood. An 88-year-old local resident said: “I saw the children swinging outside yesterday while the father was working in the garden. Everything seemed harmonious.”
According to a neighbor, Dieter Becker, “It’s hard to understand, because for me it was a family that didn’t stand out either. His wife was hanging out the washing a few days ago. The man tidied up the garden and actually kept it tidy.”
Another local construction worker, Alexej Nigodenko, said: “I’ve been here on the building site since last August and have seen the police inside the house four or five times. I don’t know what’s going on, of course, because I saw the man himself, talked to him and everything. Actually, he was always nice, but you never really know with anybody.”
The couple’s other children were unharmed; two of them are still toddlers. They are now being looked after by the youth welfare office. The police are looking for clues and, above all, the motive for this crime.
The murder comes after a long spate of “honor killings” and revenge killings involving mostly Middle Eastern men and their wives in Germany. Many of the attacks have also occurred in the presence of children, often in large families.
Belgium’s coalition government has agreed upon a new measure to speed up the deportation of illegal foreign nationals held in prison, with Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt saying around 250 detainees could be removed in the near term under the tougher system.
The policy, ratified on Friday as part of the government’s response to prison overcrowding, gives the Immigration Office wider powers to begin deportation procedures earlier than before, according to reporting from RTL.
Under the new rules, removals can be initiated up to 12 months before the end of a sentence rather than six months, or once the necessary documents are in place, and the inmate has served one-third of the sentence.
Anyone deported under the measure will also be banned from re-entering Belgian territory.
Van Bossuyt presented the move as both a migration and public safety measure, saying the agreement would make it possible to remove illegal detainees more quickly and more efficiently while easing pressure on the prison system.
She insisted that the deportation of convicted illegal migrants is a top priority for the government and argued that the new approach would help deal with overcrowded jails.
The agreement could also see the capacity of detention centers increased. Four new centers are being planned in Steenokkerzeel, Jumet, Jabbeke, and Zandvliet, which together are expected to add 400 places.
Van Bossuyt said the government had already increased the pace of prisoner repatriations to the highest level in several years. She noted that repatriations rose significantly last year, compared to 2024.
“In 2025, the return of illegal criminals from prison rose by 25 percent. That is the highest level in seven years. In the short term, we will remove another 250 illegal detainees,” she wrote on X.
“Anyone staying in Belgium illegally and threatening our society must leave.”
An October 2025 report by The Brussels Times set out the scale of Belgium’s prison overcrowding crisis. The country holds more than 13,000 inmates despite having capacity for only around 11,000.
Citing Justice Ministry data, foreign nationals account for 43.8 percent of Belgium’s prison population, with 30.9 percent of all inmates lacking a valid residence permit. Within that group, 17.3 percent are both convicted and residing illegally in the country, and around 4,400 undocumented prisoners are currently in detention.
Berlin police have issued a stark warning that the capital’s escalating gun violence now feels like “Groundhog Day,” after another late-night shooting left a man injured in the Schöneberg district.
Officers were called to Eberstrasse shortly before midnight on Sunday after multiple shots were fired, to find a victim collapsed in the street. The suspects fled the scene, and a manhunt for the perpetrators is ongoing.
According to Bild, an eyewitness reported hearing four gunshots before seeing a man dressed in black run from the scene and enter a waiting BMW, which then sped away.
The victim is believed to be a German-Moroccan man. He was struck by at least one bullet and sustained a gunshot wound to the buttocks. Police said his injuries are not life-threatening.
Authorities have not yet established a motive.
Benjamin Jendro, spokesman for the Berlin police union (GdP), said the incident reflects a broader pattern of escalating gun violence.
“It’s like Groundhog Day,” he said. “Hardly a night goes by that someone doesn’t resort to a firearm.”
Jendro called for stronger measures to combat the trend, including expanded video surveillance, improved investigative technology, and action to curb illegal arms trafficking.
Authorities say the rise in shootings is increasingly linked to organized criminal networks, many with migrant backgrounds, that are expanding their operations in the city.
Investigations cited by broadcaster RBB’s Kontraste program point to a group known as the “Daltons,” a network with origins in Turkey that prosecutors believe is gaining a foothold in Berlin.
Around 200 investigations are currently underway in connection with the group and similar networks.
According to investigators, the group recruits asylum seekers, offering financial incentives before using them to carry out shootings, extortion, and other violent acts.
Businesses, particularly within the Turkish-Kurdish community, have been targeted with protection demands that can reach six-figure sums. Those who refuse have faced retaliatory attacks.
One supermarket chain was reportedly threatened with a €250,000 demand before two of its locations were shot at. In another case, a man was shot multiple times in the legs, while a bar in Kreuzberg was targeted with a hand grenade.
Berlin’s justice senator Felor Badenberg said the pattern amounts to systematic intimidation.
“We are seeing a surge in crimes against shop owners from the Turkish-Kurdish cultural sphere,” she said. “They are being pressured, intimidated, and in some cases, weapons are being used. The aim is to force them to pay protection money.”
Authorities believe tensions within Berlin’s criminal underworld have intensified following the death earlier this year of a prominent figure known as “Kurdish Mehmet,” whose influence had helped maintain a degree of stability.
“All hell is breaking loose in Berlin now,” one anonymous gang member told German media earlier this month. “Everyone wants to make a name for themselves.”
Berlin police president Barbara Slowik Meisel said the international dimension of these networks presents a significant challenge.
“We are dealing with structures that operate across several countries and recruit internationally,” she said.
An audio recording of a left-wing Hungarian journalist confirms that a serious secret service operation is underway against Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, reports Mandiner.
According to the portal, Mandiner received a mysterious email from a sender calling himself the Fourth Branch of Power. The letter and accompanying audio recording revealed that Szabolcs Panyi, a well-known anti-Orbán journalist who works for Direkt36 and VSquare, both funded from abroad, has connections with foreign secret services.
It is further indicated that Panyi would have access to the documents of a Foreign Ministry led by Anita Orbán (in the case of opposition Tisza party winning in April), and could make suggestions about who could work in the Foreign Ministry and who could not in the event of a change of government.
Most critically, the recording revealed that Panyi gave the phone number of Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó to the secret service of a European Union member state, which thus had the opportunity to monitor the Hungarian Foreign Minister’s telephone conversations.
The revelations come in the wake of an article in the American Washington Post that cited an internal report, as well as Western intelligence officials, indicating that Szijjártó regularly consulted with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during breaks from EU meetings, essentially allowing the Russian Foreign Ministry to immediately learn what was said there. The article also said that a unit of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SZVR) raised the idea of a staged assassination attempt against Viktor Orbán as a way to help him win the election in April, although there have already been news reports that say these claims appear to be fabricated and may stem from Polish secret services.
In a post on X, the government’s international spokesperson, Zoltán Kovács, quoted Prime Minister Orbán as having said: “We are dealing with two serious issues: there is evidence that Hungary’s Foreign Minister was wiretapped, and we also have indications of who may be behind it. This must be investigated immediately.”
🚨 @PM_ViktorOrban: We are dealing with two serious issues: there is evidence that Hungary’s Foreign Minister was wiretapped, and we also have indications of who may be behind it. This must be investigated immediately. pic.twitter.com/TVMzbzwi1d
Foreign influence has been a continuous concern in Hungary, as left-liberal actors have repeatedly sought to oust Orbán from power and install a leader more allegiant to Western policies, such as the war in Ukraine and LGBTQ+ ideologies.
In the last two years, approximately 20,000 people have lost their jobs in Poland’s furniture industry, and another furniture factory will close by the end of April. The news comes amidst continued economic concerns and a neighboring war.
Steinpol in Wołów, Lower Silesia, will cease furniture production by the end of April. The factory produces upholstered furniture, and now, 110 people will lose their jobs.
“The Wołów plant will be closed by the end of April for economic reasons,” said Anna Wosiak, Steinpol’s factory director, as quoted by the local “Kurier Gmin,” cited by Do Rzeczy. During its peak period, the company was one of the region’s major employers. The company’s headquarters is located in Rzepin, Lubusz Voivodeship.
The portal notes a report from Money.pl that this is just the latest example of a plant going bankrupt in a struggling industry. “This year, Zorka from Jelenia Góra, which produces for Ikea, has already made layoffs. Last year, the most publicized case was Black Red White, which announced 800 job cuts.”
“The situation in the industry has been difficult for a long time. Little has changed since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. In Europe, there’s no climate for purchasing goods that aren’t essential, and furniture isn’t,” comments Michał Strzelecki, director of the Polish Chamber of Commerce of Furniture Manufacturers. In the last two years, the industry has lost as many as 20,000 jobs. “Currently, there are approximately 140,000 jobs (in the industry – ed.), and together with micro-enterprises and sole proprietorships, there are approximately 180,000. At the peak around COVID, there were 210,000,” adds Strzelecki.
The industry, which is currently in increasing decline, was until recently considered a global champion. “In 2024, China was the leader in furniture exports, with a market share of 41.1 percent. The largest importer of furniture was the United States, with a 26.5 percent share of global imports. In 2024, Poland was the third largest furniture exporter in the world, with a 5.7 percent share, and the ninth largest importer, with a 2 percent share,” another report from PKO BP is quoted as saying.
Furniture companies are struggling with financial difficulties. Over 820 are in debt. “According to data from the BIG InfoMonitor Debtor Register and the BIK database, as of the end of January, the outstanding debt of companies in the furniture and carpentry industry increased by over PLN 10 million to approximately PLN 155 million. Meanwhile, the outstanding liabilities of furniture manufacturers amount to nearly PLN 381 million (an increase of PLN 45 million). Over the past 2-3 years, profitability in the industry has dropped to 4.5 percent,” DZ quotes Money.pl.
“This is a serious warning sign. There is no room for further reductions; we are no longer able to compete not only with products from Asia, but we are also losing out to Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, and Albania. A slight recovery occurred in 2025, but optimism evaporated due to a 15 percent increase in imports from China,” Strzelecki explains.
Data from the Ministry of Development and Technology confirms that Poland mainly exports furniture to Europe. “In 2023, Germany purchased Polish furniture worth €7.8 billion – 35 percent of its foreign sales and almost half of its furniture imports. Next in line were the Czech Republic (8.6 percent), France (7.1 percent), the Netherlands (5.5 percent), and the United Kingdom (5.2 percent). These countries account for three-quarters of exports, making the industry dependent on the European economy,” the government study noted.
The threats and interference keep coming from Ukraine, as Budapest faces parliamentary elections next month. Now, the commander of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army, Dmytro Yaros, who enjoys close ties to the Ukrainian government, called on Hungarian voters to vote for opposition leader Péter Magyar in order to “restore friendly relations with the Ukrainians.”
Dmytro Yaros also issued a death threat to Viktor Orbán in January, reports Magyar Nemzet. Yaros is close friends with the former head of the Ukrainian secret service, the SBU, and was an advisor to Valery Zaluzhnyi, who, as the Ukrainian Chief of Staff, allegedly gave the order to blow up the Nord Stream pipeline.
In his statement, Yaros added that a change of government “will be good for Hungary, it will be good for Ukraine and the nation states of Europe.” Ukraine has also said it would send observers to monitor the Hungarian election.
Ukraine has been aggressively pushing for Peter Magyar’s Tisza party to take power in Hungary, as that would eliminate Hungary’s veto in Brussels against weapons, money, and EU membership for Ukraine.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán just last week posted a video in which he stated that “Hungary will never be a Ukrainian colony. Zelensky does not command here!”
Meanwhile, Kyiv has still not opened the Friendship oil pipeline, while “knowing exactly that it is vital for Hungary and Slovakia,” he added, noting that this is Zelensky’s way of trying to create a crisis in Hungary just ahead of the April elections.
Orbán’s own family has come under threat, while the rhetoric out of leading figures in Kyiv has become increasingly violent. Earlier this month, a former SBU head said: ” “We will tear out your stinking tongue and throw it to the dogs. Your neo-Nazi blood will flow into the Danube faster than Moscow oil through the Friendship Pipeline.”
And just this past weekend, Magyar Nemzet also reported on a Facebook group post showing a target on Orbán’s head, with equally disturbing comments. According to screenshots published by the Firewall Group, several commenters made comments that were openly suggestive of violence, often extremely rude and unacceptable. For example, one commenter said: “Pull the trigger. The aim is good.”
One Tisza supporter talks of sending a Ukrainian sniper for Orbán, while another member of the group in question is an actual Békés County leader of the Tisza Party.
A mother in Lower Saxony who found a disturbing video on her daughter’s phone that revealed that she was gang raped inside a church-run youth center by three teens, including a Syrian, Iranian, and Dutch national, in Gnarrenburg. However, once the story came out, it only grew darker, as it was revealed that staff, church officials and local authorities subsequently did everything possible to bury the story.
This gang rape comes after national news reports revealed that a gang rape sexual assault occurred in another youth center in Berlin, but which was covered up because the assailants were Muslims and the youth center workers did not want to increase stigmatization.
In this latest case, the woman, 43, says she first suspected something was wrong when she found a disturbing video on her daughter’s phone. It showed a girl being pinned down by a boy, filmed from behind. Confronted with the footage, her daughter was defensive, saying she had “no idea” where the footage came from and claimed, “It’s not me!”
However, within days, the truth emerged in a WhatsApp message the girl sent to her mother: “Then they all did it to me and locked the door and turned on music so you wouldn’t hear anything.”
The assault is alleged to have taken place in an upper room of the youth center in Gnarrenburg. The facility is jointly run by the local Protestant church and the Gnarrenburg community.
Three suspects have been identified — a 16-year-old Dutch national who attends the vocational school across the street and is said to have lured the girl there via Snapchat, an 18-year-old Iranian with a substantial file at the youth welfare office, and a 15-year-old Syrian who, according to the mother, later claimed he was coerced into participating.
The supervisor on duty, a part-time church deacon, later claimed he heard nothing. When the girl showed him a pregnancy test in the days that followed, he neither contacted her parents nor the police, reportedly telling the family he was bound by a duty of confidentiality. Experts say no such obligation exists in cases of serious criminal conduct.
During the rape, other young people were reportedly cheering outside the locked door during the attack.
The story only became impossible to contain a week later, when recordings of the incident began circulating among local young people. The girl told her mother: “This video is going around everywhere. I was also approached by two girls at the outdoor pool that something had probably happened before.”
She ultimately documented her account across seven handwritten pages for police. The Stade public prosecutor’s office has confirmed to Bild newspaper that the case is a priority, though no outcome is expected for at least two months.
The mother says she has received no support from the church, the youth center, or the local administration. The mayor of Gnarrenburg was reportedly informed that boys had allegedly been arranging such encounters at his municipality’s youth center, yet was unavailable to speak with Bild.
“We’re fighting windmills,” said the mothers. “The congregation, the church, everyone remains dead silent, as if nothing had happened. Everyone carries on as if nothing happened. Only we as a family will never be able to forget it. It will always accompany us.”
Her decision to go public, she says, was driven by her daughter’s isolation.
“The story is all over the whole village and at the school. My daughter doesn’t go anywhere anymore. I want to give her a sign: you are not to blame.”
The mother continued, saying: “We simply want the alleged perpetrators to receive their just punishment, and most importantly, we want our daughter to be able to walk through the community with her head held high, without feeling ashamed or anything like that.”
The doors to the room where the assault allegedly took place have since been removed from their hinges. In a joint statement to Bild, the mayor and the superintendent of the Bremervörde-Zeven church district said the team had acted correctly at all times based on their knowledge at the time.
The center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has emerged as the largest party in the Rhineland-Palatinate German state election, securing 31 percent of the vote, in an election that saw a record surge for the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which climbed to 19.5 percent and more than doubled its previous support.
The election marks a historic setback for the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which fell to 25.9 percent — a drop of nearly 10 percentage points and its worst result in decades in the state. The outcome ends more than 30 years of Social Democratic dominance and reshapes the political balance in one of Germany’s key regions.
CDU state leader Gordon Schnieder is now in pole position to form a government, potentially replacing incumbent Minister-President Alexander Schweitzer. Declaring victory, Schnieder said, “The CDU in Rhineland-Palatinate is back! There will be no majority in the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament without the CDU,” adding that his party would push for changes in economic, education, healthcare, and security policy.
At the same time, the AfD’s result represents a significant breakthrough in western Germany, where the party has historically struggled to match its eastern strongholds.
Co-leader Alice Weidel welcomed the outcome, stating on X, “We have achieved a record result, the AfD in Rhineland-Palatinate achieved 20 percent in the state election, while in some districts they reached up to 48.4 percent. Congratulations to all campaigners and thank you to our voters!”
Ein Rekordergebnis, das sich den Hochrechnungen nach bestätigt – die AfD Rheinland-Pfalz erreicht 20% bei der Landtagswahl, während in einigen Wahlbezirken bis zu 48,4% erzielt werden konnten. Herzlichen Glückwunsch an alle Wahlkämpfer und Dank an unsere Wähler! pic.twitter.com/P4rpo4vsxv
Speaking later to broadcaster SWR, she added, “We have an increase of almost 12 percent. This is due to the great campaign work. The voters have chosen a center-right alliance. A center-right coalition would also be possible here without any problems. The parties decide against it.
“Accordingly, we will continue to do good opposition work, put our finger in the wound and point out the problems so that they are discussed, and this is also reflected in corresponding legislative initiatives. We want to make policy for the people in this country.”
🇩🇪 Germany's young voters are flocking to the AfD.
Rhineland-Palatinate couldn't be further away from the party's typical stomping ground in eastern German states, yet in this weekend's election, it doubled its vote share to record its best-ever result in the state.… pic.twitter.com/yxRseSY5Rd
The SPD now faces the prospect of losing the minister-presidency, though it has not ruled out entering a CDU-led coalition as a junior partner. This would mirror the current political situation at the federal level, where the Grand Coalition of CDU-SPD agreed to keep out the AfD, which is now the largest opposition party in the Bundestag.
SPD General Secretary Tim Klüssendorf acknowledged the scale of the defeat, saying, “We have to take the offensive,” while emphasizing the need to refocus on policies targeting the working middle class.
Elsewhere, the Greens declined to 7.9 percent, while the FDP collapsed to just 2.1 percent, eliminating it from parliament due to not meeting the 5 percent electoral threshold. Smaller parties, including the Free Voters at 4.2 percent and the Left Party at 4.4 percent, also missed out.
The result leaves no party close to an outright majority, making coalition negotiations inevitable and potentially complex.
Slovenia is heading toward complex and potentially prolonged coalition negotiations after partial results from its parliamentary election showed a razor-thin lead for the ruling Freedom Movement (Svoboda), led by liberal Prime Minister Robert Golob, with 28.62 percent of the vote after 99.8 percent of ballots were counted.
The opposition Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS), headed by populist Janez Janša, followed closely behind with 27.95 percent, leaving a margin of just a few thousand votes between the two main political blocs. With postal ballots from Slovenians abroad still to be counted, the final gap remains subject to change, and the “winner” of the election is not yet definitively settled.
According to the near-final results, a broad range of smaller parties is set to enter the 90-seat National Assembly. The joint list of NSi, SLS, and Fokus secured around 9.3 percent of the vote, positioning itself as a potentially influential centrist-conservative bloc. Meanwhile, the Social Democrats (SD) and the Democrats each garnered 6.7 percent, while Resni.ca reached 5.6 percent and the alliance of Levica and Vesna obtained 5.5 percent. All of these parties have cleared the 4 percent parliamentary threshold, ensuring their representation and likely giving them kingmaker roles in any coalition agreement.
Crucially, neither Svoboda nor SDS is capable of reaching the 46 seats required for a majority, even when factoring in their most natural coalition partners. Svoboda can reach around 40 seats, while Janša’s SDS can get to around 43. The arithmetic makes a stable government far from guaranteed and raises the prospect of drawn-out negotiations, minority governance, a fragile multi-party coalition, or, quite possibly, another election.
Golob declared victory late on Sunday and stated that his party would seek to move forward with forming the next government. Addressing supporters, he said, “We all placed our trust in one party, regardless of what we believe. We all deserve a future, and I am here right now to say that with this mandate, we will do everything to make that future better for all our citizens.” At the same time, he acknowledged the task ahead, noting that “we have difficult negotiations ahead.”
Svoboda’s support dropped significantly from the 2022 election, when it amassed 34.5 percent of the vote.
Janša, who was seeking a return to the premiership, warned that the election outcome would likely lead to even more of a divide in Slovenia, stating that “there will not be much political stability” in the period ahead. He also raised serious concerns about the integrity of the vote count, claiming that his party’s monitoring team had identified discrepancies of approximately 50,000 votes in favor of SDS. “I call upon those responsible at the national election commission, those who manage the computer program, to understand that I will recount every vote from all the polling stations if we organize ourselves accordingly,” he said during a television appearance.
The two main parties differed sharply on the vision they presented for Slovenia’s future. Under Golob’s leadership, the government has pursued a liberal, pro-European agenda centered on social reforms, environmental policies, and closer alignment with Brussels, including support for recognition of a Palestinian state.
Janša, however, has campaigned on a platform emphasizing economic liberalization through tax cuts, reduced public spending on NGOs, and a reorientation of Slovenia’s foreign policy. He has maintained close ties with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and has positioned himself as an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, advocating for a more sovereign and conservative direction for the country.
With just 5,753 votes currently separating Svoboda and SDS, even a relatively modest number of postal ballots from abroad could influence the final ranking. In the previous parliamentary election, more than 14,000 votes were cast from outside the country, suggesting that the remaining ballots could still carry weight in determining the final outcome.
Elsewhere, smaller parties are already reacting to the results. The right-wing Slovenian National Party (SNS), led by Zmago Jelinčič Plemeniti, failed to cross the parliamentary threshold after securing just 2.3 percent of the vote. Jelinčič warned that Slovenia could face serious challenges in the coming years and suggested that the country is “in bad shape.”
Voter turnout reached 69.32 percent, marking the second-highest participation rate since 2000.
Since mid-February, a total of six men, three Iraqis and three Syrians between the ages of 24 and 30, are on trial for a terrifying robbery of a jewelry store in the German city of Kassel.
The group is said to have worn horror clown masks while breaking into the home of a Turkish family who owned a jewelry store. Once they tied them up, they threatened and beat them before stealing gold, jewelry, and around €135,000 in cash. Five of the six defendants are facing trial for a series of severe charges, including joint aggravated robbery, extortion, and conspiracy to commit burglary. One defendant is also facing a separate charge for possession of child pornography.
According to the prosecution, the group targeted the home of a 58-year-old jeweler in a highly organized attack. Investigators state that several members of the group broke into the residence, where they bound and gagged the jeweler’s wife and other relatives.
When the jeweler arrived home, he was allegedly held at gunpoint while the perpetrators demanded the keys to his shop. While some members of the group stayed behind to guard the hostages, others drove to Kassel city center, where they looted jewelry, gold, and approximately €135,000 in cash.
Prosecutor Andreas Thöne noted during Monday’s proceedings that the group was meticulously prepared. The defendants reportedly wore masks and carried cable ties to restrain their victims. They also utilized two “deceptively real” Airsoft weapons to threaten the victims.
The victims were gagged and bound for a long period of time and systematically beaten, including facial bruising, skull hematomas, and lacerations.
During the trial, the victim’s lawyer described how the Turkish family had saved money and worked hard for years to open their own store. The wife of the owner took care of mentally disabled relatives.
However, the robbery has shattered their lives, and the Turkish man lost his shop since he had never bought an insurance policy. He still has an outstanding loan of €90,000, which he has to repay. The couple, along with their mentally disabled relatives who were present, all suffer psychological consequences to this day. The family has since sold the house and left town due to the terror they experienced.
One suspect determined to have “diminished responsibility”
Although four defendants regularly consumed alcohol and illegal drugs, the expert witness, a doctor, stated that only one suspect had “diminished responsibility.”
“Everyone had a difficult childhood. But there are major differences in what the consequences of this can be,“ stated Dr. Peter Reinhold-Hildenhagen, a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy, before the 11th Criminal Chamber of the Kassel District Court as he submitted his report.
He was speaking about four defendants whom he had to examine more closely during the trial. The expert reports deal with the question of whether the defendants can be assumed to have diminished responsibility and whether placement in a withdrawal facility is an option.
Four of the defendants involved in this raid had stated that they regularly consumed drugs and alcohol. Therefore, the criminal chamber had appointed the expert shortly after the start of the trial.
In the end, the expert concluded that all four men had been addicted to narcotics in various forms before committing the crimes, according to German newspaper HNA. However, only the 30-year-old Iraqi was determined to have “diminished capacity,” which means the psychiatrist believes he is not as responsible for his actions as the others.
“What distinguishes this defendant from the others?“ asked Prosecutor Janne Wißing.
According to Reinhold-Hildenhagen, the 30-year-old had not only consumed more drugs than the other defendants after a relapse, but he had also been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and post-traumatic embitterment disorder. Reinhold-Hildenhagen claimed this latter disorder is often found among refugees due to “extremely unjust” and “humiliating” experiences.
The expert stated that the men all experienced war and poverty. The 30-year-old Iraqi stated that he was regularly beaten by his father. At 16, he left his parental home for Baghdad. In 2018, he left for Europe, stopping in Istanbul and Athens.
After three asylum applications were rejected in Greece, he obtained false papers to get to Germany, and remained abstinent for two years.
Eventually, his asylum application was also rejected in Germany, but once he started training as a geriatric nurse, his deportation was halted.
It was, however, not long before personal problems and money worries led him to relapse in December 2024, one month before the robbery of the jeweler and his family.
Falk Werhahn, defense attorney for a 30-year-old Iraqi, claimed his client “could have become a model example of integration.” Werhahn said he had learned the language very well and was a favorite of his patients.
A new group, calling itself the Earthquake Faction, has attacked an Israeli arms industry logistics center in Pardubice, Czech Republic. The group even posted footage of the incident on Telegram, with it going viral on social media.
The video shows masked perpetrators entering various parts of the factory and setting equipment on fire. No injuries were reported, according to Echo24, but the attack is being investigated as a terrorist incident.
The fire was set in an area housing various companies, including the Czech company LPP Holding. This company had announced several years ago that it wanted to produce and develop drones in Pardubice together with the Israeli company Elbit Systems. LPP Holding has been vocal in its support of Israel and its attacks in Gaza.
NOTICIA DE ÚLTIMA HORA: Un nuevo grupo, llamado Facción Earthquake, ha atacado un centro logístico de la industria armamentística israelí en la República Checa, 👇
La Facción Earthquake intervino para destruir su equipamiento e incendiar la fábrica. No hubo heridos. pic.twitter.com/fOyp9xHITa
Interior Minister Lubomír Metnar has convened a crisis team to investigate the attack. The case is being investigated as a suspected terrorist act by the National Center for Combating Terrorism, Extremism and Cybercrime (NCTEKK) and the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office in Prague.
According to one account on X, the fire was the launch event for Earthquake Faction to destroy a “site built to ‘service the global expansion of Israel’s biggest weapons producer.’”
BREAKING: 'The Earthquake Faction' launches by setting ablaze Elbit's Israeli weapons manufacturing centre in the Czech Republic.
The site was built to "service the global expansion of Israel's biggest weapons producer".
Law and Justice (PiS) councilor Lidia B. from Proszowice was placed in pre-trial detention in mid-2025 over accusations that she had abused her husband. She has now been released since early March but is banned from contact with her husband and must leave her home.
Her arrest stemmed from earlier incidents, including one where the PiS councilor allegedly attacked her husband with a knife, wounding him in the thigh. She denied any wrongdoing, but conceded that she and her husband had a dispute.
Investigators claim that this was not an accident and that Lidia B. had been mentally, physically, and emotionally abusing her husband for at least five years via verbal threats, pushing, and shoving. She faces up to five years in prison for these acts if found guilty.
Last August, the Onet news portal reported that PiS politicians were distancing themselves from the case. Stanisław Mierzwa, the head of the party’s Proszowice branch, told Radio Kraków that it was a “marital, family matter.”
“There is no option but to suspend him until these actions are proven. I can only express my condolences to the family, as I do not approve of resorting to physical violence,” commented Ryszard Pagacz, deputy marshal of the PiS voivodeship.
Following the court’s decision not to extend her pre-trial detention, the councilor was placed under other preventive measures. These included police supervision, a restraining order prohibiting her from contacting the victim, and an order to move out of the apartment they share.
Prosecutor Oliwia Bożek-Michalec explained in an interview with Radio ZET that these measures result from the fact that there is a probability that Lidia B., once free, will continue to abuse her husband and that she will commit another crime.
At the recent EU summit in Brussels, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stood firm on his decision to block billions of euros in financial aid to Ukraine, citing his legal authority to do so despite fierce backlash from European leaders.
Orbán addressed the friction at the summit while speaking to Hungarian journalists on Thursday night, acknowledging that “there was a little stuttering in the gears.“
Despite Orbán’s legal use of his veto right, the EU once again appears to be disregarding all rule of law and will reportedly find a “back door” means to provide Ukraine with the €90 billion loan.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said early on Friday to reporters that the EU “will deliver one way or the other.”
Orbán remained defiant regarding his use of the veto, asserting that “the legal situation is quite clear, we have the right to do so.“ Although the Hungarian head of government had initially approved the support loan during the December summit, he has since reversed his position. Orbán now alleges that Ukraine arbitrarily “turned off“ the Druzhba oil pipeline — a vital oil and energy artery for Hungary and Slovakia, which remain the only EU nations still receiving direct shipments of Russian oil, as they have been exempted due to issues they face with alternative routes.
Notably, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky threatened Orbán’s life earlier this month, saying that either he delivers the €90 billion, or “otherwise, we will give this person’s address to our armed forces, and then they will call him and speak to him in their own language.”
While Kyiv maintains that the pipeline was severely damaged by a Russian missile attack in late January and requires time for repairs, Orbán has signaled he will not abandon his blockade until the flow of Russian oil into Hungary is restored and guarantees against any similar shutdown in the future are made. So far, Ukraine has blocked EU technicians from inspecting the pipeline, which is a serious suggestion that Ukraine is withholding oil at a pivotal moment before Hungarian elections.
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico also criticized Ukraine for refusing repeated requests to inspect the site. According to Fico, Slovakia first attempted to send its ambassador to the location but was denied access. Requests from the European Union’s ambassador to Ukraine and proposals for a joint inspection team were also rejected.
“What is President Zelensky afraid of, the truth?” Fico asked.
Orbán’s political director, Balázs Orbán, also weighed in on the dispute in a post on X, citing reporting by the Financial Times and arguing that Hungary’s warnings about the pipeline had been vindicated.
“While the Brussels elite lined up behind Kyiv and dismissed Hungary’s warnings, the facts now emerging, including in the Financial Times, confirm it: the Druzhba shutdown is political blackmail, not technical damage,” he wrote.
Balázs Orbán said Ukrainian pipeline operators had previously indicated to Hungary’s MOL energy company that there were no operational obstacles to oil flows and noted that shipments had continued briefly earlier this year following a strike and fire near the pipeline.
“Satellite imagery shows the infrastructure is not damaged to the extent claimed and remains capable of operation,” he wrote, echoing Fico’s concerns that inspection requests from Hungary, Slovakia, and EU officials had been refused.
EU is furious
Orbán’s refusal to provide a loan to Kyiv drew a sharp rebuke from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who characterized Orbán’s behavior at the summit as an “act of gross disloyalty“ that would have consequences.
Orbán appeared unmoved by the Chancellor’s warning or the broader criticism from other EU heads of state. Reflecting on the confrontation, he told journalists, “They threatened a little, then they realized that it didn’t work.”
The atmosphere in Brussels was reportedly one of unprecedented hostility toward the Hungarian leader. EU Council President António Costa described Orbán’s actions as “unacceptable“ and a direct violation of cooperation principles. According to reports from Politico, diplomats noted that a head of government had never before “crossed this red line,“ with one source remarking that “almost everyone in the room attacked Orbán hard.”
A major joint operation between the Warmia-Masuria Police and the Border Guard has successfully dismantled an organized criminal group mediating the illegal employment of foreigners across Poland. This extensive investigation, which began at the turn of 2025 and 2026, has resulted in the detention of six individuals and administrative proceedings against over a hundred foreign workers.
Inspector Mirosław Elszkowski, provincial police commander, emphasized the scale of the bust, stating it is “an unprecedented case in the region.” He detailed the outcome of the raids.
The case originated when officers from the District Police Headquarters in Iława identified potential irregularities in a local company acting as a recruitment intermediary. Preliminary findings suggested the operation was a front for a sophisticated fraud scheme.
The group allegedly provided foreigners – primarily from Colombia – with forged medical certificates and false documents confirming their status as students at universities in Gdańsk and Warsaw. These forged papers allowed employers to bypass strict labor regulations, creating a facade of legal employment, according to police.
As Brigadier General Daniel Wojtaszkiewicz, commander of the Border Guard in the Warmia-Masuria region, noted: “They were mainly Colombians, Cubans, Venezuelans, Guatemalans, Moldovans or Ukrainians. Foreigners holding a false certificate of entry into studies. At the time of their acquisition, they were not on Polish territory. They worked in workplaces in the voivodeship.”
On Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2026, a massive coordinated strike was launched across three voivodeships. The operation involved the Provincial Police Headquarters in Olsztyn, counter-terrorism units, the Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime, and the Human Trafficking Department.
“We detained six people across three voivodeships. Four were remanded into custody, and two were placed under supervision. The whole procedure consisted of entrepreneurs from the Iława district achieving the goal of employing foreigners in workplaces based on false certificates,” Inspector Mirosław Elszkowski said.
During the searches of dozens of residential and business premises, officers seized laptops, phones, data carriers, and approximately PLN 150,000 in various currencies.
The Border Guard inspected nearly 200 foreigners, including citizens of Colombia, Venezuela, Guatemala, Peru, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Moldova, and Ukraine. The results were stark: 105 foreigners were found to be working without the required permits, and three Colombian citizens were found to be staying in Poland without any legal documentation.
Administrative proceedings have now been initiated to oblige these individuals to return to their countries of origin.
Legal actions
The six detainees, aged 21 to 49, face serious charges including participation in an organized criminal group, document forgery, and facilitating illegal stays. Under Polish law, simply participating in a criminal group carries a penalty of six months to eight years in prison.
At the request of the District Prosecutor in Iława, the court has placed four suspects under temporary arrest for three months, while two others remain under police supervision. Authorities have signaled that the case is still developing and “further arrests are possible.”
An IBRiS survey, commissioned by “Rzeczpospolita,” asked the question: “Should Polish soldiers take part in the conflict in the Middle East if the United States asks us to do so?”
Nearly 85 percent (84.7) of respondents expressed opposition to such a decision, with 61.4 percent indicating “definitely not” and 23.3 percent indicating “probably not.”
Only 11 percent of respondents supported sending Polish soldiers to war, with 1.5 percent answering “definitely yes” and 9.5 percent answering “rather yes.” Another 4.4 percent expressed no opinion on the matter.
“Among the group of supporters of the government coalition, as many as 89 percent oppose such a possibility, and among opposition voters (PiS, Razem, Konfederacja) even slightly more – 92 percent, and among Grzegorz Braun’s Confederation of the Polish Crown – 93 percent,” the daily reads, as cited by Do Rzeczy.
U.S. President Trump has failed to rally military support from Europe to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while, as to sending American troops, he has so far indicated this would not happen, although there have been mixed signals, especially as the operation to reopen Hormuz escalates.
“If I were, I certainly wouldn’t tell you, but I’m not sending troops,” Time quoted Trump as saying.
At the same time, yesterday, several European nations and Japan produced a joint statement saying they would take steps to stabilize energy markets and “readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the [Hormuz] Strait.”
Whether these countries will now send military support is unclear, however, polling has shown opposition to the war from the European public. Nevertheless, European and Asian governments are under extreme pressure to stabilize energy markets.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, quoted by Reuters, has told press that “factories producing components for the production of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons that Iran is trying to produce” are currently being destroyed.
He noted that Israeli-American forces are “winning” the war in the Middle East, and Iran is “being decimated.” Netanyahu pointed out that after 20 days of conducting airstrikes, Tehran “no longer has the capacity to enrich uranium or produce ballistic missiles.” However, he provided no evidence to support this claim.
Several members of an Egyptian migrant gang have been arrested in Turin after allegedly carrying out a series of violent street robberies and posting videos of their crimes on social media.
Italian State Police confirmed that four suspects, all of Egyptian origin, were taken into custody following an investigation into multiple attacks in the city’s nightlife areas and central districts.
As reported by Imola Oggi, the arrests, ordered by an investigating judge, relate to three separate incidents in locations including the Sambuy Gardens and near Valentino Park.
According to investigators, the group targeted victims in the street, approaching them suddenly and working together to overpower them. Victims were reportedly threatened with knives and sprayed with pepper spray before having gold necklaces forcibly taken.
Similar incidents have been reported in other Italian cities, as seen in the footage below from Milan.
🇮🇹🔴A 26-year-old Egyptian migrant stalked, attacked, and robbed three elderly women in broad daylight in Milan.
The suspect, who is in Italy illegally, has been arrested.
Police say one of the suspects is believed to be the leader of the group and had previously been detained for similar offenses.
A key element in the case was the suspects’ use of social media. Authorities say the group filmed their robberies and later uploaded the footage online, including on TikTok, where they allegedly showed off stolen items as “trophies.”
A combination of video surveillance and the suspects’ own social media posts was used to identify those involved and build a case against them.
All four now face charges related to aggravated robbery and assault.
Last month, La Stampa reported on one incident in which the gang targeted the home of an 89-year-old woman, and one member could be heard on a TikTok Live saying, “Give me the money, you son of a bitch. Where’s the money? I swear I’ll kill you, you bitch,” before pressing a gun against the temple of the elderly woman as she sat in her bed.
The victim’s daughter, who had also been at the property and was herself attacked, told the newspaper, “What do I remember about them? They were very young. North Africans. I was struck by the fact that one of them, the one holding the gun, was holding his cell phone in his other hand the whole time. It looked like he was trying to take pictures.”
A father has been sentenced to eight years in prison by the Landshut Regional Court after attempting to murder his young daughter by feeding her a homemade capsule laced with mouse poison. The father was accused of trying to kill his daughter to avoid paying child support.
The court found it proven that the man had wrapped a lethal dose of rodenticide in plastic film and gave it to the three-year-old girl to swallow before returning her to her mother. Judges determined that the amount of poison contained in the seal corresponded precisely to a fatal dose for a child of that age — a detail that weighed heavily in the verdict.
Inside the apartment, the girl managed to vomit up the capsule; otherwise, she may have lost her life. The most critical piece of evidence was the presence of the defendant’s DNA on the inside of the capsule, according to Bild.
The defense had attempted to shift blame onto the girl’s mother, arguing she had fabricated the entire incident and planted the capsule in the child’s vomit to frame the father. The presiding judge dismissed the theory outright, stating: “If the mother had staged the incident, she would have had to obtain vomit with appropriate contents — chicken with fries — or make the child vomit.”
The girl’s own account further corroborated the court’s findings. In one telling instance, she spontaneously told a kindergarten teacher that her father had put something in her mouth and that she had subsequently ended up in the hospital, a statement the court deemed credible.
The chamber had no doubt that the defendant intended to kill the child. The court noted the girl’s survival was purely a matter of chance. The defendant reportedly used aluminum phosphide, which can be purchased over the counter and is used to control voles and mice. The prosecutors indicated that the man conducted research on poisons for weeks and various insidious methods to kill.
Alongside the attempted murder conviction, the court also found the defendant guilty of grievous bodily harm and mistreatment of a ward. The verdict is not yet final. Prosecutors had sought a nine-year sentence and called for a preventive detention reservation; the defense had argued for full acquittal.
Spain is facing mounting concern over the long-term consequences of years of large-scale Moroccan migration, as warnings grow that a sizable and increasingly organized community could begin to exert coordinated political influence.
Official figures cited by La Región show that nearly 900,000 Moroccan nationals were living in Spain in 2024, making them the largest Muslim group in the country. More than 226,000 are concentrated in Catalonia, with numbers continuing to rise sharply.
What is now causing alarm is not just the scale, but the potential for political mobilization.
The Spanish news outlet referenced a 2023 speech by Enaam Mayara, then-president of the Moroccan parliament’s upper chamber, in which he openly called on Moroccans living in Spain to enter politics, join parties, and take part in elections. His goal was clear: to build influence inside Spanish institutions and defend Moroccan national interests from within.
“The community in our northern neighbor should be encouraged to participate in that country’s political process,” Mayara said. “Members of the Moroccan community should be encouraged to become members of parliament in the country of their nationality in order to defend the interests of their homeland whenever necessary.”
“The Moroccan community must integrate into Spanish political parties to form a lobby that defends Morocco,” he added.
The comments sparked fears that what began as migration could evolve into coordinated political leverage.
More recently, Morocco has moved to strengthen its grip on diaspora identity through education.
Earlier this month, in response to the suspension of the Arabic language and Moroccan culture program in the Spanish regions of Madrid and Murcia, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita called for reforms to overseas teaching programs that could trigger a “qualitative transformation” in how Arabic language and Moroccan culture are taught to children living abroad.
The changes will place greater responsibility for diaspora education under a new institutional structure, with a focus on expanding cultural and linguistic ties between Morocco and its citizens overseas.
The push comes as Moroccan-funded programs are already deeply embedded in Spain’s education system. Hundreds of schools across the country offer Arabic language and Moroccan culture classes financed by Rabat, with teachers selected and paid by Moroccan authorities.
La Región notes that the Arabic Language and Moroccan Culture Teaching Program (PLACM) is already being implemented in 12 autonomous communities, with the most participating schools being in Catalonia at 125 institutions. This is followed by Andalusia with 96, and Madrid with 70.
The combination of expanding state-backed education and political messaging raises serious questions about long-term integration, and whether future generations will be shaped as much by Moroccan institutions as by Spanish society.
A German court has uncovered what it describes as a coordinated scheme in which Turkish asylum seekers obtain fabricated criminal cases to strengthen claims of political persecution and avoid deportation.
In a recent ruling, the Gelsenkirchen Administrative Court detailed how official-looking legal documents are allegedly being used to create the appearance of state prosecution. Judges concluded that such cases, when artificially constructed, do not meet the threshold for asylum.
As reported by German outlet Apollo News, the case centered on a Turkish applicant who claimed he had been targeted for political reasons, citing his Kurdish background, opposition ties, and alleged abuse by authorities. But German officials found major inconsistencies in his account.
In an attempt to support his claim, the man later submitted extracts from Turkey’s national judicial database showing charges for insulting the president and spreading terrorist propaganda. However, the posts cited in the case were dated after he had already arrived in Germany, raising immediate doubts.
Expert analysis presented to the court pointed to a wider pattern. According to the findings, a structured underground market has emerged in which individuals can obtain customized indictments and legal files designed to appear authentic within Turkey’s judicial system.
These documents often carry official case numbers and registration, but lack any real investigative process or follow-up prosecution. Courts concluded that such “purchased persecution” does not constitute a genuine risk upon return.
The ruling also aligns with mounting evidence from outside Germany that the practice has been developing for years.
On social media platforms, particularly TikTok, accounts have openly advertised services offering asylum seekers ready-made legal files. These include arrest warrants, police statements, and medical reports, all presented as officially registered in Turkey’s judicial system.
“We prepare asylum files for all countries, approved by UYAP”
(UYAP = Turkey’s official judicial system)
Arrest warrant
Assault report
House raid
Forced summons order
HDP membership document
HDP membership card
Police statement record
Psychological medication report
Military draft evasion document
Contact: Just follow and send a message
One such advertisement from 2024 explicitly offered “asylum files for all countries,” listing documents such as arrest warrants, police interrogation records, and political party membership papers, while inviting users to make contact privately.
The existence of such offers suggests that the production of tailored legal cases is not an isolated phenomenon in Germany, but part of a broader and increasingly visible marketplace.
Earlier reporting from Switzerland also pointed to the same pattern. In 2023, a recognized refugee from Turkey, identified as Ayaz, told Swiss media that fellow nationals had asked him to connect them with Turkish judicial officials to obtain forged arrest warrants.
According to the report by 20min, these individuals intended to use the documents to present themselves as political refugees, despite having primarily economic motivations. Although Ayaz refused, he later learned that others had succeeded through different channels and were ultimately granted asylum in Switzerland.
The German court’s findings now add judicial weight to those earlier warnings.
Unsurprisingly, the applicant’s claim in the German case was rejected.
With tensions soaring in the Middle East, the price of Brent crude oil exceeded $118 per barrel on Thursday, while natural gas prices in Europe jumped 35 percent. There are now worries prices will only soar higher as the war escalates.
Brent crude prices jumped over 10 percent after news broke of Iran’s attacks on Qatar’s energy plants and other strikes on Wednesday, but European natural gas prices jumped even higher.
Qatar’s energy plants are vital for Europe’s natural gas supply, especially after sanctions were placed on Russian natural gas. The Dutch TTF natural gas contract, considered the European benchmark, jumped to €74 before falling back to €62, representing a 35 percent increase. This is still well below the prices that were seen when the war first broke out between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, but Bloomberg business reporter Stephen Stapczynski wrote on X that natural gas prices could still go higher.
“European gas prices surge 30% after Qatar said the world’s largest LNG export plant was damaged in an Iranian attack (Still TTF futures are far from the record highs of 2022). But the longer Qatar LNG remains offline, the higher prices will go,” he wrote.
Zooming out — can see scale of the impact of Ukraine invasion and losing Russian gas
Overall, Brent crude futures have jumped 50 percent since the war began on Feb. 28, which are tied to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces, where approximately 20 percent of the world’s energy supplies transit, along with other key sources vital for fertilizer production, manufacturing, and even chipmaking.
After Israel struck the South Pars natural gas field this week, energy markets reacted swiftly to the news yesterday. Iran has responded by expanding strikes on U.S.-linked oil facilities in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.
Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, which features the world’s largest liquefied natural gas plant designed for export, was hit with “extensive damage” after Iran hit the facility. Two oil refineries in Kuwait were also set ablaze by drone attacks. Saudi Arabia suffered minimal damage from a strike on its refinery near the Red Sea.
In a Truth Social post, Donald Trump denied that the U.S. was involved in the South Pars attack, saying Israel conducted this attack without the U.S.’s knowledge. However, he said any additional Iranian strikes on Qatar’s LNG facilities would lead the U.S. to “massively blow up the entirety” of the South Pars field, another move that would likely send global energy prices soaring.
A number of commentators usually aligned with Trump, such as Tim Pool, are now lashing out at the president, signaling growing dissent within the right.
The economic impact of immigration from crisis-affected regions across Nordic countries is estimated to reach hundreds of billions of euros, leading to a public dialogue regarding remigration as a potential strategy for cost reduction.
Recent data emerging from Scandinavia, specifically from the Danish Ministry of Finance and analyzed by the White Papers Policy Institute, suggests that certain migrant groups represent a significant annual net expense for the state. These statistics, adjusted for inflation to a 2025 price level, indicate that individuals from specific conflict zones incur particularly high yearly expenditures.
“The financial consequences of mass immigration. The White Paper Policy Institute also refers to the costs for Somalis in this context and concludes that Sweden will spend approximately 117.3 billion euros on the 102,000 Somalis living in Sweden over the next 50 years,’ the MEP wrote on X.
Die finanziellen Folgen der Massenzuwanderung: "Das White Paper Policy Institute verweist dabei auch auf die Kosten für Somalier und kommt zu dem Schluss, dass etwa Schweden in den nächsten 50 Jahren 117,3 Milliarden Euro für die 102.000 in Schweden lebenden Somalier ausgeben… pic.twitter.com/wxIiTXGTmU
The data identified Somalia as having the highest impact, with annual costs reaching approximately €23,000 per person. This is followed by Syria and Lebanon at €19,000 each, Iraq at €18,000, Afghanistan at €15,000, and Eritrea at €13,000. Negative fiscal figures are also associated with origin countries such as Morocco at €11,000 and Turkey at €8,000. Even groups with comparatively lower financial impacts, such as those from Vietnam and North Macedonia, still result in net annual costs to the government budget.
Nordic welfare states are spending €23,000 a year on each Somali they are hosting.
This means that over the next 50 years Sweden will spend €117.3 billion on the 102,000 Somalis who live there.
Deporting the 46,000 without citizenship would save €53 billion.
— White Papers Policy Institute (@WhitePapersPol) March 8, 2026
The long-term implications for national finances are substantial when these figures are projected over several decades. For instance, the White Papers Policy Institute estimates that Sweden could spend €117.3 billion over the next 50 years to support its population of 102,000 Somalis.
In light of these projections, specific scenarios involving remigration have been proposed as fiscally responsible measures. One such scenario suggests that deporting 46,000 individuals without citizenship could save the state €53 billion. Furthermore, offering a departure incentive of €100,000 to each of the 56,000 individuals holding citizenship is projected to result in an additional saving of €58.7 billion.
In France, migration costs the state approximately €25 billion a year and many migrants remain unemployed even after years, said French author and academic Jean-Paul Gourévitch in 2021.
Employment data shows that it is a myth that immigration to France has economic benefits, Gourévitch said in an interview with Radio Sud.
“I have studied this topic extensively, and today everyone in France, from the left to the right, agrees that immigration costs more than it brings in,” Gourévitch said. “There is a major difference between left and right (oriented) economists regarding the costs: the leftist economists say the deficit is six to ten billion [euros per year], while those on the right say it is 40 to 44 billion. My own scientific research shows that the deficit is 20 to 25 billion [euros].”
The costs in Germany are also enormous, which pokes a major hole in the claims that newcomers will help pay for German pensions and help fill demand from German industry, which is desperately searching for skilled workers. In fact, the data shows that the German state spent €48.2 billion on migrants, including social housing, medical costs, education, integration courses, and other expenses, such as border security.
Temporary restrictions will be introduced in Slovakia on the amount of diesel fuel that can be occasionally refueled and on its export, and different price levels will be set for Slovak and foreign cars, Prime Minister Robert Fico announced after the government meeting in Bratislava on Wednesday.
The cabinet adopted the decision on Wednesday, reports Hirado, in connection with the oil emergency introduced in the country a few weeks ago. The move is also in response to official statements that supply problems have arisen in the northern regions of the country due to significant fuel shopping tourism by Poles.
“A situation has arisen where dozens of gas stations in the north of Slovakia have literally dried up because prices are significantly lower compared to Poland. (…) This has resulted in instability, and that is why we have made the decision on restrictions, which is relatively extreme, but there is probably no other solution in this situation, when Mr. Zelensky is so helpful to us,” Robert Fico said in connection with the decision, as quoted by the Slovak public service news agency TASR.
Poland itself has also faced fuel tourism by Germany, with one mayor warning that Germans crossing the border to fill up their tanks are causing shortages.
Robert Fico also announced that he will not vote on the resolution concerning Ukraine at the EU summit starting in Brussels on Thursday, as it will likely omit the mention of the urgent need to resolve the problems related to the Friendship (Druzhba) oil pipeline.
The Slovakian government introduced an oil emergency in February, after the supply of oil through the Friendship pipeline was halted in January, which the Ukrainian side has refused to restart since then, although Slovak and Hungarian experts believe that the supply is technically possible. Following the introduction of the oil emergency, the country’s state reserve fund began to meet the needs of the Bratislava oil refinery.
The cornerstone of the diesel fuel restriction is that, once it is introduced, its export from the country will be restricted, and at gas stations, people will only be allowed to refuel their car’s fuel tank, plus a maximum 10-liter tank.
Under the measure, gas stations will apply different price levels for diesel for cars registered in Slovakia and abroad. In the case of the latter, the price of diesel will be calculated from the current average of Austrian, Czech and Polish prices.
According to the government, the restriction on diesel fuel will come into effect after the resolution is published in the legislative body, which is likely to be on Thursday or Friday, and will be in effect for 30 days, with the cabinet considering the possibility of extending the measure.
A 22-year-old Moroccan asylum seeker accused of a brutal assault and attempted rape in Rotterdam is now facing further charges, including attempted manslaughter and a second attempted rape, according to Dutch prosecutors.
The incidents have triggered a further review into the accommodation of “safe country nationals” in asylum centers in the Dutch city.
The suspect had been staying at an asylum facility in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht at the time of the attacks. Prosecutors allege that the Moroccan national confronted a couple walking through the Schoterboshof area of the city in the early hours of Feb. 27. He beat a 22-year-old man and then attempted to sexually assault a 24-year-old woman.
Two hours later, the same suspect is believed to have targeted a 19-year-old student in the Schiebroek district. She had been heading home when she was grabbed by an assailant who threatened her with a knife. She was assaulted, and the man attempted to rape her.
Her screams awoke a nearby resident, who shouted at the attacker, causing him to flee.
The suspect appeared before a Rotterdam court this week, where judges ordered his continued detention for a further 90 days while the investigation proceeds.
The case has sparked significant concern in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, where the migrant had been housed on the asylum ship Bellriva.
According to De Telegraaf, in the aftermath of the attacks, local authorities moved to suspend discussions on expanding long-term asylum accommodation in the municipality. Officials have demanded greater clarity over the intake of asylum seekers from countries considered safe, noting that such applicants typically have little chance of being granted protection.
Municipal leaders have also criticized a lack of communication from the national asylum agency regarding who is being housed locally, warning that public confidence in the asylum system risks being undermined if safety concerns are not addressed.
These attacks are not isolated incidents. In January, a woman who survived a violent attempted rape by a Somali migrant in Amsterdam left the courtroom in tears after judges refused to convict her attacker of attempted murder or manslaughter, despite evidence that she was strangled for several minutes and repeatedly threatened with death.
When her attacker received a prison sentence of just three and a half years, the victim became visibly distressed and shouted at the sentencing judge, “I can’t do this. I can’t do this anymore! What you are saying isn’t true! I was strangled, very long and very hard.”
The presiding judge replied, “We concur with that assessment,” to which the woman responded, “I don’t hear you concur.”
Last month, a Nigerian asylum seeker accused of murdering 17-year-old Lisa in Amsterdam confessed to the killing and to multiple sexual assaults.
Lisa was killed in the early hours of Aug. 20 last year while cycling home from central Amsterdam. Prosecutors say CCTV footage shows the Nigerian, who called himself “Chris Jude,” following her route from Spaklerweg before remaining near the scene on Holterbergweg, where she was forced off her bike into the grass and fatally attacked.
Investigators traced the suspect to a nearby asylum reception center, where he had been staying for only a few weeks.
Six Ukrainian citizens and one American have been arrested in India, accused of preparing terrorist attacks: according to authorities, they smuggled drone shipments from Ukraine to armed groups in Myanmar, writes Mandiner, citing the Indian Express.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry immediately came to the perpetrators’ defense and demanded consular access to the detainees, as was also the case when Ukrainians were detained in Hungary transporting a convoy of cash and gold worth nearly €80 million.
The question, as with the convoy, is whether the accused acted on their own initiative and obtained the drones, or whether the Ukrainian authorities were also involved.
“Collection of evidence, unravelling of criminal conspiracy, identification of accomplices and analysis of mobile data of the accused are aspects that justify remanding the accused in police custody,” observed Additional Judge Prashant Sharma of Patiala House Court in his order.
India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) says the group was helping “ethnic armed groups” in their plans for terror strikes and warned of “cross-border threats.”
Specifically, the NIA stated the group was illegally ‘importing huge consignments of drones from Europe to Myanmar via India.”
Hungary is conducting its own investigation into the source of the more than €75 million it seized from the convoy, involving current and former Ukrainian military members. Given the cases of corruption swirling around Ukrainian President Zelensky, Budapest is also looking into where the money was headed, if any organized crime is involved, and if the funds were meant to fund the opposition here in Hungary or for Zelensky personally.
With this new case in India, PM Orbán, who has been directly threatened by Zelensky, and his government, will certainly want to look into any sort of planned terrorist activities in Hungary as well.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Facebook page is reportedly restricted and has seen a drastic drop in engagement, according to X influencer Mario Nawfal. Nawfal says that a former Meta employee now working for the Tisza opposition called for users to mass report Orbán’s content, which may account for the drop in engagement on the highly influential platform.
“As Hungary heads toward a crucial April election, Facebook is reportedly restricting posts from the country’s Prime Minister. The move followed a call by an opposition party (Tisza Party) member, a former Meta employee, urging supporters to mass-report his content,” wrote Nawfal.
Nawfal further stated that Tisza leader Péter Magyar has seen a surge in engagement, even outperforming world leaders from much larger countries. In addition, Magyar has been given a key advantage in the manner in which his profile is structured.
“Meanwhile, Tisza leader Péter Magyar has disproportionately high engagement figures, outperforming global figures, despite operating in a much smaller, language-limited country. Péter also used a personal “professional mode” profile rather than a political page, contrary to Meta’s long-standing guidelines, potentially bypassing limits on political content,” wrote Nawfal.
“Questions are also emerging around how Meta moderates political content in Hungary. A regional Meta official has publicly shared positions aligned with mainstream European narratives, including pro-Ukraine messaging and content seen as anti-government in Hungary,” he continued.
Nawfal is now calling out the platform, which he accuses of putting the finger on the scale of the Hungarian opposition. In what might be a serious piece of supporting evidence to Nawfal’s claims, the European Conservative recently had its Facebook page suspended. The news outlet is funded by a Hungarian government organization.
“SHAMELESS attack against the European Conservative in progress. Meta took our Facebook page down for ‘going against their Community Standards.” Telling the truth against the mainstream media is only met with censorship. We are appealing the decision now, let’s see how it goes!”
SHAMELESS attack against the European Conservative in progress!
Meta took our Facebook page down for "going against their Community Standards"
Telling the truth against the mainstream media is only met with censorship.
French police in Meuse have launched an intensive manhunt for a 25-year-old rape suspect who escaped custody while being transported back to the Bar-le-Duc prison. The individual, who had been attending a meeting with an investigating judge in Nancy, “managed to evade the vigilance” of his escorting officers as they approached the correctional facility on Friday afternoon.
A video of the escape has also been published to social media. Authorities are also investigating why the man was not handcuffed in accordance with regulations.
🇫🇷France
This 25-year-old man, under investigation for rape, escaped French authorities on March 13.
He had just appeared before a judge in Nancy when he successfully slipped away from officers. He remains on the run.pic.twitter.com/mTP087Qrgu
Five days after the escape of the inmate, a European arrest warrant has been issued by the courts to try to find the fugitive, wrote the public prosecutor of Bar-le-Duc, Sofian Saboulard in a press release published this Tuesday.
Saboulard noted that the suspect “managed to get out of the vehicle” and flee. He further clarified that “there was no violence, but he managed to get out of the vehicle and run.”
“The investigations are continuing and will continue with intensity until the escapee is arrested,” he concludes.
Subsequent investigations into the breach revealed a lapse in restraints, according to Le Parisien.
“The review of CCTV footage now confirms that the fugitive was no longer handcuffed on his right hand when he exited the vehicle and fled on foot,” the prosecutor explained via email. Despite the immediate reaction of the security detail, they were unsuccessful in their pursuit. “The PREJ (Judicial Police Precinct) staff immediately attempted to pursue the individual but were unable to apprehend him. No weapons were used and no injuries were reported,” Saboulard added.
Remix News has been running an ongoing series contrasting the China, which embraces a deeply restrictionist immigration policy, to Western nations like Germany, which has fully embraced mass immigration. As previously reported, China is pulling ahead in terms of innovation in areas like green technology, machine tools, and importantly for Germany, also automobile production.
Now, in yet another blow to Western carmakers, China’s BYD has introduced a fast charging technology that can charge cars in just 9 minutes, rivaling the refueling time of conventional fuels. The time it takes to recharge the battery of an electric vehicle has been a major issue for many consumers. Now, this barrier is disappearing, at least with cars from this Chinese manufacturer.
“Our advantage currently stands at three to five years compared to other manufacturers”, also referring to Japanese and Americans,” said Chuanfu, who is a chemist and the founder of BYD.
How did China do this? Instead of resorting to mass immigration, it turned to its own population, and it is now blowing the West away. Chuanfu credited his company’s engineers.
“We have 110,000 engineers, which is BYD’s biggest asset,” he said.
Notably, BYD did not import those engineers. They are almost all entirely Han Chinese. Those who are not Han Chinese are almost entirely located outside of mainland China, in hubs such as in Hungary. In other words, what engineering experience China needs, it relies on without changing its demographic picture, which would disrupt social cohesion. Instead, China invested in its own people.
Given Volkswagen’s highly diverse workforce in Germany, the left-liberal “theory” is that this diversity should be the company’s “strength.” Yet, the reality, once again, is that the company is deteriorating rapidly, in what may be a mirror of Germany’s broader society.
Regarding BYD”s breakthrough, the company introduced its 1,500 kW fast-charging system and improved Blade battery, which allows vehicles to be charged to 97 percent in under 10 minutes, reports Mandiner. Engineers have also increased the energy density of the battery packs by 5 percent, thanks to internal structural innovations. In practice, the new technology can guarantee a range of up to 1,000 kilometers, without compromising the lifespan and safety indicators of the cells.
A peak charging load of 1,500 kW naturally immediately raises the question of the carrying capacity of the electricity grids. One issue is that the current European and Asian infrastructure in most places is not ready to serve a recharging load of 1,500 kW.
However, the vertically integrated Chinese giant has also come up with an in-house solution. To overcome network constraints, BYD has developed charging stations integrated with its own battery energy storage systems, which it is deploying with great speed, mainly in China for now, Mandiner notes.
These buffer systems relieve the load on the basic grid while continuously ensuring the peak power required for lightning charging. Based on the plans and the investments already underway, the company will put 20,000 such integrated stations into operation by the end of the year, albeit primarily in the Chinese market.
European customers will be able to purchase the premium Denza Z9GT model, which will be available with both pure electric and plug-in hybrid drivetrains and will debut on the continent in the coming weeks.
Based on preliminary industry news, the starting price of the vehicle could be between €75,000 and €100,000.
The latest step up in Chinese technological dominance in electromobility highlights the region’s current vulnerability in global industrial competition, notes Mandiner. And while Hungary has become a key hub for electric battery production and has also scored contracts to build BYD cars, the innovation speed of vertically integrated Asian giants permanently leaves those national economies that build their economic model solely on assembly functions and imported capital vulnerable.
The huge leap in Asian battery technology and the in-house development of complete ecosystems clearly demonstrate that high value-added research processes and engineering knowledge continue to be concentrated in the East. Domestic engineering competencies must be channeled into global innovation value chains in an institutionalized and targeted manner, the portal states.
This will require factories in Hungary to produce, as well as conduct research and development with Hungarian experts.
A bombshell legal ruling has struck a blow to the investigative outlet Correctiv regarding its coverage of an infamous Potsdam meeting involving the Alternative of Germany (AfD). The Berlin Regional Court has issued a prohibition against the central claim that a “master plan for the expulsion of German citizens” was designed during the gathering, labeling the assertion a “false statement of fact.”
This development marks a significant setback for the NGO, which receives funding from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, as well as the German government.
According to the Höcker law firm, which cited a dpa reporter, the court rejected the narrative that had originally sparked nationwide political outrage and massive demonstrations across Germany against the AfD shortly before national elections. The controversial report, published over two years ago, suggested that high-level plans for mass expulsions were being drafted, leading hundreds of thousands of citizens and top government representatives from the SPD, Greens, FDP, and CDU/CSU to take to the streets.
BERLIN, GERMANY, Alternative for Germany (AfD) MP Gerrit Huy won a major legal victory over Correctiv. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
The legal challenge was spearheaded by Gerrit Huy, an AfD member of the Bundestag and meeting participant, who sued the outlet. Her attorney, Carsten Brennecke, said that he was informed by a journalist on-site that “Correctiv lost today before the Berlin Regional Court.”
“The following core statements from the Correctiv report ‘Secret Plan Against Germany’ on the so-called Potsdam meeting, which we challenged as false factual assertions on behalf of the meeting participant Gerrit Huy, have been banned by the court according to the dpa: ‘A master plan for the deportation of German citizens remains from the Potsdam meeting, and Martin Sellner expressed an idea for denaturalization in his lecture,’” wrote Brennecke.
+++Breaking News: Correctiv hat vor dem Landgericht Berlin verloren: Deren Kernaussagen im Bericht zum Potsdam-Treffen wurden gerade verboten, berichtet die DPA:
Mir hat die Redakteurin der dpa, die die Urteilsverkündung nach der heutigen mündlichen Verhandlung im Klageverfahren… https://t.co/NSZwgq0Kwl
Furthermore, Brennecke successfully argued that Sellner never made the claims about the mass expulsion of German citizens, as Correctiv claimed.
“We had challenged these statements as false assertions because it is undisputed that no plan for the deportation of German citizens was presented in Potsdam, and Mr. (Martin) Sellner also did not express any idea to denaturalize Germans,” Brennecke added.
The court ruled against the outlet on another count. Huy successfully challenged a more recent report where Correctiv used a “key witness,” Erik Ahrens, to claim Huy had proposed stripping dual citizens of their German nationality. As Huy never made such a statement, the court reportedly banned the claim.
MUNICH, GERMANY, People take part in a protest vigil against the Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party on February 11, 2024. The report by Correctiv, which has now seen some of its core claims banned from being repeated, sparked protests across Germany (Photo by Leonhard Simon/Getty Images)
“In a more recent report, Correctiv had also disseminated the statement by Erik Ahrens, which we challenged as a false assertion, that Ms. Gerrit Huy had proposed in Potsdam to take away German citizenship from Germans with dual citizenship. Ms. Huy did not make such a proposal in Potsdam. This statement has also been banned for Correctiv, according to the dpa,” wrote Brennecke.
In its defense, the media outlet argued that the disputed segments were “permissible expressions of opinion” rather than “statements of fact,” which would place them under the protection of freedom of expression. However, the court disagreed, identifying them as false factual allegations.
The editor of Correctiv, Justus von Daniels, announced he would appeal the decision.
“We are very surprised by the ruling of the Berlin Regional Court, especially in comparison to the clearly won case in Hamburg,” Daniels told the dpa news agency. He asserted that “the undisputed core facts of our research were not attacked, only two journalistic assessments.”
Huy’s lawyer, Carsten Brennecke, however, responded, saying: “We were compelled to believe that core statements are understood as statements of fact.”
Brennecke asserted that “the Correctiv report on the Potsdam meeting collapsed like a house of cards.”
He stated that the media reports that “frightened thousands of Germans” into believing that “the expulsion and expatriation of Germans had been planned in Potsdam and thus drove them to demonstrations in the streets are now off the table, banned, and prohibited by the courts.”
A 16-year-old girl was allegedly lured to an apartment in Vienna and subjected to a prolonged sexual assault by multiple migrant men, who are accused of filming the attack and threatening to release the footage if she went to the police.
As reported by Kronen Zeitung, the teenager was invited to the flat by a man she did not know, before the situation escalated rapidly once she arrived. The door was allegedly locked behind her, trapping her inside as the assault began.
Investigators believe the victim was forced onto a mattress and raped, despite attempting to resist and calling for help. A second suspect is also accused of assaulting the girl, while a third individual allegedly participated in filming the incident.
Authorities have identified one of the suspects as a 19-year-old Syrian national living in Graz. He has reportedly been arrested in connection with the case. The other two suspects remain at large, with police continuing their search.
The alleged attack took place in May last year but only came to light after the victim encountered the Syrian migrant months later. Following the chance meeting, she reported the incident to the police. He had only recently been released from prison for other unknown offenses.
Prosecutors are now investigating the suspects on suspicion of rape, coercion, and blackmail, with particular focus on the alleged use of recorded footage to intimidate the victim into silence.
The case is the latest in a long line of attacks by foreign nationals against Austria’s vulnerable, namely, children and the elderly.
In March 2024, a 14-year-old schoolgirl was found dead in the Viennese apartment of a 26-year-old Afghan migrant who entered Austria during the migrant wave of 2015. The girl had been kidnapped, drugged, and raped before ultimately dying from a drug overdose.
The victim, who had been talking with her mother on the phone as she walked home, was dragged between two vehicles in the station’s parking lot and raped. Her phone and purse were then stolen by her attacker.
In court, the Somali national grinned and said, “I couldn’t hold back.”
In March last year, two Algerian men faced trial in the Vienna Regional Court for the brutal assault of two teenage girls, aged 14 and 15, whom they allegedly lured into an abandoned building, drugged, and raped at gunpoint.
Last June, four Syrian men were arrested after a teenage girl who had been raped was found unconscious with overdose symptoms and injuries. She was in such a bad state that she had to be placed into an induced coma.
An Iraqi national arrested after firing multiple shots at a residential building in Aachen has been released, after prosecutors downgraded the case despite initial suspicions of attempted manslaughter.
The incident took place in the early hours of March 14, when gunfire struck an apartment block on Perlisker Street. Investigators later recovered multiple shell casings at the scene, with bullets hitting windows and interior areas of a first-floor flat. A gas line was also damaged, forcing the evacuation of 12 residents while emergency services secured the building.
According to Focus magazine, the apartment targeted had displayed Iranian flags associated with the pre-1979 Shah era. Authorities believe the shooting may have been politically motivated, potentially linked to tensions surrounding Iran.
Police arrested a 28-year-old Iraqi man near the scene shortly after the attack. He was found carrying a firearm and an empty magazine. Reports indicate he appeared intoxicated, with drug tests allegedly detecting amphetamines. During his arrest, the suspect reportedly described himself as a “freedom fighter” connected to Iran.
Investigators believe the shooting may have been directed at a resident who had posted online about Kurdish political issues. The suspect is said to have admitted to firing the weapon.
Despite the circumstances, prosecutors declined to pursue an arrest warrant on suspicion of attempted manslaughter after an initial request was denied, according to General Anzeiger. Instead, the case was reduced to alleged weapons violations and property damage.
The suspect was subsequently released pending investigation.
The man was reportedly already known to authorities under multiple identities and had previously been investigated for offenses including assault, theft, and attempted manslaughter. A past conviction for resisting law enforcement was also noted.
Efforts to detain the suspect for deportation were also unsuccessful. Authorities sought to place him in custody pending removal from Germany, but a judicial application was rejected on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence he would commit further offenses.
The case is now being handled by state security services.
In a brief public statement, the Aachen public prosecutor’s office confirmed that a request for an arrest warrant had been denied but did not disclose further details, citing privacy and data protection rules. The statement did not include information about the suspect’s nationality or prior record.
The Scandinavian airline Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) has become the first carrier in Europe to scrap flights in response to a dramatic spike in fuel costs, with at least 1,000 flights canceled. Serving as the national airline for Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, the company stated that it must scale back operations as jet fuel prices soar due to ongoing instability in the Middle East.
“The price of jet fuel has doubled in ten days,” said CEO Anko van der Werff to Swedish business daily Dagens Industri. “Even if we try to absorb cost increases as much as possible, this is a shock that directly hits the airline industry.”
“We are cancelling a few hundred flights in March, but trying to protect our traffic as much as possible,” said the SAS boss, who stated that more cancellations are possible after Easter.
Although 1,000 flights may seem extraordinary, SAS runs approximately 800 flights every day, which means that cancellations remain limited for now.
Based in Stockholm, the canceled flights are focused primarily on regional Scandinavian routes where travelers have alternative transportation.
A spokesperson for the airline noted that “due to the tensions in the Middle East and the sudden increase in fuel prices, steps are being taken to strengthen the stability of their operations,” and that “part of this is the temporary cancellation of some short-haul flights.”
This move is a landmark decision, as SAS is currently the largest European carrier to take such drastic action during the present fuel crisis. The airline, which services roughly 25 million passengers a year, follows the lead of Air New Zealand, which also previously trimmed its schedule to manage costs. Industry analysts warn that the outlook could darken further if disruptions reach the “Strait of Hormuz, through which about half of European aviation fuel imports come,” particularly affecting supplies from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
SAS finds itself in a particularly vulnerable position because it participated in fewer “fuel price hedging transactions” in recent years. These financial arrangements typically allow airlines to lock in fuel at a “pre-fixed price, thus protecting themselves from price fluctuations.”
In contrast, larger groups like International Airlines Group (the parent company of British Airways) and budget carriers like Ryanair remain better insulated for now because a high percentage of their fuel needs were “pre-committed.” Nevertheless, experts caution that even more protected firms may be forced to raise ticket prices once these hedging arrangements expire.
While SAS has already increased its fares to combat rising expenses, other major players like Air France-KLM, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas have implemented similar price hikes without yet resorting to cancellations.
Currently, oil stands at approximately $100 a barrel, but if this rises further, more flight disruptions and even outright flight stoppages could occur due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Krzysztof Bosak, the co-leader of the right-wing Confederation party, says Poland’s demographic crisis can be overcome and that they “are not in as bad a position as the prevailing media might suggest.”
The latest data published by the Central Statistical Office, cited by Do Rzeczy, shows that the total fertility rate in 2024 was only 1.099. That is the lowest fertility rate in Poland’s history and also the lowest in the European Union..
However, Bosak feels that the situation may not be as bad as it appears at first glance.
“Poland is going through a serious demographic crisis, but it is not an irreversible process. Throughout history, we have repeatedly managed to overcome negative phenomena if we were able to clearly define our priorities,” he wrote on X.
Polska przechodzi przez poważny kryzys demograficzny, ale nie jest to proces nieodwracalny. W historii wielokrotnie udawało się nam przełamywać negatywne zjawiska, jeśli potrafiliśmy jasno określić swoje priorytety. Dziś, wbrew pozorom, nie jesteśmy w tak złym położeniu, jak… pic.twitter.com/E9EDUdveq3
Bosak pointed out that Poland currently has “everything necessary to reverse the negative demographic trend,” such as peace, growing prosperity, and economic development. However, to reverse negative demographic trends, a long-term policy is needed, encompassing culture, the economy, and state and social institutions.
“The diagnosis is known. We see anti-natalist tendencies in culture, we see barriers in the tax system and state policy. It’s time to move from diagnosis to action. It’s time to propose a strategy that will strengthen the fertility rate and restore Poland’s prospects for development based on its own demographic potential,” wrote the MP.
Bosak pointed out that the task of politicians should be to restore hope that “not only will we not die out as a nation, but we will become more numerous and stronger over the next decades.”
“We will not stand by and wait. Our task is to make Poland great, and the beginning of this work is to restore vitality and youth to our nation,” Bosak concluded his post.
In January, Remix News wrote about one expert who warned that long-term research shows that young people’s ideal number of children has been declining for over a decade. Dr. Szymon Grzelak noted then that global influences often undermine traditional family values by promoting individualism, self-fulfillment, and the idea that children are burdens or obstacles to personal freedom and ambitions.
The total fertility rate is the average number of children a woman would give birth to throughout her reproductive years (15-49 years), assuming that she would give birth at the same rate as women in the year under review during each phase of that period.
Ukraine can restore the transit of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia via the Friendship pipeline, which was damaged in the Russian attack, within a month and a half, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a letter to President of the European Council António Costa and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, reports Hirado.
Coincidentally, the pipeline reopening would happen well after national elections in Hungary take place in April, which is certain to harm Hungary’s economy in the meantime.
The Hungarian government claims, citing satellite images, that the pipeline is operational, while Ukraine is using the issue of oil transportation to exert political pressure ahead of the Hungarian elections.
In a statement posted on X yesterday, von der leyen said: “The EU has offered Ukraine technical support and funding. The Ukrainians have welcomed and accepted this offer. European experts are available immediately. Our priority is to ensure energy security for all European citizens.”
She also noted that work will cintinue on “alternative routes for the transit of non-Russian crude oil.”
Following the renewed Russian strikes on January 27 on the Druzhba pipeline, leading to the interruption of crude oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia, we have engaged in intense discussions with Member States and Ukraine at…
The Ukrainian head of state highlighted that the pumping station in Brody, Lviv region, was completely shut down due to Russian attacks, which made it impossible for the Friendship pipeline to operate. Without the pumping station, it is technically impossible to maintain the necessary pressure in the pipeline system and ensure the safe transit of oil. The president added that Ukraine is working on an alternative technical solution in order to restore oil pumping capacity as soon as possible.
Zelensky has called the allegations that Ukraine is deliberately obstructing oil shipments through the Friendship pipeline unfounded.
“The repair work required to create a bypass solution is nearing completion. We expect that within approximately one and a half months the technical capabilities of the Brody pumping station will be restored. This will ensure the full restoration of transportation, provided that there are no further attacks from Russia,” the president wrote in his letter.
“The disruptions are a consequence of recent Russian terrorist attacks on the pipeline and surrounding infrastructure,” Zelensky stressed.
In a letter dated a day earlier, Costa and von der Leyen offered technical and financial assistance to Ukraine to restore oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia.
“I am grateful and accept your offer of the necessary technical support and financing so that we can complete the repair work as quickly as possible and explore future solutions,” Zelensky replied.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiha announced on Feb. 12 that the transit of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia had stopped on Jan. 27 as a result of a Russian attack.
After the national security meeting held on the Barátság oil pipeline in early March, Viktor Orbán logged onto Facebook to provide information about the details of the meeting and the investigation launched into the pipeline. Based on satellite images and operational information, he said it is clear that the Friendship oil pipeline is operational.
According to the investigations, the attack did not directly affect the pipeline, therefore there is no technical obstacle to restarting the pipeline.
The Hungarian government also sent a delegation led by Gábor Czepek to Kiev to inspect the condition of the oil pipeline on site. According to the government, when the delegation arrived, Zelensky claimed that he was not aware of the delegation’s arrival and that he had received information from the Foreign Ministry that the trip was private.
Responding to this, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó stated, that Zelensky is lying because the Hungarian government officially notified the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry of the delegation’s arrival.
Szijjártó also spoke about Ukraine’s attempts to influence the Hungarian elections, as their outcome, he said, could be decisive not only for Hungary, but also for Ukraine.
“It is obvious that there is nothing wrong with the Barátság oil pipeline, it is ready to transport oil to Hungary from today,” said Péter Szijjártó in response to Ursula von der Leyen’s announcement that the pipeline would be repaired with help from Brussels. The Foreign Minister stated: “We must not be misled, we are dealing with a political action here, and it is obvious that the oil blockade was preceded by a Brussels-Berlin-Kiev agreement.”
According to the government’s position, Kyiv is not restarting oil transportation through the Friendship pipeline in order to put pressure on Hungary before the April elections.
In response to the latest announcement by Brussels that they will help Kyiv reopen the Druzhba, Szijjártó was scathing in his response, demanding that von der Leyen and Zelensky “stop this political theater. The oil blockade against Hungary must be lifted immediately!”
Good morning, Ursula von der Leyen! After nearly 50 days, the @EU_Commission has noticed that two member states are under an oil blockade by Ukraine, now promising to resolve the situation.
Don’t be fooled. This is a political game. Every step was coordinated between Kyiv and… https://t.co/lLtMGKozEc
The government has also emphasized in several statements that, in their opinion, the Ukrainian leadership would like to see a Hungarian government in power that supports Ukraine’s accession to the European Union and EU financial assistance to Ukraine.
Ukrainian analyst Serhiy Herasymchuk supported this in early March when he stated: “If Péter Magyar and the Tisza Party came to power, Hungary would vote for the EU sanctions packages and would also support Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.”
Zelensky and others have resorted to outright threats against not only PM Orbán but his family as well, as relations deteriorate rapidly ahead of Hungary’s April elections. Zelensky even threatened to send soldiers to Orbán’s address in a statement that was also condemned by the European Union.
A 36-year-old Sub-Saharan female immigrant has been accused of infiltrating a Lanzarote juvenile center in Spain by posing as a minor.
According to police, the individual allegedly facilitated the escape of 13 young people from the state protection system to “integrate them into an international network linked to trafficking.”
The investigation was sparked by a series of disappearances at an Arrecife center. Investigators noticed a specific individual who seemed to hold a “prominent influence on the rest of the girls.” The woman was only 1.52 meters tall (5’0″) but held powerful sway over the other females in the center. Authorities confirmed she was an adult female serving a strategic role within the trafficking ring.
This case is a central component of “Operation Timanfaya,” a Spanish National Police initiative that dismantled a criminal organization with global branches dedicated to smuggling minors from the Canary Islands into mainland Europe, according to Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia.
The suspect reportedly used emotional manipulation to convince the girls to leave their supervised housing for apartments, and then transferred from there, often by “obtaining falsified documentation to leave the country.” Evidence of the scale of the operation was found on the woman’s phone, where she reportedly bragged: “I have already emptied the girls’ center.”
The planned route involved moving the victims through Lanzarote airport using forged identities, and they were provided with wigs. Once they reached Madrid, local collaborators would meet them and direct them toward transport hubs for transit to France or other European destinations. This network relied on “logistical support has been identified in Morocco” for the initial boat crossings and “connections in Ivory Coast” to produce high-quality fake IDs.
The whereabouts of these young women and that of another boy who was not yet 18 years old from a center in San Bartolomé de Tirajana on Gran Canaria are still unknown. A man reportedly took them to the Lanzarote airport, gave them the documents, and some wigs.
Despite the police intervention, the “whereabouts of several of the young women remain unknown.” Authorities fear these victims may have fallen into “labor exploitation, forced marriages or prostitution,” a theory bolstered by sensitive digital evidence found during the arrests. While police intercepted the adult ringleader and two minors at the airport, the two children eventually attempted to flee the protection center again.
One detainee tied to the network was charged with the crime of child pornography after finding a video on his cell phone.
Law enforcement noted that the nature of these facilities — which are “open resources conceived as homes, not as detention centers” — makes preventing such escapes difficult. Furthermore, the system is under extreme pressure, holding nearly 6,000 minors in a space “designed for about 1,500.” This overcrowding often meant that a “disappearance was not detected until the next day,” providing the traffickers with a significant head start.
In the investigation of the fatal assault on a 15-year-old boy in Eckernförde, authorities have taken a “23-year-old German” into custody, per official police statements. Following an inquiry by German newspaper Nius, it was clarified that the individual in question is a dual citizen, holding both German and Turkish nationality.
The joint investigation by the Kiel public prosecutor’s office and local police led to the identification of the man as the primary suspect. He is currently accused of manslaughter following a violent altercation outside a supermarket on March 11, 2026.
The teenage victim suffered severe injuries during the encounter and later passed away.
On Tuesday morning, a formal press release was issued regarding the arrest of the “23-year-old German” suspect. When contacted for further details by Nius, a spokesperson for the Kiel police confirmed via telephone that the suspect maintains dual German and Turkish citizenship.
The incident took place in the immediate vicinity of an Eckernförde supermarket. Following his arrest, the 23-year-old was presented to a judge at the Bremen District Court later that afternoon. An arrest warrant was subsequently issued, and the suspect is currently being held in pretrial detention.
Specifically, he cited Nius news portal, stating their articles, “there is usually nothing right in it,“ and that their work is “completely devoid of facts.“ He called for stricter media quality control.
His comments have drawn accusations of authoritarianism and threats to constitutional freedoms from across the political spectrum.
Gregor Gysi, a highly influential member of the German Left Party and the party’s former leader, is facing fierce criticism from within his own party after suggesting that members with a “specific migration background” have brought problematic views on Israel into the Left Party’s ranks — with some now demanding he attend anti-racist training.
The row stems from an interview the veteran politician gave to Focus magazine’s “Machtmenschen” podcast in March. Asked how significant anti-Israel and antisemitic currents had become within the party, Gysi said: “Well, this has now become more dangerous because many more people with a migration background, even with a specific migration background, have come to our party, which I actually very much welcome. But they bring with them views of Israel that are wrong, and I will always oppose that, and a certain border must not be crossed.”
Gysi has also noted with approval that a party member who had described Hamas as a “liberation organization” had recently been expelled.
The backlash has been extremely sharp.
The Federal Working Group on the Migrant Left — officially recognized as a party body in November 2025 — is preparing a two-page letter to Gysi and the party leadership around co-chairs Ines Schwerdtner and Jan van Aken. The letter, signed by around 180 members including district chairs, state board members and local parliamentary group leaders, was obtained by the newspaper Welt.
“Several passages in your interview are extremely problematic because they reproduce racist narratives and contradict central principles of our party,” the letter reads. “Linking members with a migration history to a supposedly growing problem of antisemitism is unacceptable.”
Gysi’s description of the situation as having become “more dangerous” due to the influx of members with migration backgrounds, the working group argues, reproduces “a racist threat scenario.”
“Such terms reinforce anti-Muslim and anti-Arab resentments and must have no place in an anti-racist party,” the letter continues.
The signatories go further, accusing Gysi of contributing “to the further political and social shift to the right” and claiming that his alleged “equation of Israel and Jews” is “essentially antisemitic.”
The charge against Gysi is already proving problematic. Gysi’s father, Klaus, a former SED politician who was active in the communist resistance against National Socialism, was Jewish.
In the same Focus interview, Gysi stated that he was “very much in favor of a sovereign, secure Israel” and “just as much in favor of a sovereign, secure Palestine.”
Nevertheless, the Left Party working group also accuses Gysi of fuelling “an internal party split,” writing that “the impression is created that some well-known and long-time party officials are authoritatively defining the boundaries of what can be said here.”
The working group has a number of demands.
Gysi is asked to delete the relevant excerpt “immediately” from his Instagram account, to publicly clarify “that migrant members must not be associated with antisemitism in general,” to issue “a public apology to the migrant and young members of our party for the impact and the resulting injury caused by your statements.”
In addition, he is being asked to attend “anti-racist training” along with his team.
Gysi’s spokesperson told Welt that the letter had not yet been formally delivered and that he was therefore unable to comment.
The confrontation is part of a broader and increasingly bitter internal struggle over antisemitism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In November 2025, Gysi himself — together with former parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch, Bundestag Vice President Bodo Ramelow and 14 other Left Party MPs — wrote to party leadership warning that “apparently something has slipped in our party” following an anti-Israel resolution passed by the Left Youth. Party management bodies, the letter said, would have to “clearly draw clear boundaries.”
The conflict has already claimed casualties. In February, the Thuringian Left Party’s State Arbitration Commission stripped Left Youth federal spokesperson Martha Chiara Wüthrich of all party offices and suspended her membership rights for two years after she referred to a “fucking Holocaust” in the context of Israel’s war in Gaza. And just this past Sunday, Brandenburg’s antisemitism commissioner Andreas Büttner resigned from the party after the Lower Saxony Left passed a resolution declaring that the state association rejected “Zionism which actually exists today.”
Gysi has long been known for his strong backing of Israel. In November 2014, Gysi tried to cancel meetings with journalists Max Blumenthal and David Sheen — both sharp critics of Israel — on the grounds that they held extremist views on Israeli settlements, from which he wished to dissociate the German Left. The confrontation escalated into the now-infamous “Toiletgate” incident, in which Gysi fled down a Bundestag corridor and locked himself in a bathroom as the journalists pursued him.
Gysi has come under fire in the past for his celebration of more Germans dying than are being born, saying “because the Nazis are not very prolific.”
A German left-wing politician claimed Germany needs more migrants because the "Nazi" Germans are not very good at making babies.
"Every year, more Germans die than are born. Fortunately, this is because the Nazis are not very prolific," said MP Gregor Gysi.
Dutch writer and activist Anja Meulenbelt, who has been the recipient of the Netherlands’ most prestigious literary award, has come under fire for suggesting that recent attacks on Jewish communities may have been orchestrated by “Zionists” themselves.
Meulenbelt, 81, made the remarks in the comments section of a Facebook post discussing recent incidents targeting synagogues and a Jewish school. Her comments drew accusations that she was promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories.
In her post, Meulenbelt wrote in full:
“Of all the options available, do you also consider the possibility that the ‘attacks’ were organized by Zionists? Historically, that would not be the first time. Listen to Avi Shlaim about the bombs planted in Arab countries to get Jews there to move to Israel. I am not saying that it is the case, but it is an option. Also read Chris de Ploeg. Israel and the Zionist lobby have an interest in more antisemitism.”
De winnaar van de P.C.Hooft-prijs 2026 die even het complotdenken een zwengel geeft.
‘De zionisten’ lees joden. Hebben het zelf gedaan….
Ook überhaupt de aanslagen in twijfel trekken door ze tussen aanhalingstekens te plaatsen. pic.twitter.com/luKIoxiSwR
Dave Heilbron, board member and treasurer of the Central Jewish Council (CJO), described the remarks as deeply disturbing, especially by someone awarded the prestigious literary award, the PC Hooft Prize.
“Frankly, it is truly shocking,” he said, as cited by De Telegraaf. “I find it hard to understand that a woman who has also won the PC Hooft Prize is spreading these kinds of conspiracy theories. In an already polarized landscape, this does absolutely nothing to help. I don’t understand where she gets this from, really not.”
Heilbron also rejected the implication that Zionists would orchestrate attacks against their own community.
“About 90 percent of the Jews in the Netherlands are Zionist, including me. But that does not mean that all of us, or any of us, planned those bombs. How can you even think of making a case out of that?” he said. “I think it would be wise for the board to consider revoking that prize.”
Recent attacks on Jewish sites in the Netherlands have intensified concern within the community. In Rotterdam’s Blijdorp district, an explosion struck a synagogue overnight on Friday, prompting a police investigation that led to the arrest of four suspects aged between 17 and 19. The suspects are suspected of “causing an explosion, arson, and attempted arson, all with a terrorist intent,” according to a statement from the Rotterdam Public Prosecutor’s Office on Monday.
The office added that the attack was “aimed at instilling serious fear in a population group, in this case, the Jewish community.”
Just a day later, a second incident occurred in Amsterdam, where an explosion damaged the outer wall of the Cheider Jewish school in the Buitenveldert area. It was described by the city’s mayor, Femke Halsema, as a “deliberate act.”
Amsterdam Police have since released stills of those wanted in connection with the attack.
“This is a cowardly act of aggression against the Jewish community. Jewish people in Amsterdam are increasingly confronted with antisemitism. This is unacceptable,” she added.
Last week, in neighboring Belgium, another explosion caused a fire at a synagogue in Liege.
Regarding Meulenbelt’s “false flag” theory, the board responsible for awarding the PC Hooft Prize declined to comment on her statements, saying they were made in a “personal capacity.”
Residents in Rome’s San Lorenzo district are sounding the alarm over a surge in violence they say is increasingly driven by homeless migrants, after another brutal street attack left a man hospitalized and renewed calls for urgent security measures.
The latest incident unfolded in Piazza di Porta San Lorenzo, where a 30-year-old Gambian man allegedly slashed a Moroccan man with a broken bottle in the middle of the street, striking his neck and face and leaving him collapsed on the ground.
The victim was rushed to Umberto I Hospital, where he remains in serious condition, while police used footage captured at the scene to quickly identify and arrest the suspect after he fled.
For many locals, however, the attack is just the latest in a growing pattern. Residents say the area has become dominated by groups of vagrants, often intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, who regularly fight among themselves but also target passersby at random.
“The problem is that they don’t just fight among themselves, they also attack us residents. Men, women, and even children,” Sofia, a waitress who lives near Piazza dei Caduti, told Il Messaggero.
According to the Italian newspaper, a neighborhood assembly has now been called in response, with residents describing a situation that has become “unsustainable.”
Katia Pace, head of the local committee organizing the meeting, said violence has escalated sharply in recent weeks. “Cases have increased visibly in the last two months. Just a few days ago, two women were beaten and robbed,” she said.
Despite stepped-up patrols and recent police operations that led to multiple arrests in nearby districts, residents say the response falls short of what is needed to restore order.
“It’s not enough,” said Maria, another concerned resident. “We can’t live like this anymore.”
Scenes of disorder that are fuelling insecurity have become commonplace, locals say. In public parks, families with young children are forced to navigate areas where men sleep on benches, drink heavily, argue, and urinate openly, heightening fears about safety and hygiene.
Concerns have also been raised over attacks involving minors. In one case, a 12-year-old girl was targeted, while a separate incident saw a Tunisian man arrested after assaulting a woman and fracturing her nose and cheekbone. The attack, captured on surveillance footage, triggered a wave of additional complaints from women reporting similar unprovoked violence.
“There have been at least 15 cases,” said Pace, adding that those responsible are typically “homeless foreigners” living in the area, many of whom are said to suffer from addiction or mental health issues.
Encampments have spread across multiple parts of the district, including along the Aurelian Walls and several central squares, with tents and makeshift shelters now a regular sight.
“The patience of those who live here is not infinite,” another resident told Il Messaggero, warning that vigilante-style reactions could emerge if the situation continues to deteriorate.
The unrest in San Lorenzo reflects broader concerns across Italy, where similar incidents involving migrant populations have heightened perceptions of insecurity, particularly in urban areas.
In Ravenna earlier this year, female railway workers reported repeated harassment by a migrant who continued to frequent the station despite multiple complaints. “The workers are terrified,” said union official Manola Cavallaro, warning that the failure to act sooner risked more serious violence.
In Milan, a 25-year-old man was left with severe head injuries after being attacked by two Bosnian Muslims for his watch near the city center, later warning others to avoid the area at night.
“Just a word of advice: In Milan, don’t turn towards the Duomo because it’s not safe. I had my head smashed in for a watch,” said victim Alessandro Briguglio last summer.
Despite these concerns, the Rome city council has still been encouraging families to take in migrants. In September last year, it launched a call for proposals to find families willing to host migrants with valid residence permits in their homes for the next three years.
Officials say the service is intended to provide “a welcoming environment geared toward inclusion and autonomy,” helping young adults in particular to gain independence.
Five activists accused of helping migrants near the Belarusian border with Poland have been definitively acquitted after prosecutors abruptly dropped their appeal.
A district court in Białystok confirmed it would no longer examine the case after the Hajnówka prosecutor’s office withdrew its challenge at the request of Prosecutor General Waldemar Żurek. With no appeal remaining, the earlier acquittal has now become legally binding.
The group had initially faced prison sentences. However, a review ordered at the national level concluded that overturning the original ruling was unlikely.
Anna Adamiak, spokesperson for the Prosecutor General, said the decision followed a detailed legal assessment of both the first-instance judgment and the prosecution’s arguments. “The Prosecutor General found that the ruling of the court of first instance was correct in substance, in terms of the evaluation of the evidence and the legal and criminal assessment, and the court justified its position in a reliable and convincing manner. Therefore, in the Prosecutor General’s opinion, an appeal would have no chance of success,” she said, as cited by TVN24.
The case stems from events in March 2022, when four of the five defendants were detained while transporting migrants. Investigators initially accused them of aiding illegal border crossings involving individuals from Egypt and Iraq, before later revising the charges to facilitating unlawful stay in Poland.
One of the accused was also alleged to have provided food, clothing, shelter, and advice to migrants hiding in the forest along the border. The remaining four were charged with transporting them within Polish territory.
In September last year, a court in Hajnówka acquitted all five, ruling that the legal criteria for conviction had not been met.
The judgment hinged on the interpretation of Article 264a of Poland’s penal code, which requires proof that assistance to migrants was carried out for financial or personal gain. The prosecution had argued that the personal gain test had been satisfied by the migrants receiving assistance.
“If we accept this interpretation of this legal norm, then every foreigner who reaches Polish territory, or the territory of the EU, gains personal benefit because that’s what they want,” Judge Adam Rodakowski said in his ruling.
He warned that such reasoning would effectively criminalize any form of assistance to migrants and that the benefit must be gained by the defendant. The court found no evidence that the defendants had acted for profit or personal advantage.
While the court accepted that the group had helped migrants remain in Poland, it also concluded there was no proof they had assisted in illegal border crossings.
Jan van Aken, the co-leader of the German Left Party, has claimed that the most prominent cases of gang rape involved all White men during his appearance on a German podcast show hosted by Ben Berndt. Remix News is fact-checking his claim.
“So let’s start with gang rape. So the most prominent cases we know of are all white men. Epstein, gang rape, Gisele Pelicot in France, gang rape, all by white men,” said Jan van Aken, the co-leader of the German Left Party.
His claims about Gisele Pelicot being “gang raped” by “all white men” are rated as false.
🇩🇪🔴Fact Check: German far-left leader claims most high-profile gang rape suspects are all White men.
“Let’s start with gang rape. So the most prominent cases we know of are all white men. Epstein, gang rape, Gisele Pelicot in France, gang rape, all by white men,” said Jan van… pic.twitter.com/UFLwW2CS5g
According to the analysis of names in the case, 12 have Middle Eastern/North African names, plus the 3 names associated with sub-Saharan Africa and the Pacific Islands. This means 27.5 percent of the 51 suspects are likely non-White. It also cannot be determined with 100 percent accuracy if all the French names on the list are White individuals. No photographs of the convicted men have ever been officially published. Not only is this far from “all” the suspects, but Middle Eastern and North Africans are estimated to be only 10 percent of the French population, which means they were significantly overrepresented in the rape of Pelicot.
Among the names of the North Africans and Middle Easterners are: Nizar Hamida, Karim Sebaoui, Ahmed Tbarik, Husamettin Dogan, Saifeddine Ghabi, Mohamed Rafaa, Abdelali Dallal, Mahdi Daoudi, Omar Douiri, Redouane Azougagh, Hassan Ouamou, and Redouane El Farihi. There were no doubt many White suspects in this case as well, but van Aken’s claim that they were all White men is entirely false.
Regarding Epstein, while the charges in the case are reprehensible, nobody has been specifically convicted of gang rape in the case. There are numerous allegations that Prince Andrew committed gang rape but his case remains under investigation. The case involving Sean Diddy Combs, which while not as prominent as the Epstein affair, also involved numerous allegations of gang rape as well, all involving African American suspects, further invalidating van Aken’s claim that the most high-profile cases only involve White men.
Van Aken further states: “Gang rape exists, it’s a huge problem. But to pretend that this is a migration problem, I would put a big question mark over that.”
The German statistics paint an entirely different story. Germany-wide, approximately 50 percent of all gang rape arrests involve foreign nationals, which predominantly come from North African, Middle Eastern, and sub-Saharan African countries. However, if the data is truly analyzed, the incidence of non-White suspects is much higher. Many of the individuals with a foreign background are German citizens, yet, when they commit a rape, it is included in the “German” category as the country does not keep crime statistics based on race.
To circumvent this crime data reporting issue, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has often requested the first names of all gang rape suspects, with the data illustrating that the prevalence of non-White suspects is often much higher than the official statistics would suggest.
For example, in North Rhine-Westphalia, an analysis of the names of gang rape suspects revealed that 50 percent of the German suspects had foreign names, indicating that in total, close to 75 percent of all gang rapes were committed by foreigners or those with a migration background. In other words, White suspects are in the minority, despite making up the clear majority in Germany.
🇩🇪🚨 Last year, police in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia arrested 155 suspects in connection with 209 cases of gang r*pe.
A total of 84 suspects were foreign nationals and 71 were German citizens.
Going further, van Aken tries to misdirect away from the issue by citing two high-profile rape cases, Epstein and Pelicot, which had nothing to do with his own country, Germany. However, if only high-profile gang rape cases in Germany are examined, once again, van Aken is revealed to be spreading disinformation.
Here is just a sampling of some of the most high-profile gang rapes in Germany over the last 10 years:
Cologne New Year’s Eve 2015/16
Approximately 2,000 men participated in mass sexual assaults on over 1,200 women across multiple German cities. The perpetrators were predominantly men from North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) and the Middle East who had recently arrived as part of the 2015 migrant wave.
Many of the women were forcibly gang raped by large crowds of non-White males. The scale of the attacks and the initial reluctance of police and media to report on them caused a massive political storm and directly led to Germany rewriting its sexual assault laws in 2016
The case intensified the national debate over migration and the deportation of criminal asylum seekers. The defendants comprised one German citizen, eight Syrians, two Algerians, and one Iraqi. The main suspect, a 22-year-old Syrian Kurd, was already the subject of unenforced arrest warrants for other crimes at the time of the attack.
Emma S., 2019
A 15-year-old girl was lured into the bushes on a September night and raped by 11 men, two of whom also filmed the attack in September 2019. Two of the named perpetrators, Arsen K. and Fares L., filmed the attack.
Based on available reporting the group was predominantly of migrant background, consistent with the broader Freiburg-area cases of that period.
Hamburg Stadtpark, 2020
Nine men and boys gang-raped a 15-year-old girl in a Hamburg park over several hours in September 2020. All were under 20 at the time, meaning they were subject to juvenile law. Only one — an Iranian national who was 19 at the time — spent any time in jail. The case later made headlines again when a 20-year-old woman was sentenced to a weekend in jail for calling one of the rapists a “disgraceful rapist pig” on WhatsApp — a harsher punishment than most of the perpetrators received.
All nine convicted men reportedly hailed from Afghanistan, Armenia, Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Libya and Poland. Four of the defendants were German nationals, while four others held Armenian, Afghan, Kuwaiti and Montenegrin citizenship. Only one, the Iranian national, received a prison sentence.
A second was a 22-year-old man from Guinea-Bissau, said to have had four other identities and a criminal record across nine cases.
Mallorca rape, 2023
In 2023, after the international media loudly trumpeted that five German men were arrested for raping an 18-year-old Spanish girl, it was quickly revealed that all of the men have a “migration background.” Nevertheless, the vast majority of news outlets referred to the men as “Germans,” and most made no mention of the fact that the men had a migration background, with many outlets even referring to them as a “German pack.”
While Spanish news outlet Ultima Hora reported that the 21- to 23-year-old suspects were of Turkish origin, much of the Spanish press was fixated on the “German” aspect of the crime, which the men allegedly filmed on their smartphones. Even the German press was quick to claim the men were Germans with no context, with Welt, one of the most popular conservative papers in the country, running the headline “Five German vacationers on Mallorca have to be remanded in custody.” At no point in the piece does Welt mention the migration background of the suspects. The same story was told throughout the international press, with Associated Press, Deutsche Welle, and the Daily Mail making no mention of the men’s migration background.
Regarding more recent cases, these are a just a small sampling:
Heinsberg, 2025
A 17-year-old girl was lured by her ex-boyfriend to an apartment where five Syrian men between 17 and 26 were waiting. She was raped while threatened with a Taser. A pistol was also found during the subsequent search. The investigation later expanded to three separate rape cases after more victims came forward.
In 2024, a drugged 18-year-old was raped by seven suspects inside a parked vehicle in a fast food restaurant car park. The suspects included two Iraqi nationals — considered the main suspects — one German-Syrian, and four others with German citizenship (migration background unknown). The two Iraqis were remanded in custody. Police investigated the use of knockout drugs administered to the girl inside a nearby dance hall before the attack.
In fact, despite van Aken’s claims, non-White suspects are vastly overrepresented in the most high-profile cases in Germany. Remix News has covered these stories for years, and many of them have been extremely high-profile cases in Germany, even if van Aken conveniently ignored them during his interview.
Just days after van Aken’s podcast interview, a case made national headlines after it was revealed that nine suspects sexually assaulted and even raped a Turkish-Kurdish schoolgirl at the Gropiusstadt youth centre in Neukölln. Nine boys of Arab descent took turns molesting the same girl in a back room while one boy stood guard in the doorway. Instead of going to the authorities, staff gave female visitors a “safeword” to use when threatened and removed the door from the back room. The internal justification, according to sources who spoke with Bild, was to avoid having the young people immediately labelled “typical Muslims.“
A Moroccan man has been arrested in northern Italy after allegedly attacking his wife with a metal pipe in front of their two young children, prompting the couple’s 9-year-old son to call the police in distress.
As reported by Il Giornale, the incident took place in Castiglione delle Stiviere, a town in the province of Mantua in the Lombardy region, where Carabinieri officers were dispatched to the family home after receiving an emergency call from the child.
According to investigators, the 37-year-old man is accused of beating his 30-year-old Moroccan wife during an argument. The assault reportedly took place while the couple’s two children, aged four and nine, were in the house.
Witnessing the attack, the older child managed to contact the police and ask for help. Officers said the boy was crying during the call as he described what was happening in the house.
Officers arrested the suspect on suspicion of aggravated assault at the scene, while the victim was taken to the hospital for treatment.
A judge later confirmed the arrest but initially ordered the man’s release with strict restrictions, including a ban on returning to the family home. However, authorities reviewed the suspect’s legal status and found him already to be under the supervision of social services, prompting the magistrate to revoke the probation arrangement and remand the suspect in custody.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to continue benefitting from the war in Iran, as the price of Russian Urals crude is approaching $100 per barrel, a level not seen since 2022.
The price of Russia’s key export blend spiked following Trump’s decision to suspend sanctions on Russian crude oil and petroleum products found at sea.
From December 2022 to the end of January 2026, India purchased 38 percent of Russian crude oil exports, according to CREA data. China accounted for 48 percent, seemingly filling the gap created by EU and U.S. sanctions during this time.
Urals crude prices in India reached $98.93 a barrel on Friday (March 13), reports Do Rzeczy, a high not seen since early 2022, when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, the discount for Russian crude versus Brent crude fell to its lowest level in more than four months.
The U.S. Treasury Department has lifted sanctions on the sale of crude oil and petroleum products from Russia loaded onto ships before March 12. The license is valid until April 12. According to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Washington’s decision should increase global oil supplies and lower prices.
Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president’s special representative for investment and economic cooperation and chairman of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), stated that the easing of U.S. sanctions would affect approximately 100 million barrels of Russian oil. He said the United States had essentially acknowledged that the global market cannot remain stable without Russia’s participation.
After the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran last month, Tehran blocked the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices skyrocketing and causing gasoline and diesel prices to rise significantly.
Gas station price hikes are sweeping across Poland, with diesel approaching 8 złoty (€1.87) per liter, the popular 95-octane costing an average of 6.50 złoty, and 98-octane gasoline costing well over 7 złoty. According to Reflex analysts, prices at gas stations will continue to rise in the coming days, but at a slower pace.
In Hungary, PM Orbán has asked the EU to ease its sanctions as well to help curb price hikes at the pump and for heating homes. The government earlier this month announced a gasoline price cap for individuals and entrepreneurs.
A 42-year-old, seriously ill Hungarian father from Tiszaújlak, Transcarpathia, has been forcibly conscripted by Zelensky’s Ukrainian military recruiters. The man’s relative posted a cry for help on Facebook, saying the man has been kidnapped.
First noted by Mandiner, the post describes the father of five, including two minors, as having a medical military exemption due to a heart and lung condition. However, he was ripped off the streets by Ukrainian recruiters, an ongoing tactic used by Kyiv to force more men to the frontlines.
The family of 42-year-old Tibor Szoboszlai has not received any information about his whereabouts for a week. His relative, Erzsébet Szoboszlai, wrote that the sick Hungarian man was kidnapped against his will and asked for help finding him.
The post also revealed that the man is apparently also raising his 4-year-old grandson, meaning that the sick man was caring for three minors, yet the Ukrainian military did not spare him.
Forced conscription by Ukraine has been well covered, with viral videos of men being forcibly abducted from the open street, including many Hungarians, and even sick people who had been exempted for health reasons.
In one harrowing story, József Sebestyén, a 45-year-old ethnic Hungarian man from Transcarpathia, was allegedly beaten by Ukrainian recruiters during a forced conscription attempt and eventually died from his injuries.
The issue of forced conscription has been yet another issue of contention between Kyiv and Budapest, with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announcing last month that the Hungarian government will assist ethnic Hungarians being forced to the frontlines in Ukraine if it involves recruiters stepping foot on Hungarian territory.
Earlier this month, Hirado wrote about Albert Román, a dual Ukrainian-Hungarian citizen, who asked Orbán and Hungarian FM Péter Szijjártó in a video message to help him get home to Hungary. The man was forcibly taken to the Ukrainian front, where he was injured and then taken prisoner by the Russians – while the Ukrainian authorities did not provide him with any assistance.
Also this month, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó successfully negotiated with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the release of two ethnic Hungarian prisoners of war being held in Russia.
A diversity hiring policy affecting the recruitment of judges and public prosecutors in Berlin has come under renewed scrutiny after the city’s justice senator warned that the system may conflict with Germany’s constitutional requirement that public offices be filled strictly on merit.
The policy, introduced in 2021 under then justice senator Dirk Behrendt of the Green Party, stems from amendments to the Law to Promote Participation in a Migration Society, known as the PartMigG. The legislation was adopted by Berlin’s House of Representatives with support from the then-governing coalition of the Social Democrats, Greens, and the Left.
Under the law, recruitment procedures must ensure that applicants with a migration background are invited to interviews in numbers reflecting their share of the population. In Berlin, around 40 percent of residents fall into that category, defined by the Federal Statistical Office as individuals who themselves, or at least one parent, were not born with German citizenship.
In practice, the rule means that some interviewees experience positive discrimination and their migration background is a criterion for their selection, regardless of whether other applicants may have stronger academic credentials.
According to Bild, the system has been implemented in recent years by Berlin’s chief public prosecutor, Margarete Koppers, also associated with the Greens.
The newspaper noted that internal warnings were first raised when the measure was initially drafted. Officials cautioned that introducing a quota linked to migration background during the selection process could violate Article 33(2) of Germany’s Basic Law, which states that access to public office must be determined by “suitability, competence, and performance.”
Berlin’s current justice senator, Felor Badenberg of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has now drawn attention to the issue and questioned whether the rule is compatible with constitutional principles.
Badenberg said she supports efforts to improve integration and participation in public institutions, noting that she herself has a migration background, with parents who came from Iran. However, she emphasized that the constitution must remain the guiding standard.
“Access to public office must be based on suitability, competence, and performance,” she said, describing the Basic Law as her “compass.”
Critics say the policy reflects a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) approach that prioritizes demographic representation over merit, though there is no suggestion that the law will be amended or challenged in the near future.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) is demanding answers from the head of the European People’s Party (EPP), Manfred Weber, after information surfaced that the EPP had been cooperating with so-called “far-right” groups in the European Parliament (EP) to pass groundbreaking migration control legislation.
Merz, along with CSU chairman Markus Söder expect “that this will be stopped and that there will be consequences if necessary,” the German leader said, according to Welt. He noted that “Manfred Weber now bears the responsibility for this.”
“We disapprove of what apparently took place at the staff level last week. We will not work together with the far-right in the European Parliament,” Merz stated.
Investigations by the German Press Agency (dpa) uncovered a close cooperation between the EPP and right-wing groups, including the European Socialist Network (ESN), to which the staunchly anti-migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) belongs. The EPP even held conversations via online chat groups and personal meetings to work together on legislation to tighten migration policy. This proposal subsequently received a majority in the EU parliament’s relevant committee.
Markus Söder told press that the CSU is “greatly surprised, irritated, and disturbed,” adding that Weber had subsequently assured him that such cooperation would never happen again.
The leader of the Left group in the European Parliament, Martin Schirdewan, demanded consequences: “Manfred Weber must resign,” he said.
Under Weber’s leadership, the EPP had already sided with the right-wing bloc on the supply chain law. Following the latest revelations, it is now clear that the dismantling of the firewall is not an accident, but rather a systematic and structural process, writes Welt.
Notably, Merz ran on a campaign of implementing migration control, and yet, when Weber moves to control migration with legislation in cooperation with right-wing parties, he is now being admonished. To add to the confusion, Merz himself came under sharp criticism himself for working with the AfD to try and pass legislation just before national elections to tighten immigration rules. The legislation failed to pass and Merz vowed to never work with the AfD again.
Ahead of the EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels today, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Sunday that Germany will not participate in the international military operation to protect commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, as Trump has been demanding NATO allies do.
His comments came during an interview with the ARD public broadcaster’s program “Report from Berlin,” and his position directly reflected previous statements by Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, noted Mandiner.
Earlier today, Pistorius stated outright: “What does Trump expect a handful of European frigates to do that the powerful US Navy cannot? This is not our war, and we did not start it.”
🇩🇪🔴JUST IN: Germany rejects Trump's call to aid in reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
“What does Trump expect a handful of European frigates to do that the powerful US Navy cannot? This is not our war, and we did not start it.”
“We will not participate in this conflict,” Wadephul stressed. Noting that he hears from Israel and the United States that the goal is to destroy Iran’s military capabilities, especially with regard to its nuclear and missile programs.
“And now we are waiting for them to notify us, to involve us, when that happens. And then we will be very happy to participate in the negotiations,” he said, adding that the security of the Strait of Hormuz can only be ensured if there is a negotiated settlement and the Iranians are also consulted on this.
Donald Trump has floated the idea of involving several countries in a military mission to secure shipping through the strait, which is vital to global oil shipments. The latter has virtually ground to a halt following the outbreak of the Iran conflict, leading to a significant increase in oil prices. Regarding the European Union’s Operation Aspides in the Red Sea, launched in February 2024, he said that it has so far been ineffective.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with MS NOW that all countries are free to pass, just not the U.S. or Israel. Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei also stated to press, “No coastal state in such a situation can allow enemy ships and vessels to move normally to strengthen themselves or carry out aggressive actions,” according to IranIntnl. Baghaei also noted that Iran is concerned about false flag ops in the States, since D.C. has been saying Iranian drones can reach the West Coast, which, he said, is simply not possible.
“That’s why I’m very skeptical that extending Aspides to the Strait of Hormuz would result in more security. We will now discuss all this with the greatest calm,” Wadephul added, referring to today’s meeting of EU foreign ministers.
Trump has also come under direct attack from Germany’s right-wing AfD party. Co-leader Tino Chrupalla has said openly that he is very disappointed in the U.S. president and fears he has brought about a third world war.
Before the meeting, EU High Representative Kaja Kallas told press: “Now, it is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and that is why we are also discussing what we can do in this regard, from the European side.” Kallas also said that ongoing communication with D.C. is “volatile.”
Hungary has accused Ukraine of refusing to attend a planned trilateral meeting on energy security, as tensions with Kyiv escalated further during talks on Monday among EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said a consultation with Slovak and Ukrainian energy ministers collapsed after the Ukrainian delegation declined to participate at the last moment. According to him, Hungarian officials had already spent several days in Kyiv attempting to arrange discussions over restarting the Druzhba pipeline, but their requests for meetings were rejected, and European Union inspectors were also denied access to the relevant facilities.
“It has become really obvious that there is no physical reason for the oil supply not to be restarted to Hungary on the Druzhba pipeline,” Szijjártó said, describing the halt in deliveries as “a purely political decision.”
A trilateral consultation with the Slovak and Ukrainian energy ministers was scheduled for today, but the Ukrainian side ultimately refused to take part.
This comes after our Energy Ministry delegation spent three and a half days in Kyiv seeking dialogue.
Budapest insists that Ukraine is deliberately blocking the flow of oil to Hungary despite the Druzhba pipeline’s infrastructure being technically ready to operate. Szijjártó warned that if Ukraine continued what he described as an “oil blockade,” Hungary could not be expected to support further EU decisions in favor of Kyiv.
“If a country keeps us under an oil blockade, then that country cannot expect us to support any decisions here in Brussels that benefit them,” he said.
‼️OUTRAGEOUS: after Ukraine, now Germany is threatening Hungary‼️
At today’s meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Germany’s foreign minister openly warned Hungary of “serious consequences” if we refuse to give up defending our national interests against Ukraine.
The row unfolded alongside a separate confrontation with Germany. Balázs Orbán, political director to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, said Berlin had warned Hungary of “serious consequences” during a meeting of EU foreign ministers if Budapest continued to oppose new sanctions and financial support for Ukraine.
“What they are demanding is that Hungary swallow Ukraine’s oil blockade, send more money to Kyiv, and immediately approve new sanctions,” he wrote on social media. “In other words: abandon our national interests.”
🇸🇰🤝🇭🇺 @FM_Szijjarto announced that Hungary and Slovakia will build a new gasoline and diesel pipeline connecting the refineries in Bratislava and Százhalombatta, aiming to strengthen regional energy security and reduce Ukraine’s leverage.
At the same time, Hungary and Slovakia announced plans to build a new fuel pipeline linking refineries in Bratislava and Százhalombatta. The proposed 127-kilometer connection would transport roughly 1.5 million tons of refined oil products each year, including gasoline and diesel.
Hungarian officials say the project, agreed with Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Saková, is intended to strengthen regional energy security and reduce dependence on transit routes through Ukraine. The pipeline is expected to be completed in the first half of next year.
Relations between Budapest and Kyiv have deteriorated sharply in recent months as Hungary has repeatedly blocked EU initiatives related to Ukraine. Hungarian officials have also pointed to remarks from Ukrainian political figures directed at Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, including comments interpreted in Budapest as threats over Hungary’s stance on EU financial support for Kyiv.
In one instance, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was reported as saying he could provide Orbán’s address to the Ukrainian armed forces so they could visit him and “speak to him in their own language” over Hungary’s opposition to a proposed €90 billion EU loan package.
More recently, Hryhoriy Omelchenko, a former Ukrainian MP and former officer of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), warned that Orbán should reconsider his position toward Kyiv.
🇸🇰🤝🇭🇺 @FM_Szijjarto announced that Hungary and Slovakia will build a new gasoline and diesel pipeline connecting the refineries in Bratislava and Százhalombatta, aiming to strengthen regional energy security and reduce Ukraine’s leverage.
“He knows that after losing power, prison awaits him, or perhaps something worse,” Omelchenko said. “We don’t need Orbán’s address. We know where he lives, where he sleeps at night, where he drinks his wine, and who he meets.”
He added that if Orbán did not change what he described as an “anti-Ukrainian position,” the Hungarian prime minister should remember that “karma never forgives crimes.”
Europeans are committing demographic suicide and the tools used to managed migration are failing at every level, said Rodrigo Ballester, the head of the Center for European Studies at the Mathias Corvinus Collegium. He made his remark at a recent Ordo Iuris Institute event in Warsaw, Poland, which saw European politicians, policymakers, and other important players gather to discuss a groundbreaking paper: “Taking Back Control from Brussels. The Renationalization of the EU Migration and Asylum Policies.”
“As Europeans, we are committing demographic suicide. We are a continent of old rich people, facing a continent of young, hungry, and determined people — ambitious people. We’re still trying to manage migration with hopelessly outdated tools, using conventions from a century ago. They have completely lost their meaning today. In practice, I’m talking about the Geneva Convention. This is the ‘sacred cow’ we should get rid of,” Ballester emphasized.
Many of the speakers discussed various aspects of Europe’s ongoing immigration crisis, including the sharply differing trajectories of pro-immigration countries such as Poland versus Germany.
Polish Prof. Zdzisław Krasnodębski, a former MEP, spoke to the large audience who had gathered, where he compared the impact of immigration on the Polish city of Warsaw to the German city of Bremen where he lived and worked for a long time.
“How did it happen that such a process, which is suicidal, was supported by societies for years? I can tell you that I know two such cities well. One was poor and large, and people were moving away from it. It was Warsaw. Warsaw was also White, if I may use that term. The other city (Bremen) was well-off, middle-class, also White. In 2025, one is almost a ruin. It used to be a prosperous, medium-sized town. Meanwhile, this big, great city we’re in right now has become one of the wealthiest cities in Europe,” he pointed out.
Krasnodębski underlined the trajectory of Warsaw, which is economically booming while still maintaining a strong White majority and rejecting the diversity seen in many other Western cities. Meanwhile, Bremen has been labeled the “most dangerous city in Germany,” where an incredible 73 percent of crime suspects are non-German. The situation has deteriorated so greatly in Bremen that even left-wing politicians in the city have admitted that “massive immigration” has sparked a housing and crime crisis.
However, other speakers warned that not all is well in Poland, either.
Jacek Saryusz-Wolski—a former Polish Minister for European Affairs and Member of the European Parliament, currently President Nawrocki’s main advisor for European affairs — took the floor.
“Looking at the statistics, you can see that in most of Western Europe, immigrant communities make up a percentage in the teens, or even over 20 percent, of the population. It’s not like that here (in Poland) yet, but we too face the risk of an open-borders policy starting here. We will then, after a certain delay, share the same fate,” noted Saryusz-Wolski.
Saryusz-Wolski further warned that the EU is taking more and more power away from nation-states in order to dictate an open borders policy.
“Migration policy is not among the European Union’s exclusive or shared competencies. This is only an area, the third category of cooperation, within which the Union institutions may assist, encourage, and advise the member states, but they cannot legislate. And that is the origin of this great usurpation,” the politician emphasized.
Another speaker, Róbert Gönczi, an analyst at the Hungarian Institute for Migration Research and at Mathias Corvinus Collegium, warned that policies in other countries, such as Spain, which is working to legalize hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants.
“Today we are witnessing a huge surge in migration that Europe is grappling with, and let’s not forget that we are all part of the European Union; it affects us all, and we all bear the consequences,” the analyst emphasized.
He also drew attention to the problem of numerous migrants not being registered in European countries’ systems.
“There are millions of people we can’t track down. We don’t know where they are, we don’t know what they’re doing, we don’t know where they came from, and we don’t know what to do about it. This places a very significant burden on the European system, on the European Union, and it is one of the reasons why we find ourselves in a serious economic crisis,” he noted.
Deputy Speaker of the Sejm, Krzysztof Bosak, emphasized that in addition to illegal immigration, mass legal immigration is also a problem.
“The discussion about legal immigration — its scale, rules, and criteria — is no less important, if not more important, because the transformation of Western Europe was largely the result of large-scale legal immigration, and only as a result — or in parallel — did illegal immigration begin to arrive,” he said.
The politician also noted that the European Union treats different countries unequally when it comes to assessing their migration policies. He pointed out that this area has already been partially “renationalized,” but he warned against a possible hardening of the stance toward countries that continue to firmly protect their borders.
“Please note that very few of our Border Guard’s decisions — whether during the Law and Justice government or now under the Civic Platform-led government — have been seriously challenged by any EU bodies. However, I’m not saying that this won’t happen at any moment now. It can happen. It depends solely on where the ‘Eye of Sauron’ from Brussels, from Luxembourg, turns its gaze, and which regulations, which practices it chooses to scrutinize. Such arbitrariness, it seems to me, has been taking place in the European Union for years with regard to the practice of so-called pushbacks — that is, what I call sending illegal migrants back to the proper side of the border,” said Bosak.
“Taking Back Control from Brussels. The Renationalization of the EU Migration and Asylum Policies” report discusses the possibility for European Union member states to regain greater control over migration and asylum policy without the need to adopt new EU treaties. The authors show that the key competencies concerning border protection, security, and deciding on the admission of foreigners still belong to nation-states, and that any limits on them result more from legal interpretation than from actual legal provisions.
The publication critically assesses the EU migration pact, indicating that it may facilitate mass migration and the forced relocation of migrants. The report also proposes specific legal measures that would enable EU countries to strengthen their own migration policy under existing European and international law.
A Berlin court has rejected a legal bid to obtain files relating to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel from the archives of East Germany’s secret police, ruling that the request does not meet the strict legal conditions governing the release of such records.
The lawsuit was filed by Marcel Luthe, chairman of the Good Governance Union, who argued that he required access to documents mentioning Merkel for a research project examining her conduct during the final years of the German Democratic Republic.
As reported by the Berliner Zeitung, the Berlin Administrative Court dismissed the claim and ordered Luthe to cover approximately €20,000 in legal costs.
In delivering the oral reasoning for the ruling, presiding judge Jens Tegtmeier said the Stasi Records Act does not grant a general right to inspect files about any individual. Instead, the law allows disclosure only under limited circumstances, such as if the person concerned is proven to have collaborated with East Germany or if they were already a public figure at the time the documents were created. According to the court, neither condition applies in Merkel’s case.
The Stasi records themselves are a vast collection of documents created by the Ministry for State Security, the secret police of the former East German communist regime. Before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Stasi built one of the most extensive domestic surveillance systems in the world, maintaining millions of files on citizens suspected of political dissent or contact with the West. The archives include informant reports, surveillance notes, photographs, correspondence, and other material gathered through the agency’s network of officers and unofficial collaborators.
After German reunification, these records were preserved and placed under special legal protection. Individuals have the right to view files compiled about them, but access to documents concerning third parties is tightly restricted in order to protect personal privacy.
Luthe did not claim that Merkel had been a Stasi informant, but argued that questions remained about her activities in the late East German period, which justified access to the records.
Among the issues raised in court was an incident in which prohibited Solidarity movement material was reportedly discovered by East German border authorities when Merkel returned from a trip to Poland. Luthe’s legal team argued that similar cases had often resulted in serious consequences, raising questions about why the young Merkel was not punished.
The lawsuit also highlighted Merkel’s role at the Central Institute for Physical Chemistry in East Germany, where she served as Free German Youth (FDJ) secretary, the official communist youth organization of the former East German state.
In addition, Luthe’s representatives argued that Merkel’s role as spokesperson for the reform-era Democratic Awakening party in 1990 could qualify her as a “person of contemporary history,” a legal category that allows broader access to archival material.
The court rejected these arguments, suggesting Merkel was, if anything, only a “minor” political figure at that time and that disclosing her surveillance documents would not be justified. He also said there was no concrete evidence that Merkel had benefited from the Stasi or held a sufficiently prominent public role before German reunification.
During the hearing, Luthe’s legal team argued that historians should be allowed to examine the archives precisely because the existence and contents of relevant documents remain unknown. They described the situation as a “black box,” saying meaningful research was impossible without first identifying what records exist.
Die Entscheidung des Verwaltungsgerichts ist nach dem Verlauf der mündlichen Verhandlung mehr als überraschend, zumal auch die Beklagte im Termin einräumen musste, dass Frau Merkel auch schon zu DDR-Zeiten Person der Zeitgeschichte war.
— Marcel Luthe – Good Governance (@GGLuthe) March 13, 2026
Following the ruling, Luthe said he intends to continue the legal fight and pursue the matter through higher courts, including Germany’s Constitutional Court, if necessary.
In a statement following the ruling, Luthe said, “The decision of the administrative court is more than surprising in light of the course of the oral hearing, especially since the defendant also had to concede during the hearing that Ms. Merkel was already a figure of contemporary history even during GDR times.
“But in a proceeding in which the presiding judge was replaced twice — most recently two days before the hearing — there can indeed be surprises as well,” he added.
The ongoing war in Ukraine has killed and wounded hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, but that has not stopped one man, a 49-year-old Turkish migrant, from raping a 16-year-old Ukrainian girl after luring her to a hostel.
Ukrainian authorities in Mukachevo have detained the 49-year-old Turkish citizen, according to the Transcarpathian Regional Prosecutor’s Office. The Transcarpathia region is in southwest Ukraine and is home to a large Hungarian ethnic minority, which numbered 150,000 before the war.
The Turkish man is accused of utilizing a deceptive online strategy, interacting with the minor through a dating site for several months using a fraudulent profile to hide his true identity and age.
According to the investigation, the man posed as a much younger individual to establish rapport and convinced the victim of his “sincere feelings.” Once he had gained her trust, he told her that he had traveled to Mukachevo specifically to meet her.
Upon her arrival at a local hostel, the suspect allegedly committed the assault. The victim kept her wits about her during the rape and was able to successfully distract the man long enough to covertly send her geolocation to her mother on her smartphone.
Police arrived at the hostel in time to intercept the foreigner as he attempted to flee the scene.
Following a search, officers recovered a significant quantity of narcotics and contraceptives on the man’s person. At the request of the juvenile prosecutor, the court has ordered the suspect to be held in custody without the possibility of bail, which is considered the most severe preventive measure available.
A court in Germany has sentenced a 29-year-old German-Algerian man to 12 years in prison after he subjected his former partner to a prolonged and brutal assault that left her close to death.
Judges at the Heilbronn Regional Court convicted the man of hostage-taking and aggravated assault following an attack that began after the victim ended their relationship and sought refuge in a women’s shelter.
As reported by Focus, prosecutors had argued the violence amounted to attempted murder, but the court ruled it could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he intended to kill her.
She was forced to wear a burka, give up her job and her family and friends, and was regularly beaten if his dinner wasn’t on the table on time.
In May last year, she was hospitalized after a particularly bad beating, which gave her the courage to finally leave the abusive home. However, she was tracked down and made to endure a horrendous 30-hour-long attack.
On June 15, the man visited the women’s shelter she was staying at and beat her with his fists, before choking her and stubbing out a cigarette on her body. She was then forced to strip down to her underwear and paraded through the streets of Künzelsau, utterly humiliated.
According to regional outlet Heilbronner Stimme, the victim suffered a brain hemorrhage and permanent damage to her eyesight as a result of the attack.
Despite the severity of the offenses, the court rejected the prosecution’s argument that he intended to kill the victim, and this was reflected in his prison sentence of 12 years.
The attacker blamed his actions on an addiction to drugs and alcohol. The court ordered that he could be placed in a rehabilitation clinic for treatment after serving six years in prison.
The victim continues to suffer from panic attacks, insomnia, and chronic pain. She is now reportedly living under protection and rarely leaves home due to ongoing trauma.
The co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), Tino Chrupalla, is actively voicing his disapproval of the American and Israeli war against Iran. He has gone so far as to warn that the war could lead to a third world war and indicates that Trump has broken his campaign promises by launching the war.
“I am extremely disappointed in Donald Trump when it comes to his campaign promises,” Chrupalla during an appearance on Markus Lanz, generally considered the most influential talk show host in Germany.
“During the election campaign, he also accused Kamala Harris, that she would start World War III. And now we are on the cusp of having probably started the Third World War with Donald Trump. And that’s a breach of his word, which I really resent and which the American people also resent, who incidentally reject this war in Iran at a much higher rate than Germans. So, 70 percent of Americans do not want this war and do not support it.
Chrupalla also stated it was clear the United States was dragged into the war by Israel.
“And I think the Americans, as you can really see now if you look at all the events, were dragged into this war by Israel. There were serious negotiations where Oman, as a peacemaker, came to an agreement with Israel together with the USA, and they basically started bombing Iran on the same day. The Omani Foreign Minister has described this as a huge mistake. The entire Arab world has labeled it a mistake. The Norwegian Foreign Minister has described it as a mistake. It has also been labelled a mistake by Turkey. You can’t ignore all that. These are all countries in this region that are naturally extremely worried that this will escalate into a conflagration. And that’s what we’re seeing now. It’s a huge wildfire.”
The AfD co-leader also warned that thousands have already died in the conflict, but in the worst-case scenario, this could reach even into the millions. He further warned that another refugee crisis could ensue, not just from Iran, but also from Lebanon, where Chrupalla said that 700,000 people have already been displaced.
Chrupalla said the AfD party program remains against regime change in other countries, adding the end result is often worse, pointing to Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan — all of which have also fueled Europe’s migration crisis. He acknowledged there was internal division within his own party on the strike on Iran and on the topic of Israel, but said that the party can tolerate these divisions, as the AfD is a “pluralistic” party. Chrupalla indicated that if voters do not agree with his positions or the positions of others within the AfD, then they can be voted out or in.
Chrupalla noted that at the beginning of his presidency, he was convinced that Trump was ending wars. In fact, the AfD co-leader traveled to the United States specifically for Trump’s inauguration in January 2025 to show his support.
“Now, we are on the cusp of probably starting World War III with Donald Trump. These are broken words that I resent, that the American people also resent,” he said.
Now, he said that Trump has to “explain his line to the voters.”
Regarding the killing of Khamenei, Chrupalla stated: “So I think it’s difficult when you have a head of state, whether you like him or not. And Khamenei is certainly not a head of state who has done good things for his people. I want to make that very clear. Nevertheless, I think it is rare or unique for a head of state to be killed or eliminated in this way. And the question is: what is the purpose of this and what does it achieve?”
He further said that he does not “see any exit strategy in this whole war, which is against international law, no strategy at all as to what they actually want to achieve. Do you want to create a new regime? I just don’t see that. And the Americans and the Israelis themselves can’t say that. And sometimes they contradict each other.”
When asked about the war in Gaza, Chrupalla said, “If you look at the pictures from Gaza, then I don’t think my position was the wrong one either, namely that what happened there is also a war crime. I mean, in Gaza, in principle, if you go back to surgical warfare, I mean, there’s nothing more there. No stone is left standing on another. And once again, I also stand with the Israeli people. There is no discussion at all. But if you are a friend of Israel, and we are, you must also be allowed to criticize a government, the Netanyahu government. Otherwise, it’s not a friendship if you can’t back it.”
One beneficiary of the wars in Ukraine and Iran has been Norway, as it has stepped in to supply oil and gas to the European Union, as Russia was hit with sanctions. The profits the country earns from its energy exports go largely to the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, which has even invested in Hungarian companies.
Russia’s share of the EU gas market was still around 45 percent in 2021, before its attack on Ukraine. That share fell to 13 percent last year. Its 27 percent share of the oil market in 2021 has fallen to below 3 percent, writes “Világgazdaság.”
Norway supplied about 24 percent of the EU’s gas needs in 2021, making it the second-largest supplier behind Russia. But in 2025, it overtook Russia for first place, with 31 percent. Within this, Norway’s share of pipeline gas imports reached 54 percent, which amounted to 86 billion cubic meters.
Oslo’s role in oil has similarly strengthened: in 2024, it accounted for 13.5 percent of the EU’s crude oil imports, and by the third quarter of 2025, its share had increased to 14.6 percent. It is worth mentioning that the EU’s direct imports of Russian oil have decreased to almost zero due to sanctions.
One loophole did exist, since closed by Brussels. India was buying cheap Russian crude oil, refining it into diesel and kerosene, and then exporting these fuels to Europe. As of January, such products of Russian origin are banned.
The Norwegian budget, in turn, has profited handsomely, setting a record in 2022: oil and gas revenues alone brought 1.45 trillion kroner (€190 billion) to the state treasury, and the total budget surplus reached 26 percent of GDP, or 1.46 trillion kroner.
Prices subsequently fell, but in 2024, the state budget still saw a surplus of 688 billion kronor. Now, due to the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, prices are rising once again.
The Norwegian government established its sovereign wealth fund in 1996 to collect revenues from oil and gas production in the North Sea. The fund invests these funds in stocks, bonds, real estate, government securities and green energy projects around the world.
The fund’s assets are managed by the Norwegian central bank, Norges Bank, and its investment strategy is determined by the Ministry of Finance, but significant changes require parliamentary approval. It currently holds stakes in thousands of companies in 68 countries around the world, and holds about 1.5 percent of all listed shares globally.
Its assets under management exceed 21.2 trillion Norwegian kroner (€2.84 trillion). Hungary has not escaped the fund’s attention either: it has stakes in several properties in Budapest and has invested in a total of eight Hungarian companies, including: 0.67 percent of OTP, 1.98 percent of Gedeon Richter and 2.4 percent of Wizz Air
Világgazdaság also notes that despite having one of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves, Iran’s exports have remained limited due to sanctions and domestic demand. Iran’s shadow fleet has mainly shipped oil to China, while natural gas is almost exclusively for domestic consumption.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever is pushing Brussels to negotiate directly with Moscow to end the war in Ukraine, as the current strategy will not bring any success.
The EU, he says, should focus on normalizing relations with Russia, ensuring any eventual deal is in its best interests, and regaining access to cheap energy sources.
“The European Union should give its member states the authority to start negotiations with Russia to end the war in Ukraine,” De Wever said in a recent interview with Belgian newspaper L’Echo, as quoted by Hirado. The prime minister said that current pressure tools are not working and that Europe should look for more pragmatic solutions.
“Since we cannot threaten Vladimir Putin simply by sending weapons to Ukraine, and we cannot economically strangle Russia without the support of the United States, there is only one option left: to make an agreement,” the Belgian prime minister said.
He also said that Russia could only be brought to its knees with full American support, but that level of commitment will not happen under Trump. De Wever noted that at times he feels that Washington is getting closer to Moscow than to Kyiv.
The European Union, the Belgian prime minister continued, should receive a formal mandate from member states to start negotiations with Moscow, as the current U.S.-Russian-Ukrainian negotiations could ultimately lead to an agreement that is unfavorable to Europe.
He also called on all countries of Europe to simultaneously strengthen their military presence on their borders while pragmatically settling relations with Russia.
“We need to rearm and strengthen the military presence on the borders. At the same time, we need to normalize relations with Russia and regain access to cheap energy. This is a matter of common sense,” he told l’Echo.
“In private conversations, European leaders agree with me, but no one dares to say it out loud,” De Wever added.
The Belgian prime minister has already been the subject of a serious debate over European plans to finance the war in Ukraine. In early December last year, he received a standing ovation in the Belgian parliament when he rejected accusations that he was less pro-EU or pro-Ukraine for being critical of a European Commission proposal to unfreeze some €140 billion in frozen Russian assets as collateral for a loan to Ukraine.
De Wever stressed that Belgium would continue to stand by Europe and Ukraine, but that “the impossible cannot be asked” of the country, as the vast majority of Russian assets are held in the Euroclear clearing house near Brussels, so any legal and financial risks would primarily affect Belgium.
During the debate, the Belgian government was also put under serious pressure from the EU. It has even been suggested in EU circles that Belgium could “suffer the fate of Hungary,” that is, face political isolation, if it continues to block plans to use frozen Russian assets.
More than €200 billion worth of Russian assets are currently frozen in the EU, largely in Euroclear accounts.
A meeting of the German government’s task force on fuel prices, established by the parliamentary groups of the government coalition, will take place today to address soaring gasoline prices.
Just last week, Remix News reported that, a year of economic stagnation, following two years of recession, and continued layoffs, Chancellor Merz ruled out any direct intervention to help consumers out, in contrast to Hungary’s Orbán, who announced price caps.
Politicians have demanded greater transparency from oil companies in setting prices, and Andreas Mundt, head of the Federal Cartel Office, as well as representatives of the major oil companies are also expected to attend today’s meeting.
“If competition ceases to function fairly, the state cannot remain a passive observer; it must intervene. This raises a clear question: Is everything being done legally at our gas stations?” Sepp Müller, deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU faction, told AFP, as quoted by Do Rzeczy.
“We need full transparency, from wholesalers to distributors,” said Müller. He added that “it is unacceptable that diesel fuel in Italy is significantly cheaper than here, even though taxes are comparable.”
In turn, SPD deputy chairman Armand Zorn advocated limiting the increase in fuel prices relative to oil prices. He argued that antitrust regulations should be tightened “to prevent oil companies from increasing their profits at the expense of consumers in times of crisis.”
Zorn also called for greater transparency in purchase prices and stricter oversight of abuses. He noted that the Anti-Monopoly Commission has already found that no other European country has seen fuel price increases as high as Germany.
Late last week, one Polish mayor warned that German motorists flooding across the border for cheaper fuel are creating shortages and forcing authorities to consider limits on sales.
U.S. oil prices are rising, with Brent crude surging above $100 a barrel after one of the most volatile trading weeks on record. Investors expect further turmoil after Iran announced a continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, following the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.
A court in France has sentenced an Ivorian migrant to 25 years in prison for fatally stabbing a 22-year-old man during Bastille Day celebrations amid a drunken brawl.
The Moselle Assize Court on Friday sentenced Mohamed Sylla, 21, for the killing of Samir Hamraoui in Metz in the early hours of July 15, 2022. Judges also imposed a ban on Sylla returning to French territory after serving his sentence.
The penalty exceeded the 22-year term requested earlier by prosecutor David Touvet, who had also called for Sylla to be permanently barred from France. The defendant had arrived in the country from Ivory Coast in 2018 as an unaccompanied minor.
As reported by Sud Ouest, the killing occurred during Bastille Day festivities in Metz, where Hamraoui and several friends had traveled to spend the evening in the city. At around 1:30 a.m., the group was confronted by Sylla and another man, Fisnik Lahu. The two groups did not know each other prior to the incident.
During the altercation, Hamraoui was stabbed in the chest. The wound pierced his heart, killing him.
Following the attack, Sylla fled France with two others and was only arrested about a month later after traveling toward Spain.
When given the final opportunity to speak, Sylla addressed the victim’s relatives. “I am truly sorry. I didn’t mean to do this,” he told the court.
Prosecutor Touvet described the killing as senseless violence when outlining the case to the jury. “It’s unreal, irrational, it makes no sense,” he said while requesting a lengthy prison sentence.
The court also convicted Lahu for armed assault against another victim during the same incident. He received a three-year sentence with one year suspended, and his former partner, a third defendant, was also convicted for assisting the men in fleeing to Spain the day after the stabbing. She received a two-year prison sentence, most of which was suspended.
During the trial, Sylla’s lawyer argued the fatal encounter should not be treated as murder, describing it instead as a chaotic fight involving several intoxicated individuals.
Lawyers representing Hamraoui’s family rejected that interpretation. Their counsel, Paul Herhard, told the court the killing could not be dismissed as a tragic accident. “It’s murder, not an unfortunate stabbing,” he said.
The courtroom was filled with friends and relatives during the five-day trial, with Hamraoui’s parents and sister visibly emotional as the proceedings concluded. They described the victim as a young man known for helping others.
The trial also heard that violent incidents had continued during Sylla’s time in detention, though those episodes had not resulted in additional criminal prosecutions.
A psychiatric evaluation presented during the case warned that the risk of reoffending remained “significant,” according to the prosecution.
A 19-year-old Ukrainian refugee who had fled the war and settled in Germany has been identified as the victim of a brutal killing in Mannheim, allegedly murdered by her 17-year-old Syrian boyfriend just days before she planned to report him to police for violence.
Maria, who arrived in Germany with her family about three years ago after fleeing Ukraine, was found dead in the Käfertaler Forest north of Mannheim on Wednesday morning after a passerby discovered her body and alerted police.
As Bild reported, prosecutors say the main suspect, Mohamed, a 17-year-old Syrian national, had been in a relationship with the victim for more than a year. Investigators believe the pair met on Tuesday evening before heading into the forest together.
The fatal attack is believed to have taken place shortly after midnight.
“She was unaware of the attack and unable to defend herself. The 17-year-old is said to have taken advantage of this and killed the 19-year-old with his bare hands and, presumably, a branch,” a police report said.
Maria’s body was discovered several hours later, at around 8 a.m., prompting a major police operation. Authorities formed a 60-member special investigation team to track down the suspect.
The teenager was arrested later the same evening in Mannheim. On Thursday, he was brought before an investigating judge at Mannheim District Court, where an arrest warrant for murder was issued, and he was remanded in custody.
Further reporting from Germany has revealed that Maria had been preparing to report her boyfriend to the police over alleged assaults in the relationship. Her mother said the young woman had even arranged an appointment with the authorities shortly before the killing.
“She was going to go to the police yesterday. But that didn’t happen,” the mother told Bild.
She explained how the relationship had soured in recent weeks and that she had previously told the teenager to stay away from their home.
“At first, I liked him a lot. But a month ago, the atmosphere changed,” she said.
Ahmad, another Syrian migrant who is in a relationship with Maria’s twin sister, said he had previously seen signs of violence in the relationship.
“I remember a time when Maria was being beaten by him. I offered to stand up for her, but she didn’t want me to,” he said.
Speaking to Crimespot journalist Bastian Schlüter, Ahmad had suggested spending the evening with friends at his home.
“Maria said, ‘We’ll go to your house,’ and Mohammed replied, ‘No, no, we’re going to the forest,” Ahmad said.
He further recounted his experience of the evening of the murder:
“Mohammed called people and said, ‘I’ve made a big problem.’ At that time, nobody knew what had happened. But he called many people looking for a car. He said, ‘I’ve made a big problem.’ He wanted a car. No one knows exactly why he asked for a car. I didn’t answer, and my friend didn’t answer either. Someone told him, ‘I don’t have a car, do what you want. Solve your problem yourself.’ Because nobody thought he had killed someone.”
The case continues to be investigated as a murder, with the suspect remaining in custody.
Police in Berlin say a new criminal network linked to migrant gangs is spreading fear across the German capital after a string of shootings, grenade attacks, and large-scale extortion attempts targeting local businesses.
Investigations reported by the broadcaster RBB’s political program Kontraste suggest the violence is connected to a group known as the “Daltons,” a network with roots in Turkey that authorities say has begun establishing itself in Germany.
Prosecutors are currently pursuing around 200 investigations linked to the group and similar criminal enterprises in Berlin.
Authorities say the gang primarily targets Kurdish asylum seekers for recruitment, who are allegedly drawn in through promises of money and status. Investigators believe some recruits were first approached in asylum centers before being used to carry out shootings and other attacks.
This modus operandi has been experienced in several other European nations, including the Netherlands, Belgium, and also Sweden, where the criminal network run by Rawa Majid — known as the Kurdish Fox — has terrorized the suburbs of Stockholm for years.
The crimes typically follow a clear pattern. Businesses receive large protection demands, sometimes reaching six-figure sums. If they refuse to pay, they are attacked.
One supermarket chain was reportedly threatened with a demand of €250,000. Shortly afterward, two of its stores were shot at. In another case, a 36-year-old man was shot seven times in the legs in the street. A bar in the Kreuzberg district was also attacked when masked individuals threw a hand grenade through a window.
Berlin’s justice senator Felor Badenberg warned that the campaign amounts to systematic intimidation targeting members of the Turkish-Kurdish business community.
“We are seeing a surge in crimes against shop owners from the Turkish-Kurdish cultural sphere. They are being pressured, intimidated, and in some cases, weapons are being used. The aim is to force them to pay protection money,” Badenberg said in comments reported by Kontraste.
Authorities say the gang represents a new generation of organized crime that operates far more openly than traditional mafia networks. Members frequently post videos and messages linked to violence on social media, openly boasting about their activities.
“They are completely unconcerned,” Berlin police spokesman Florian Nath said, describing how the group’s use of firearms and violence is far more brazen than earlier criminal networks in the city.
Investigators trace the origins of the group to Istanbul, where criminal gangs with similar names — including the “Caspers,” the “Smurfs,” and the “Daltons” — have been linked to dozens of murders in recent years.
Turkish authorities have attempted to dismantle the networks through large-scale arrests. In December last year, more than 300 alleged members of the Daltons, including many minors, appeared in court in connection with a sweeping crackdown.
But investigators say some senior figures fled abroad, and the groups have since expanded their activities into Europe.
Authorities believe the Berlin underworld has become even more volatile following the death in January of Mehmet K., a prominent organized crime figure nicknamed “Kurdish Mehmet.” His funeral drew large numbers of figures from the city’s criminal scene and required around 500 police officers to maintain order.
“All hell is breaking loose in Berlin now,” one associated told the German broadcaster. “Everyone wants to make a name for themselves. I think things will get worse from now on, because Mehmet Abi is gone, and he was the one who made sure everything here went smoothly.”
Investigators say the alleged leader of the Daltons, Berat Can Gökdemir — known as “Can Dalton” — is believed to be outside Germany. Turkish prosecutors accuse him of involvement in numerous violent crimes and say he faces potential prison sentences totaling more than 1,000 years.
Berlin police warn that the gang’s international connections mean the problem cannot be solved locally. Police president Barbara Slowik Meisel said authorities are now seeking stronger cooperation with European partners.
“We are dealing with structures that operate across several countries and recruit internationally,” she said.
Ever since close to €80 million in cash and gold was seized by Hungarian authorities from a convoy led by present and former Ukrainian military personnel, the government has been trying to figure out who the money belongs to and where it was going.
Magyar Nemzet has now written up nine questions and circumstances as to why the convoy is so suspicious.
To recap, on March 5, the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV), with the assistance of counter-terrorism (TEK) officers, stopped the Ukrainian gold convoy in the territory of Hungary.
The two armored cars were traveling from Austria to Ukraine with a total of $40 million, €35 million, and 9 kilograms of gold.
The cargo was accompanied by seven Ukrainian citizens in tactical-military clothing: The transport of money was supervised by a former general of the Ukrainian Defense Service, his deputy was a former major in the Air Force, but the others were also individuals with a military background.
NAV has already released a statement that criminal proceedings are underway on suspicion of money laundering. The seven Ukrainian money couriers were questioned as witnesses, then expelled from the country and handed over to the Ukrainian authorities in Záhony. In the meantime, the parliament amended a law to allow the seized assets to remain with the authorities until the end of the investigation, i.e., until their origin and intended purpose are clarified.
This year alone, dollars, euros, and gold bars worth a total of approximately 480 billion forints were transported through Hungary to Ukraine. Now, authorities seek to determine if these funds were possibly intended for to a local criminal organization, terrorist group, or political organization.
Several left-wing press pieces, partly financed from abroad, as well as propaganda from the leading opposition party, Tisza, have implied or directly stated that the money transfer was regular and regular, and that the circumstances do not raise any doubts. They also claim that the Hungarian state committed a violation of the law by stopping the shipment, which the Ukrainians are also claiming.
Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has, however, raised several issues:
1. Why didn’t the Austrian Raiffeisen transfer the huge amount to the Ukrainian Takarékbank? Two financial institutions can obviously easily transfer money to each other, MN notes.
2. Why is it necessary for the Ukrainians to transport tens of billions of forints in cash and gold by road, and through Hungary?
An unnamed tax office expert, previously interviewed by MN, also had a few key questions and points to consider:
4. How is it possible that gold is not being transported out of the war zone, but rather the other way around?
5. Why does a country at war need 480 billion forints of dollars, euros, and gold bars in two months, when Ukraine has unrestricted access to international financial systems and can transfer them?
6. The clients of the Ukrainian Savings Bank certainly need hryvnia, i.e., the official Ukrainian currency in Ukraine, not dollars, euros, and especially not gold bars.
7. Ukraine is mostly supplied by Western suppliers, and they almost certainly do not ask for cash. But even if that were the case, there is no reason to take the money and gold to Ukraine first and then transport it to the West. The transfer from Austria would be much simpler and risk-free.
Origo also sought the opinion of an expert in the money-transport industry. The expert began by saying that the two Ukrainian armored vehicles that were seized – but have since been returned empty – are indeed money-transporters: the windshields have been thickened, the trucks are bulletproof, and they can even survive minor explosions without any problems. However, he highlighted a curious circumstance:
8. It is unusual that the cargo, i.e., the money and gold, was kept in plastic bags, covered with rags and secured to the inside of the car with rubber bands. In official cash transports, the expert noted, cash boxes and safes are used so that robbers will not succeed even if they get inside the vehicles.
According to the expert, the careless handling of money could also indicate that someone’s private assets were being taken from Austria to Ukraine.
József Horváth, the director of the Sovereignty Protection Research Institute, explained to Magyar Nemzet that at least a third of the weapons given to the Ukrainians end up on the black market. According to him, it is conceivable that someone would have paid such a large sum of money for such a shipment. This could provide an answer to one of the most important questions surrounding the convoy:
9. Why was a former Ukrainian intelligence chief traveling with the convoy?
According to Horváth, it was to personally supervise the transportation of money and to provide security for someone.
“This is not what a normal money-transport operation looks like,” Péter Tarjányi, who calls himself an opposition member, said on ATV in connection with the Ukrainian gold convoy. The security policy expert also examined the origin and method of transportation of the money and concluded:
“It’s unbelievable that such a large amount of money, such a large amount of gold, is moving overland. And if the operation was actually supervised by a former Ukrainian intelligence general, I don’t think it would have been a proper, normal money transfer operation.”
Police and prosecutors in Munich carried out searches on Friday morning at the private residence and Bavarian State Parliament office of AfD lawmaker René Dierkes, reportedly in connection with alleged insults and social media posts dating back several years.
Dierkes, 34, who represents the Munich-East constituency in the Bavarian State Parliament, said the investigation concerns satirical posts and memes published roughly two years ago on his X account by a staff member who has since left his employment. He said authorities are also examining an alleged insult attributed to him by a former party member, which reportedly dates back five years.
In a statement released after the search, Dierkes described the investigation as politically motivated and accused rivals of attempting to discredit him.
Pressemeldung zur Hausdurchsuchung beim Landtagsabgeordneten René Dierkes
Heute Morgen fand in meiner Privatwohnung sowie in meinem Landtagsbüro eine Hausdurchsuchung statt. Hintergrund sind etwa zwei Jahre alte Postings auf meinem X-Account, die von einem Mitarbeiter verfasst… pic.twitter.com/Ev1mORVHPZ
“The background is posts on my X account that are about two years old and were written by an employee who no longer works for me,” he said, adding that an internal party rival who previously sought public office had launched “a defamation campaign against my person.”
“I will take action against this political witch hunt,” he said.
According to reporting from Bild, police officers appeared at both Dierkes’ Munich residence and his parliamentary office as part of the operation. The exact legal basis for the search was initially unclear, and the Munich public prosecutor’s office had not immediately issued a detailed statement explaining the move.
AfD state chairman Stephan Protschka sharply criticized the action, suggesting it reflected political bias by authorities. “It is supposedly about alleged insults. In my view, this is a humiliating decision by the authorities against the opposition,” Protschka told Bild.
The search has raised additional questions because the Bavarian State Parliament did not formally vote to lift Dierkes’ parliamentary immunity beforehand. According to Bild, investigators proceeded under a “simplified procedure,” a legal mechanism that allows searches without a prior parliamentary vote in certain cases.
Dierkes, who was elected to the Bavarian legislature in October 2023 and serves as chairman of the AfD’s Munich-East district association, has been under observation by Bavaria’s domestic intelligence service since April 2025.
The monitoring followed a review by the Bavarian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which concluded that surveillance was “proportionate.” According to a response by the Bavarian state government to parliamentary inquiries from Green and Social Democratic lawmakers, officials identified statements by Dierkes that allegedly promoted “an ethnic concept of the people contrary to human dignity” and demanded “remigration in an unconstitutional manner,” as cited by BR24 last year.
Authorities also cited his significant reach on social media and his role as a prominent figure within the AfD’s regional leadership structure. The social media reach point is contentious — Dierkes has just 6,800 followers on X and 5,600 followers on Facebook.
Dierkes has firmly rejected the state office’s interpretation of his remarks and threatened legal action last year.
A 17-year-old Syrian national has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of murdering a 19-year-old woman in the city of Mannheim, according to authorities.
The arrest followed a request from the Mannheim Public Prosecutor’s Office, after the Mannheim District Court issued a warrant charging the teenager with murder.
A police report published on Thursday said the suspect had been in a relationship with the victim for more than a year. On Tuesday evening, the two met before later heading into Käfertaler Forest.
Investigators believe the attack took place shortly after midnight, around 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
“She was unaware of the attack and unable to defend herself. The 17-year-old is said to have taken advantage of this and killed the 19-year-old with his bare hands and, presumably, a branch,” the police report read.
Her body was discovered several hours later at around 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning by a passerby, who alerted police.
Authorities launched a large-scale investigation immediately after the discovery, forming a 60-member special commission to track down the suspect.
The teenager was provisionally arrested later the same evening in Mannheim. He was brought before an investigating judge at the Mannheim District Court on Thursday, where the arrest warrant for murder was formally issued.
The court ordered that he remain in custody pending further proceedings.
Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion of the 7th Battalion of Chasseurs Alpins from Varces died for France during an attack in the Erbil region of Iraq, French President Emmanuel Macron announced via a post on X.
“To his family, to his brothers in arms, I want to express all the affection and solidarity of the Nation,” Macron wrote.
Other French soldiers also suffered injuries. Macron, while condemning the attacks, assured that the troops’ presence was part of the “fight against terrorism.”
“Several of our soldiers have been wounded. France stands by their side and with their loved ones. This attack against our forces engaged in the fight against Daesh since 2015 is unacceptable. Their presence in Iraq is part of the strict framework of the fight against terrorism,” Macron continued, adding that “the war in Iran cannot justify such attacks.”
Earlier, reports emerged from Erbil Governor Omid Khosnav that numerous French soldiers had been injured in two drone attacks on the Mala Kara base, writes Do Rzeczy. The reports were confirmed by the French military, which specified that six soldiers were injured in the attack.
This isn’t the first drone strike on the Kurdish Autonomous Region of Iraq. Pro-Iranian armed groups operating under the name of the Islamic Resistance Movement in Iraq have claimed responsibility for previous attacks on American bases in the region.
The French leader called this attack “unacceptable.” He emphasized that since 2015, his country’s forces have been engaged in the fight against the Islamic State, and their presence in Iraq is part of the fight against terrorism.
On Friday, air raid sirens sounded at Turkey’s Incirlik air base, which hosts Polish, American and Spanish NATO forces.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, as cited by Do Rzeczy, reported that sirens went off early Friday at the base located in the southeastern province of Adana.
Posts appeared on social media suggesting Iranian missiles were heading towards the base. Some of the published videos, as noted by AFP, show a burning object falling from the sky near the air base.
Turkish media reports that the sirens sounded around 3:25 a.m. local time, which is 1:25 a.m. Polish time. The alarm, it says, lasted five minutes.
Since the start of the war against Iran, initiated by the United States and Israel, two foreign missiles have been neutralized in Turkish airspace. The most recent incident occurred on March 9 in Gaziantep Province, near the border with Syria. The missile was shot down by NATO missile defense systems located in the eastern Mediterranean.
The Turkish Defense Ministry said at the time that the missile debris did not cause any damage and there were no casualties. It also assured that Turkey “values peaceful relations and stability in the region and will not hesitate to act if the security of its airspace or territory is threatened.”
“We reiterate that all necessary steps will be taken decisively and without hesitation against any threat directed against our national territory or airspace. We remind everyone that heeding Turkish warnings on this matter is in everyone’s interest,” the statement said.
Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó told press in Budapest yesterday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is taking on a central role in Hungary’s parliamentary elections next month, as he seeks to oust Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The foreign minister added that there is continuous consultation between Volodymyr Zelensky and the Tisza Party, led by Péter Magyar, and they are coordinating their activities to help get Magyar into power.
“His ambition is to form the next Hungarian government, which is why he wants to remove Prime Minister Viktor Orbán from the way,” he said, as quoted by Magyar Nemzet.
As Remix News has reported, Orbán and his family have had their lives directly threatened by Zelensky and another former Security Services (SBU) official in recent days. At the same time, the European Union, who has made it clear they too would prefer a Magyar-led Hungary, actually honoring Zelensky with Europe’s top award for his commitment to “the EU’s fundamental values - respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law.”
“The death threat addressed to him is unacceptable and goes beyond the bounds of any cultured and civilized discussion. The fact that Zelensky has sent his thugs out in public, who are now threatening the prime minister’s family, also shows Ukrainian intervention at all costs,” Szijjártó told press, adding that threatening children over a political dispute is terribly uncouth, uncivilized, and uncultured.
In an update from HIrado, the threats from the former lieutenant general and SBU head, Hryhoriy Omelchenko, also included particularly violent language. “We will tear out your stinking tongue and throw it to the dogs. Your neo-Nazi blood will flow into the Danube faster than Moscow oil through the Friendship Pipeline,” Omelchenko reportedly said.
“I would like to make it clear to everyone that we, Hungarians, cannot be blackmailed. Hungary will not give up the representation of its interests, it will not give up its sovereignty, we will not allow the country to go to war, so I ask everyone to stand up for Hungary’s sovereignty, peace and security, and on Sunday everyone should be there at the Peace March, where we can show together that there is no blackmail that Hungary would back down from, the Hungarian foreign minister continued, inviting people to the Peace March this Sunday, on the occasion of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848.
Szijjártó also addressed the ongoing efforts by both Hungary and Slovakia to get Zelensky to reopen the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline, via which both countries received exemptions ot continue receiving much-needed crude oil. But Kyiv has denied any official status of a delegation sent to verify the condition of the pipeline, with Zelensky admitting he will only reopen when Hungary pulls its veto of the EU’s €90 billion loan package for Ukraine, and has, in the meantime, started to attack the TurkStream pipeline as well.
“We asked for the opportunity for official meetings, as this delegation went to see for itself the condition of the Friendship oil pipeline […] The Friendship oil pipeline is suitable for transportation, it is only because of Zelensky’s political decision that oil transportation to Hungary has not resumed. The Ukrainians are not satisfied with an oil blockade, they want to subject Hungary to a complete energy blockade, which is why they have repeatedly attacked the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, which brings natural gas to Hungary,” the FM stated.
He added that if the Ukrainians were able to put Hungary under a gas blockade in addition to oil, it would mean that the utility costs of families here in Hungary would immediately increase threefold, since the basis for the reduction in utility costs is cheap Russian oil and gas.
Szijjártó also addressed the tens of millions of cash and gold being transported through Hungary to Ukraine, which has raised numerous questions, given the corruption scandals surrounding Zelensky and his close associates.
“It is clear that the Ukrainian reactions that have been made so far show that they definitely want to hide the purpose of the hundreds of millions of dollars and euros moved in Hungary, hide the recipients and hide what this huge amount of cash was intended or intends to be used for here in Hungary,” he told press.
“One does not have to be a conspiracy theorist to associate in one thought the continuous Ukrainian intention to intervene, the statement of the Tisza Party chairman regarding the 20 billion forint campaign, and the transportation of these hundreds of millions of euros and dollars to Hungary. We hope that in the absence of Ukrainian answers, the Hungarian authorities will soon uncover the reasons behind the gold convoy,” Szijjártó concluded.
As pointed out by political analyst Dániel Deák, Péter Magyar has previously said several times that he needs at least 20 billion forints for his election campaign, and now, the Hungarian authorities have seized cash and gold from the Ukrainian shipment in the tens of billions, writes Origo. Although there is no proven connection, the Hungarian government continues to investigate the suspicious transferring of millions of euros in banknotes and gold by Ukrainian authorities through Hungarian territory.
A 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker who sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl inside a German asylum reception center has avoided jail after receiving a suspended prison sentence, despite the lasting psychological harm suffered by the victim.
The Braunschweig Regional Court sentenced the man to 22 months in prison for sexual abuse of a minor but suspended the sentence for three years, meaning he left court as a free man after the verdict, according to reporting from Braunschweiger Zeitung.
The assault took place on Nov. 24, 2022, at the state reception center in Braunschweig, where both the victim and the perpetrator were living after seeking refuge in Germany.
During the trial, judges heard that the defendant lured the 13-year-old girl to his room with fruit before forcibly pulling her inside. He then threw her onto the bed, removed her clothing, and touched her intimately.
The attack was interrupted when another person unexpectedly entered the room, prompting the man to release the girl and allowing her to escape.
An Afghan asylum seeker who forced a 13-year-old girl into his room at a German asylum center and sexually assaulted her has avoided jail after his defense lawyer argued the attack was down to his "sexual inexperience."
Medical evidence presented in court showed the girl suffered bruising to her face and neck. Although the physical injuries healed, the psychological consequences have persisted. Her lawyer told the court that the victim remains in therapy, more than three years after the assault.
Following the incident, the man shaved his hair and beard at a barbershop, apparently in an attempt to avoid being recognized when returning to the reception facility. Authorities later transferred him to another center in Friedland after tensions rose within the accommodation.
During the trial, the defendant admitted the assault and apologized to the victim. “I wasn’t in control. I wasn’t myself,” he told the court. “I am very sorry for the girl. I can’t undo what I did to her. I hope you will give me a chance to prove that I am not that kind of person.”
His defense lawyer argued that the offense may have been influenced by the defendant’s “sexual inexperience,” noting that since arriving in Germany, he had learned the language, begun training as an electrician, and rented his own apartment.
The court acknowledged the seriousness of the offense but cited the defendant’s confession and lack of previous convictions in Germany when deciding to suspend the sentence. Presiding judge Uta Engemann also noted that three months of the sentence were considered served due to delays in the judicial process.
The defendant was ordered to pay €1,800 in damages to the victim.
The Braunschweig case comes amid a series of controversial rulings in Germany involving violent crimes committed by asylum seekers, where leniency appears to be favored over punitive sentencing.
In December 2025, a 29-year-old Afghan migrant was sentenced to six years in prison for a knife attack on a 27-year-old teacher in the town of Kirchheim unter Teck. The man approached the woman from behind in a residential area while she was walking home from work and stabbed her repeatedly with a knife. The court heard that he stabbed her four times in the back and twice in the thigh.
Despite the severity of the attack, the Stuttgart court dropped the attempted murder charge. Judges ruled that because the attacker stopped stabbing after the victim began screaming and fled the scene, his actions constituted a “withdrawal from attempted murder.” The ruling meant the man was convicted only of causing grievous bodily harm rather than attempted murder.
In another case last year, a 25-year-old Afghan refugee who killed a jogger in Hochdorf in November 2024 was not sentenced to prison after the Stuttgart Regional Court concluded he could not be held criminally responsible. Judges ruled that the defendant was suffering from severe mental illness at the time of the attack and ordered his indefinite placement in a psychiatric hospital instead.
Prosecutors said the victim, a 56-year-old man, was stabbed four times in the chest during what appeared to be a random encounter. The attack punctured the victim’s heart, causing him to bleed to death at the scene. While the court acknowledged that the defendant had committed the killing, it determined that his mental condition meant he could not be held legally responsible in the same way as other offenders.
A similarly high-profile ruling was delivered in Aschaffenburg, where Afghan asylum seeker Enamullah O. fatally stabbed a two-year-old child and a 41-year-old man who attempted to intervene during a daycare outing in Schöntal Park. The regional court ruled that the suspect suffered from a severe psychiatric disorder that rendered him incapable of understanding the wrongfulness of his actions. Instead of a prison sentence, judges ordered permanent placement in a psychiatric hospital.
Legal complications have also led to controversial releases even after convictions. In February 2026, an Afghan national who had been sentenced to seven years and nine months in prison for repeatedly raping and assaulting his partner in Berlin was released from custody after an appeal court ruled that judicial delays had made his continued detention unlawful.
The Berlin Court of Appeal found that the trial judge had failed to complete the written judgment within the legally required timeframe, causing the appeal process to stall for months.
The release triggered emergency protection measures for the victim, who had previously accused the man of repeated assaults, sexual violence, and threats with weapons over a period of several months.
Data from the Federal Criminal Police Office’s 2024 crime report, cited by Bild, indicated that foreign nationals are significantly overrepresented in violent crime figures.
The report found that 163 out of every 100,000 German citizens were recorded for violent crimes in 2024. Among Syrians, the figure rose to 1,740 per 100,000, while for Afghans it was recorded at 1,722 per 100,000.
Overall, non-German suspects now account for more than 40 percent of serious crimes in Germany despite representing about 16 percent of the population.
Mégane arrived at the hospital with life-threatening internal injuries, including perforations of her colon, small intestine, peritoneum, and diaphragm. She also suffered a collapsed lung and fractured ribs.
Emergency responders who attended the scene were offered psychological care and support, with many emergency responders also breaking down in tears at the condition of the victim, France Bleu reported at the time.
“Investigators are shocked, they have never seen so much barbarity,” one source familiar with the case told France Bleu.
After spending a month in a coma on the brink of death, she finally regained consciousness on Sept. 6, 2023.
Shortly after emerging from her coma, her father said: “(The government) not communicating about this attack gives credit to all these sexual predators and other parasites of society who plague the streets. A wake-up call to the government about the fact that we leave this kind of individual, with a heavy criminal past, in complete freedom, would be welcome. ‘Trust in justice,’ we were told… We only want that.”
Though she survived, her life has been shattered. She has undergone numerous surgeries and has been forced to move back in with her mother. Today, she suffers from recurrent nightmares and severe depression, requiring ongoing medication. She no longer leaves her house alone and has had to give up both her career and her passion for sports.
Ndiaye had long been a known menace in his neighborhood of Octeville, where residents reported he frequently smoked cannabis and terrorized the community. At only 18, he already featured 17 offenses involving physical assault, theft, and the incestuous sexual assault of his younger sister. Disturbingly, he had been investigated in several previous rape cases, all of which were closed without further action. He now faces a sentence of life in prison.
According to Le Figaro, the suspect expressed “neither empathy nor remorse” for the crime when he was in police custody.
The case also has parallels with numerous other rape cases involving foreigners that Remix News has reported on over the years. In what is one of the most harrowing cases, 9-year-old Swedish girl Luna was raped and strangled into a coma by a 15-year-old Ethiopian classmate with a history of sexual assault and viewing strangulation pornography on school computers. In a long-form piece, Remix News reported how Luna’s family lives with what they describe as a “black hole with no bottom” over the fact that the once lively girl can no longer speak and remains confined to a wheelchair.
Russia has taken in roughly €6 billion from fossil fuel exports since Israeli and American strikes on Iran began on 28 February, according to new analysis based on data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
The figures, published Thursday by German environmental NGO Urgewald and reported by Novaya Gazeta, suggest that global energy market turbulence triggered by the escalation in the Middle East has boosted Russian export revenues in recent days.
According to the analysis, Russia earned about €510 million per day from fossil fuel exports during the week after the strikes began, a figure roughly 14 percent higher than the average daily income recorded in February.
Urgewald said that at roughly €510 million in daily income, Russia’s fossil fuel earnings would theoretically be sufficient to purchase around 17,000 Shahed 136 attack drones every day if each unit costs about $35,000, a commonly cited estimate. Even if the price were closer to $50,000 per drone, the daily revenue would still cover the cost of nearly 12,000 units.
The figures come as Washington weighs adjustments to sanctions on Russian oil amid instability in global energy markets following the escalation involving Iran.
Last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a temporary waiver allowing Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil that was already in transit at sea. Bessent described the move as a limited measure that would have only a modest impact on Russia’s overall income.
However, broader changes to sanctions remain under consideration. U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly discussed energy markets, Ukraine, and the situation surrounding Iran during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week. According to reports, Trump indicated that restrictions affecting “some countries” could potentially be lifted in order to ease pressure on global oil supplies.
Western sanctions have forced Russian crude to sell at a substantial discount while limiting access to Western shipping, insurance, and financial services. As a result, Moscow has relied heavily on a narrower group of buyers, including India, which have been able to negotiate lower prices.
“That is the reality of fossil fuel geopolitics. When markets panic, authoritarian exporters cash in. In less than two weeks, Russia has earned an estimated €6 billion from fossil fuel exports, money that ultimately feeds the Kremlin’s war machine,” claimed Alexander Kirk, a sanctions campaigner at Urgewald.
Kirk warned that rolling back sanctions would sharply increase Moscow’s earnings by allowing its oil to be sold at higher prices.
“This is a political choice. Governments can hold the line on sanctions, or they can signal that if energy prices rise high enough, the West will always find a reason to blink. That choice will not just prolong Ukrainian suffering. It will undermine the security of Europe as a whole,” Kirk claimed.
This view was shared by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday, who told the European Parliament that returning to Russian fossil fuels would leave the European Union more dependent, more exposed, and weaker.
However, several politicians across Europe want a more pragmatic solution to what they anticipate will be the latest energy crisis affecting the continent.
Hungary, for example, insists that Russian sanctions must be lifted to allow for a greater supply of energy to reach Central and Eastern Europe, which is currently experiencing supply shortages as a result of Ukraine’s decision to stop the flow from the Druzhba pipeline.
“The EU should immediately lift its ban on Russian oil and gas imports,” Hungary’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó wrote in a social media post on Monday. “With the war in the Middle East escalating and the Strait of Hormuz closed, a major share of global energy supply is now at risk.”
🇺🇸🇮🇷 JUST IN: Incredible footage shows the moment Iran struck the U.S. tanker "Safesea Vishnu" in the Persian Gulf last night.
As the ship burns, there are screams of, "Allahu Akbar!"
Several vessels attempting to navigate the Strait of Hormuz this week have been struck by Iranian mines in the passage, and oil tankers have effectively been left stranded, resulting in higher prices at gas stations across Europe.
Thousands of Germans have crossed into Poland just to fill up their tanks, with an estimated saving of around €30 per tank, leading to Polish mayors of border towns calling on gas stations to halt the sale of fuel in canisters and for border authorities to monitor those returning to Germany.
President Trump acknowledged that oil prices were on the rise, but insisted this would be short term, and that they would “drop rapidly when the destruction of the Iran nuclear threat is over.”
He insisted it was a “very small price to pay” for “safety and peace.”
A newly released study by the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), nearly 50 percent of Muslims under the age of 40 in Germany hold “Islamist” views, with these Muslims expressing an attraction to Islamism, a preference for Sharia law over the German Basic Law, and harboring anti-Semitic prejudices.
The findings, described as “explosive in nature,” were featured in the latest edition of the “Motra Monitor.” The study reports that as of 2025, Muslims in Germany under the age of 40 (45.1 percent) hold “latent or manifestly Islamist attitudes.“
Some German politicians have already voiced their views on the study’s release. Wolfgang Kubicki, a prominent politician in the Free Democrats (FDP) and former MP, stated on X: “This study should set off all the alarm bells. It is a societal time bomb. We must not only talk about migration, but also about integration and religion. The policy of naively looking away has favored this development. The naivety must stop.”
He further stated that “anyone who demands a caliphate is an enemy of democracy. Enemies of democracy without German citizenship must leave the country. Neighborhoods where ghettoization provides fertile ground for radicalization must be restructured. Islamic associations without a clear demarcation from extremists must not be interlocutors for politics. Germany must act secular and self-confident.”
He further called for an end to headscarves in schools and other state institutions “not to harass or suspect the wearers, but to make it clear that the only binding source of our values is the Basic Law.”
Bei dieser Studie müssen alle Alarmglocken angehen. Das ist eine gesellschaftliche Zeitbombe. Wir dürfen nicht nur über Migration reden, sondern auch über Integration und Religion. Die Politik des naiven Wegsehens hat diese Entwicklung begünstigt. Die Naivität muss aufhören. Wer… pic.twitter.com/h7rvl4GjbQ
Beyond rising crime rates, terrorism offenses, and demographic change, the soaring numbers of Muslims in Europe also raise fundamental questions about worldview and society.
The “Motra monitor,” a monitoring system tracking radicalization, spans 598 pages. It is published by the BKA and receives funding from several entities, including the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Family Affairs. While the report addresses various forms of extremism, including right-wing movements, it places a significant focus on Islamist extremism.
Evidence of these tensions surfaced in the summer of 2025 when “young Muslims and radical left-wing Germans occupied the Gutenberg Memorial in Frankfurt to demonstrate against Israel, some of them willing to use violence.“
The study’s researchers highlight a concerning core demographic, noting that “manifest Islamist attitudes are most prevalent among Muslims under 40, at 11.5 percent.“
In this context, “manifesto“ indicates that a person’s radicalization toward Islamism is already clearly evident and pronounced.
Further complicating the social landscape is a much larger group identified by the authors as having “latently Islamism-savvy attitudes.” This segment has seen a massive increase since 2021. The research group writes that “this amounts to 33.6 percent for those under 40 in 2025.“
While “latent” suggests these Islamist attitudes are present, the radicalization has not yet become openly visible. Combined, these two groups account for “45.1 percent“ of all under-40 Muslims in Germany.
Renowned Islamism researcher Prof. Susanne Schröter, who conducted most of her research into Islamism at the Institute of Ethnology at Goethe University Frankfurt and served as the director of the Frankfurt Research Center for Global Islam until 2025, said to Bild: “Islamism-savvy means that Muslims consider Islamist interpretations of Islam to be correct, are attracted to Islamist organizations close to the Muslim Brotherhood or Salafism, prefer Sharia to the Basic Law, and usually also have anti-Semitic prejudices.”
The BKA study suggests that the radicalization of young Muslims accelerated significantly following the Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.
Germany is far from the only country seeing the rise of Islamism within the populace. A sobering study from the prestigious polling service Ifop from last year shows that hardline views are growing amongst Muslims in France, including an emphasis on the laws of Islam being placed over those of the state, particularly among young Muslims. At the same time, Christianity is collapsing in France.
Among Muslims in general, 44 percent polled say they “respect the rules of Islam” as being more important “than respect for French laws.” For those aged 15-24, 57 percent believe the rules of Islam are more important than “respect for French laws.”
Some 38 percent of French Muslims approve of all or part of Islamist positions, doubling the figure of 19 percent in 1998, underlines Ifop.
Correspondingly, the share of Muslims who want Islam to modernize has fallen from 48 percent in 1998 to 21 percent today. When Ifop requested respondents to choose between the Civil Code and Sharia law on “an important subject in your family, such as ritual slaughter, marriage or inheritance,” 49 percent of Muslims chose to respect French laws, down from 62 percent in 1995. The consumption of alcohol among Muslim men has also fallen sharply, from 46 percent in 1989 to only 26 percent today.
Today, 33 percent of Muslims residing in France — French citizens or foreign nationals — feel sympathy for one of the Islamist movements, a figure that rises to 42 percent among young people. Within this population, 3 percent have sympathy for the most radical and bloody ideology, jihadism.
Swiss federal prosecutors have officially charged an 18-year-old man they say had been actively plotting an Islamist-motivated knife attack in the country.
In a statement by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) on Thursday, the German-speaking Swiss national was charged with supporting the Islamic State, criminal preparatory acts with a view to committing murder, and producing images of violence.
Prosecutors say the teen had been radicalized by Islamists online. “The motive was Islamist,” noted federal prosecutor Stefan Blättler. “His aim was to carry out an attack.”
Investigators say the suspect had researched methods for carrying out an assault and planned to use a knife to embark on an indiscriminate jihadist stabbing spree. Authorities seized a knife that he had purchased online shortly before his arrest.
According to 20 Minutes news outlet, the suspect had also distributed IS propaganda videos on social media and supported the proscribed terror organization financially.
The teen had initially been arrested back in the spring of 2025. In December, he was released from custody under conditions, but remained under investigation. He has only now been formally charged.
His release was granted because the grounds for detention no longer existed, prosecutors said. It is unclear how this statement remains consistent with this week’s charges.
Little is known about the suspect; neither his name, hometown, nor his ethnicity has been released. Criminal proceedings are ongoing, and prosecutors are investigating whether other individuals may have been involved.
In an interview with Sonntagsblick back in October, Blättler warned that terror-related activities were increasing at an alarming rate across Switzerland. “We have over 140 ongoing investigations under the heading of terrorism, more than ever before. And that number continues to rise,” he said.
Authorities say the increasing number of investigations has strained resources for counter-terrorism efforts, and have repeatedly called for additional personnel and specialized prosecutors to deal with the growing workload. Blättler warned that many suspects in current investigations are young adults and described the trend as a broader societal challenge.
On the wider issue of gang violence and organized crime, he warned that “if we downplay the situation and don’t see it as so bad, then in 10 or 15 years at the latest we’ll have similar conditions to those in Sweden; a typical, terrible example.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was asked by Politico about his thinly veiled death threat against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, to which he showed no remorse. Instead, he said that he did not believe that “diplomatic silence” would be “very helpful” in response to Orbán.
Zelensky’s threat, made last week, has already been condemned by the European Union. He stated at the time that “we hope that not a single person in the European Union will block the 90 billion [euros], or the first tranche of the 90 billion, and that the Ukrainian soldiers will have weapons.”
He then added a remark that Hungarian officials interpreted as a threat directed at Orbán.
Criticism of Zelensky’s death threats seems to have made little impact on the Ukrainian leader, whose entire administration is facing multiple serious investigations for corruption from the country’s own anti-corruption authority.
In addition, the Ukrainian president essentially admitted that he closed the Friendship pipeline in order to interfere in the Hungarian parliamentary elections in April, as reported by Hungarian outlet Hirado.
“And as for when (the Friendship pipeline) would recover. Frankly, I personally wouldn’t recover it. That’s my point. I told the European leaders and those who called me about it, as well as the leadership of the European Union, because it is Russian oil. There are principles that have no price. They are killing us, and we should give oil to Orbán, because he is poor, without which he cannot win an election? That’s my position,” said Zelensky.
Zelensky sharply criticized Orbán in the Politico interview. According to the Ukrainian president, the Hungarian prime minister is “friends” and “strategic partners” with Russia.
“He’s standing on the side of [the] Russian leader. He’s doing the same, blocking everything for Ukraine. Only one thing he doesn’t do today — he is not attacking by missiles or drones our territory,” Zelensky said about Orbán. Zelensky added that Orbán is not sending soldiers to fight Ukraine but said Orbán vetoes financial support and arms deliveries to Ukraine, and also opposes Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. He also added that, in his opinion, the Hungarian prime minister uses the same narratives as Russia.
In the interview, Zelensky also spoke about the fact that Kyiv would like the European Union to prepare “a plan B” in the event that Viktor Orbán blocks EU subsidies to Ukraine.
The mayor of the Polish city of Świnoujście has warned that German motorists flooding across the border for cheaper fuel are creating shortages and forcing authorities to consider limits on sales.
Joanna Agatowska said the situation had moved beyond simply high prices and was now threatening local fuel availability.
“Above all, we must ensure uninterrupted access to fuel for our residents and municipal companies, which must carry out their duties safely and uninterruptedly,” Agatowska said in a statement published on the city’s website.
The warning comes after a surge in cross-border “fuel tourism” triggered by sharply higher petrol and diesel prices in Germany following the conflict between the United States and Israel, and Iran.
Gas stations in the German town of Heringsdorf were selling diesel for up to €2.07 per litre on Wednesday morning, while the same fuel in nearby Świnoujście cost roughly €1.38. Petrol prices show an even wider gap, with Super E10 costing around €2.10 in Germany but about €1.33 in Poland.
For motorists with a 50-liter tank, the difference amounts to savings of more than €30, making the short trip across the border highly attractive.
According to Polish outlet Tysol, the rush has triggered shortages in the city. “Massive refueling on the Polish side of the border is causing shortages at gas stations in Świnoujście,” the outlet reported.
Polsat News reporter Wojciech Gaweł said drivers had begun arriving in large numbers to take advantage of the price difference. “Drivers rushed to buy fuel en masse, and so did their German neighbors, who came to the Polish side to fill up,” he said.
Local officials say the situation has worsened because some motorists are not only filling their vehicles but also stockpiling fuel in canisters.
Świnoujście authorities have now appealed to gas station operators to limit the sale of fuel in canisters and to exercise stricter oversight of sales, Bild reported.
The city has also asked customs and border services to carry out inspections of drivers leaving Poland to ensure existing regulations on transporting fuel across the border are enforced.
The risk of shortages is compounded by the city’s geography. Świnoujście sits on an island, and for safety reasons, fuel tankers cannot use the underwater road tunnel. Instead, deliveries must be transported by ferry, which runs only four times a day and does not operate on Sundays or public holidays.
Last weekend, parts of the city reportedly ran out of fuel entirely, and officials fear the situation could repeat itself if the cross-border rush continues.
After Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk demanded to know why Poland’s Central Bank holds gold reserves not only in Poland but also in two other locations around the world, National Bank of Poland (NBP) President Professor Adam Glapiński has told press that it does so for “security reasons.”
Recently, Donald Tusk, among others, appealed to the NBP President to “finally return all Polish gold to the country.”
“We decided to keep this gold scattered in different places… in Poland, London and New York for security reasons,” Glapiński said during a press conference. He admitted that he doesn’t like to talk about this fact so as not to spread panic, but, as he explained, such a gold storage policy “is required,” reports wPolityce.
“I’m hearing voices again from prominent public figures, meaning well-known ones, on the Xth floor, in the Sejm, in all media, that all the gold should be immediately brought to Poland and kept here, preferably in Rzeszów, or perhaps, let’s say, for safekeeping by Ukrainians in Kyiv. These are people who consider themselves intelligent. I haven’t said this before, but I’m saying it now because others are saying such nonsense,” said the NBP president.
He also announced that “a few months ago,” he ordered the preparation of a draft resolution of the NBP management board, which would allow for the import of “further large amounts of gold to Poland, but without violating the principle of dispersing it to these three places.”
“There has been an exceptional amount of gold accumulation in London, where we are buying it, because we are heading towards 700 tons, so we will bring a large batch of gold to Poland,” Glapiński said.
He added that construction work is currently underway on a building that will house “a state-of-the-art vault that meets all global requirements, is spacious and large. At the moment, we mainly have gold in another safe place. We are going to physically inspect our gold in London, and our special team will go and touch the bars, check their numbers, etc. We do this routinely,” said Glapinski.
Donald Tusk, among others, had earlier this month demanded Polish gold only be stored in Poland, with the Polish prime minister posting on X: “Let this Polish gold, because it is not the gold of Messrs. Nawrocki, Glapiński or Tusk, which is now scattered among banks in several places around the world, finally return to the country.”
Glapiński also spoke about the NBP’s handling of Polish gold. “The National Bank of Poland (NBP), as the central bank, is responsible for the safekeeping and management of Poland’s gold reserves. Gold, like other reserve assets, is intended for the implementation of tasks carried out in the public interest.”
“We have various currencies, primarily dollars and euros…. and we have gold… We have always been restructuring our reserves, like any other central bank… Changes are constantly taking place, and gold is just like any other element of reserves. Gold can be sold, bought, traded, etc,” he said.
“The only place where gold is traded is London, which is why we have the most gold in London. At the end of February 2026, we had foreign exchange reserves totaling over one trillion złoty (€230 billion). Of this, gold represents the equivalent of approximately 340 billion złoty. Our gold reserves have increased in recent years from 200 tons to 570 tons. You can see the very dynamic growth.”
He recalled that the National Bank of Poland began to dynamically increase its gold reserves after Russia’s attack on Ukraine. “We will keep buying gold until we reach 700 tons, because that’s where we are on the political map…. A country that borders a war zone is subject to special scrutiny. Investors and international institutions assessing our credibility take our reserves into account,” he said.
Multiple African and Middle Eastern women are using complete strangers with Dutch citizenship to fraudulently obtain residency permit, according to the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND).
The IND warns it is essentially powerless to stop this widespread fraud, including egregious cases, such as a man identified as Surinamese-Dutch man who has been linked to 47 applications to claim paternity for foreign children. Another Surinamese-Dutch man has recognized 25 babies born to 17 different women, each of whom subsequently applied for a residency permit on that basis.
In fact, the fraud is extremely widespread, with the top offenders from Morocco, Turkey, Ghana, Nigeria and Suriname. Over recent years, the IND has logged 400 reports of suspected fraud involving child recognition, submitted by municipalities, embassies, or uncovered through its own casework. Requests for residency permits based on having a child with a Dutch national have been rising steadily, now exceeding 3,000 cases per year.
The applicants know the loopholes and they know the courts are on their side. Whenever a Dutch national recognizes a child in a foreign country as his own, they automatically obtain residency rights. The IND has identified a network of so-called “sham parents” who allegedly offer themselves for registration as the legal father or mother of a foreign child — in exchange for payment.
A single EU court ruling opened the floodgates
The practice surged following a 2017 ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union. At the time, an undocumented Venezuelan mother was ruled to have the right to remain in the Netherlands because she had a child with a Dutch father. The impact of that judgment has been enormous on the Netherlands and its social welfare system.
Since then, foreigners whose child has been recognized by a Dutch national have been effectively guaranteed residency. Crucially, the recognizing party does not even need to be the biological parent. The rules also apply to stepparents, foster parents and guardians.
Since the 2017 ruling, more than 17,500 such applications have been submitted and nearly all have been approved, according to IND figures.
The Dutch Association for Civil Affairs (NVVB) urged registry officials to be on the lookout for such fraud, including warning signs like “a striking age gap between the alleged parents,” according to Dutch news outlet NRC. They instructed officials to refuse the application if questions arose,, but a serious problem arose. The courts were ruling in favor of the suspected fraudsters in every instance.
NRC points to a case from 2020, where a Ghanese man without residency papers sought to recognize a child with a Dutch woman. The man and woman gave contradictory statements about their supposed relationship and refused a DNA test. The Amsterdam registry official suspected a sham arrangement, but the court ordered authorities proceed with the recognition regardless, because it could not be proven that the man’s sole motivation was the residency permit.
Eric Gubbels, chair of the NVVB’s Personal Registration committee, says the pattern repeated itself across virtually every case of this kind to reach the courts.
“The burden of proof, according to the court, lies entirely with the municipality. It must demonstrate that the person recognizing the child is after a residency permit. And in practice, that almost never succeeds,” he said.
As a result of the string of lost legal battles, the NVVB no longer actively works to obstruct questionable child recognitions, Gubbels says. Registry officials are no longer encouraged to block suspected sham recognitions. “Because it quite simply serves little purpose.”
Abuse is rampant
The system is, in effect, wide open to exploitation. Once a recognition has passed through the civil registry, the child automatically becomes Dutch — and on that basis, the other parent can claim residency.
This pattern is not only seen in the Netherlands, either. In Germany, extreme cases, including the infamous case of Mr. Cash Money, have made national headlines. The man claimed to be the father of 24 children in the city of Dortmund, which also suffered from similar frauds committed by other African men as well.
In the Netherlands, a portion of those applications can be traced back to a network of sham fathers, according to a confidential IND report seen by NRC.
A central figure is a Surinamese-Dutch artist from Rotterdam, who the report suggests may be running a trade in child recognitions. Despite his many court appearances over the years, he consistently appears in Rotterdam’s civil registration desk with a succession of different women. Sometimes, less than a month passes before he returns to recognize yet another baby. Although the women are formally listed as the applicants, the handwriting on the forms is identical across all the cases, and authorities believe it is his.
The applications contain the same recurring phrases, showing a lack of concern from the man that he will face any legal consequences. Among the terms being used, he frequently writes: “Without me in her/his/their life, it will become very difficult and unworkable.”
Roughly a year after each recognition, the mother files for a residency permit, which the IND cannot legally reject.
Through his handwriting on forms and his own recognition filings, the man has been connected to 47 Surinamese applicants in total. The IND suspects he carries out the recognitions for “financial gain” and believes he plays “an important role” in a broader network of sham parents, based on his contacts with men in other cities who also have numerous recognitions registered in their name.
Children left stranded
The NVVB warns that children themselves stand to lose out.
“They are saddled with a legal parent who will never play any role in their life,” says Gubbels.
The IND also cites other cases where even homeless men have been directly approached to participate in such schemes. One confidential report describes a 76-year-old man with brain damage who attempted to recognize a one-year-old child. He claimed to have fathered the child in Cameroon, but had never set foot in the country. He had only had online contact with the mother.
Other countries have confronted this crisis.
NDR cites Belgium, which made the recognition of a child for the purpose of obtaining residency papers a criminal offense in 2018. The NVVB hopes the Netherlands will follow with new legislation to combat this crime.
A 24-year-old Albanian man accused of helping run a cocaine trafficking operation in Paris has been released from custody after a court clerk failed to sign a key document ordering his detention.
The suspect, identified as Mirsad, had been jailed on Feb. 19 after being charged in Paris with drug trafficking and criminal conspiracy. However, he was freed on Tuesday after the investigating chamber determined that the detention order was invalid due to a procedural mistake.
“The clerk of the judge of freedoms and detention forgot to sign the official report,” the man’s lawyer, Sarah Monchalin, said, describing the omission as an undeniable legal error.
As a result, the court ordered the man’s release under judicial supervision. According to Le Parisien, he is required to report to a police station in central Paris twice a week and provide a residential address in the capital within 48 hours. Failure to do so could result in his being returned to custody, should authorities be able to locate him.
According to investigators, the suspect belonged to a criminal gang using several stash houses to store drugs and organize trips to Belgium to obtain supplies of narcotics. The network reportedly functioned in a manner similar to a call center, with customers placing orders through encrypted messaging services.
Police launched coordinated arrests on Feb. 17, detaining the three suspects of the trafficking ring in their apartments. House searches led to the seizure of approximately two kilograms of cocaine, synthetic drug crystals, and €4,700 in cash.
During questioning, the men reportedly admitted their involvement in the trafficking operation. Mirsad told investigators he had been acting under instructions from a man identified as “Vela,” claiming he had been under pressure due to a debt of €10,000.
The suspect told authorities he had arrived in France only in January 2026 and has no previous criminal record. Investigators, however, said he had made several trips between France and Albania in the past.
After Hungary and Slovakia sent a team to inspect the supposed damage to the Druzhba pipeline, which has been cited as the reason for this key energy transit line’s closure since Jan. 27, Ukraine is denying that they receive any official communication regarding the visit and claiming that the visit will include no meetings with government authorities.
Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade has since responded, blasting what they say are clear lies of Ukraine, specifically, of President Zelensky, and attaching the letter sent to his government.
The dispatch of the mission to Ukraine, including Slovak citizens, was confirmed on Wednesday by Hungarian Deputy Energy Minister Gábor Czepek, among others, writes Do Rzeczy. He announced on social media that the delegation will assess the actual state of infrastructure and prepare conditions for restarting oil transport.
However, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has maintained a different story, with spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi stating that a group of Hungarian citizens did indeed enter Ukrainian territory, but did not have the status of an official delegation. According to the Ukrainian side, these individuals crossed the border under the rules applicable to citizens of Schengen countries and have no scheduled meetings with Ukrainian government officials.
“The Ukrainian president is lying,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó opened his post on X. “@ZelenskyyUa claims he was unaware that a Hungarian delegation would arrive in Ukraine because the Hungarian government did not coordinate the visit with the Ukrainian MFA.”
“Here are the facts,” he continues. “Yesterday we informed the Ukrainian authorities in an official diplomatic note that a Hungarian delegation, led by Deputy Minister for Energy Gábor Czepek, would travel to Ukraine to inspect the condition of the Druzhba oil pipeline. We also requested a meeting with the Ukrainian energy minister. The reality is that Ukraine has blocked oil shipments to Hungary at a time when maritime oil transport faces the greatest uncertainty in history, while the only alternative to the Druzhba pipeline is the sea route.”
Ukraine itself has also carried out attacks on the Druzhba, with the aim of permanently shutting down any transport of oil from Russia. In his post, Szijjártó also revealed that Ukraine is now attacking another pipeline, the TurkStream, a report corroborated by Gazprom via Reuters. This is further threatening energy supplies at a time when global oil prices are skyrocketing due to the war in Iran.
“Ukraine has now attacked the infrastructure of TurkStream in Russia, which guarantees Hungary’s gas supply. Without TurkStream, Hungary simply cannot be supplied with gas safely from a geographical and physical standpoint. Ukraine’s oil blockade through the Druzhba pipeline and this strike against TurkStream are serious attacks on our sovereignty,” he wrote.
Following Zelensky’s direct threat on Viktor Orbán’s life, the Hungarian prime minister and his entire family have now been threatened by Hryhoriy Omelchenko, a Ukrainian politician, former MP, and former officer of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
In a clip that has now gone viral, Omelchenko states, “He knows that after losing power, prison awaits him, or perhaps something worse… We don’t need Orbán’s address. We know where he lives, where he sleeps at night, where he drinks his wine, and who he meets. If Orbán does not change his anti-Ukrainian position, let him remember that karma never forgives crimes. You can’t run or hide from karma.”
BREAKING: Another threat to the life of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán from Ukraine.
Hryhoriy Omelchenko, former MP and officer of the SBU, Ukraine's internal security service:
"He knows that after losing power, prison awaits him, or perhaps something worse…
Orbán has since responded to the threat in a Facebook video message in which he is forced to call his family members and warn them. “The Ukrainians are already threatening my family, my children and my grandchildren. Everyone is fine, but there is a limit to everything!” he captioned the video.
“I am calling you so that you hear it from me first. You will probably see in the news that the Ukrainians have threatened us. Not just me now, but you all, too. My kids and grandchildren,” we hear. “I’m just calling to tell you to not be afraid.”
“If you see anything unusual or if there is a problem, let me know. You should take it seriously, but don’t be afraid,” he tells one of his children. “Take care of yourself.”
“This is unusual in our lives, but we will figure out how to adapt to it,” he then tells viewers. “My wife will play a key role in this.”
Amidst this new reality for Orbán’s family, living under threat from a neighboring country, Brussels has decided to hand Zelensky its highest of honors, alongside Angela Merkel and Lech Walesa, a new award recognizing people’s contributions to “respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law.”
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has announced €100 million in aid for Lebanon, as it suffers from continuous Israeli missile strikes.
“Good call with President Joseph Aoun. I expressed Europe’s solidarity with Lebanon and its people. We are providing EUR 100 million in humanitarian support. Yesterday, we delivered over 40 tonnes of supplies and we plan to organize more humanitarian flights. I welcome the government’s decision to ban all Hezbollah military activities and its call to end all hostilities. We must ensure a sovereign and stable Lebanon for its people,” she wrote on X.
Since Israel began its onslaught of attacks against Lebanon, over 700,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, including approximately 200,000 children, writes Do Rzeczy, citing UN data. UN data also shows that 486 people, including 84 children, have been killed, and 1,313 have been injured, including 259 children, since the fighting began.
On Sunday morning, a missile struck the Ramada Hotel in central Beirut, killing four and injuring 10. Immediately after the attack, Reuters reported that the hotel was also home to people who had fled the fighting in southern Lebanon.
A few days ago, Anouar El Anouni, the spokesperson for EU affairs, stated: “The EU calls on Israel to cease all actions that violate resolution 1701 and the ceasefire agreement reached a year ago in November 2024,” according to The Times of Israel.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas also condemned Israel, calling on the country to “cease its operations in Lebanon,“ writes EUNews. She further questioned the motive behind Netanyahu’s justification for the bombing, i.e., Hezbollah’s support of Iran, saying that it now “risks dragging Lebanon and its population into a war that is not theirs, with serious humanitarian consequences.”
Israel has made it clear that it is preparing a ground invasion of Lebanon, with plans to even permanently occupy southern areas of the country.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun warned that the ongoing conflict is “taking a devastating toll” on the country’s population. He pointed out that many displaced people now lack shelter and access to basic necessities. Aoun also proposed a four-point plan to end the conflict, which includes a complete ceasefire, the disarmament of Hezbollah, and international support for the Lebanese Armed Forces.
A Dutch court has refused to release a Syrian asylum seeker accused of preparing a terrorist attack after his lawyer argued that discussions about obtaining firearms should not be viewed as suspicious because “acquiring a weapon is common practice for Syrians.”
The defense made the claim during a bail hearing for 34-year-old Mousa A., who was arrested in November at an asylum seekers’ center in Dronten following a warning from the Dutch intelligence service AIVD.
According to reporting by the Dutch newspaper AD, prosecutors allege the suspect had an extensive online presence used to exchange jihadist propaganda and discuss acquiring weapons. Investigators say he operated eight TikTok accounts, eight Facebook accounts, and 15 Gmail addresses, in addition to profiles on Instagram, Telegram, YouTube, and WhatsApp.
In several chats, the suspect allegedly used coded language when discussing firearms and ammunition. Messages referring to “300 beans, 4 melons, and the iron” were interpreted by investigators as references to a weapon, ammunition, and cartridges. Prosecutors say he later mentioned a silencer during discussions about a possible attack in Syria against a named supporter of the former Assad regime.
Authorities also cited chat messages in which the suspect was referred to as “the sheik,” suggesting he may have been regarded as a leader within an extremist network.
The suspect was arrested at the asylum seekers’ center after intelligence services warned prosecutors that he adhered to jihadist ideology and had been searching for a firearm. Regional broadcaster Omroep Flevoland reported at the time that the suspect had contacted unknown individuals through chat applications, asking whether they could supply him with a weapon and ammunition.
Public prosecutor Corjan Kroon said investigators considered the threat serious enough to justify immediate arrest rather than a prolonged surveillance operation.
When police detained him, the suspect allegedly attempted to stab an officer.
Prosecutors have acknowledged that the suspect did not possess a firearm at the time of his arrest and that no confirmed arrangement had yet been made for a weapon to be delivered. It also remains unclear whether he intended to carry out an attack alone or as part of a group.
The defense argued there was no concrete evidence that the man had begun preparing a terrorist attack. His lawyer told the court her client had been traumatized by the war in Syria and had expressed a desire to return to his home country. They noted that he has young children currently living in Turkey.
The suspect remained largely silent during the hearing but briefly denied the allegations. “I love Dutch people and also have friends with different faiths. Why would I commit an attack?” he told the court, adding that he had graduated from a university in Turkey and hoped to rebuild his life in the Netherlands.
Judges rejected the request to suspend pretrial detention, citing the extremist content found across the suspect’s accounts and the possibility he could flee if released.
Returning to Russian fossil fuels would leave the European Union more dependent, more exposed and weaker, warned European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Strasbourg on Wednesday.
Speaking during a plenary debate at the European Parliament ahead of next week’s EU summit of heads of state and government, and amid ongoing discussion of the situation in the Middle East, von der Leyen stated that Europe had made significant progress in recent years. Thanks to measures taken across the bloc, she said, the continent is now far less reliant on fossil fuel imports and less exposed to price volatility than it once was.
However, the ongoing Iran conflict has offered a sharp reminder of how much vulnerability remains. Gas prices have climbed 50 percent and oil prices 27 percent since the war began. Von der Leyen put a concrete figure on what that means for ordinary Europeans, stating that in just ten days of conflict, the bill run up through fossil fuel imports has reached €3 billion euros for European taxpayers.
“That’s the price of our addiction,” she said.
🇪🇺EU Commission President von der Leyen has signaled she strongly backs the US-Israeli war on Iran and killing of Khomeini.
“There should be no tears shed for the Iranian regime. This regime has inflicted death and imposed repression on its own people."
The underlying problem, she argued, will not disappear through any single policy fix.
“Whatever measures we take, as long as we import a significant part of fossil fuels from unstable regions, we remain vulnerable,” a reality she said must shape Europe’s long-term energy strategy.
Other countries have already revisited their decision to drop Russian energy, with India resuming gas and oil supplies since the war in Iran broke out. Russia has hinted it might cut energy supplies to Europe ahead of a scheduled total ban, but Russian President Vladimir Putin also claims that he would continue supplying European countries if they came to him with a stable contract.
🇷🇺🔴Putin says Russia is a "reliable energy supplier" and claims he would consider selling energy to European buyers again.
“If European companies and European buyers suddenly decide to reorient themselves and provide us with long-term, sustainable cooperation, free from… pic.twitter.com/Bqovbm25ko
While most other European leaders have either firmly rejected Russian energy or reluctantly given it up, Hungarian Viktor Orban has taken a different stance, arguing that cheap Russian energy is vital not only to Hungary but also to the rest of Europe.
His position has put him greatly at odds with Brussels and various other European leaders. Currently, Ukraine is being accused of cutting Russian energy supplies through the Friendship pipeline. While Ukraine claims the pipeline is “damaged,” requests from both Hungary and the European Union to inspect the pipeline have been rejected, raising concerns that the Ukrainians are actively cutting oil supplies to Hungary before national elections next month.
A Turkish-Kurdish schoolgirl is said to have been groped by nine boys of Arab descent in the back room of a Berlin youth center in Gropiusstadt, Neukölln. It then came out that she was raped in November, in the youth center garden. A scandal has erupted after it was reported that the youth center staff did not file a police report, reportedly out of fear that the suspects would be labeled as the “typical Muslims.”
For months, there were already troubling reports from Berlin youth center in the multicultural neighborhood of Neukölln: involving unwanted embraces, girls having their breasts and buttocks touched without consent, and being pulled onto boys’ laps.
All of these incidents were allegedly happening in plain sight of staff.
Then, in January, the incident involving the mass groping of the Turkish-Kurdish victim occured by the nine boys, with each one taking turns molesting her while one boy stood guard in the doorway. They only stopped when a staff member walked in.
Three days later, the girl admitted to staff something worse had happened to her. She had already been raped in November — in the youth center’s garden, in the evening. Afterwards, she crouched in a corner for hours. When she finally tried to leave the area, the entire area was locked. She had to climb over the fence to get out, breaking her ankle in the process.
The assault had also been filmed. The boy, known by the nickname Medi, 17, allegedly used the footage as a weapon.
“I want to see you here every Monday, or I’ll send this to your parents.” Once word of the video spread, other boys in the group began taunting her: “You’re letting yourself be screwed.” They also wanted the girl to introduce them to her 14-year-old sister.
A cover-up because the suspects were Muslim?
Now, the youth center is in the crosshairs for its unbelievable response.
Reportedly, instead of going to the authorities, female visitors were given a “safeword” to use whenever they felt threatened. In addition, the door in the back room was removed from its hinges. The employees refused to go to the police even as colleagues from other facilities applied pressure to do so. The internal justification, according to sources who spoke with Bild newspaper, was a desire to keep things quiet so the young people would not be immediately labeled: “typical Muslims.”
Youth State Secretary Falko Liecke, 53, of the Christian Democrats (CDU), was blunt in his response when approached by Bild.
“It’s outrageous that the Muslim perpetrators are apparently being protected here to avoid stigmatizing them, while the victim is being abandoned. This attitude is completely unacceptable.” He announced he was examining whether child protection laws had been violated.
Parents had to go to the police after authorities failed to act
The girl eventually sought help outside the facility due to their refusal to go to the police.
A supporter of the girl spoke with her parents, who took the news of what happened to their daughter extremely hard. Together with a police prevention officer, they went to the State Criminal Police Office, where the girl gave a video statement so she would not have to recount the events repeatedly.
Officers moved quickly to seize the suspect’s mobile phone. Her father filed a formal complaint against the alleged rapist and also submitted online complaints against those responsible at the facility and the officials who failed to act.
The head of the youth welfare office had been informed as early as Jan. 29. The Neukölln administration’s explanation to Bild as to why no report was filed was that “the youth welfare office did not file a report because they do not know the names of either the victim or the perpetrator.”
Liecke responded to their excuse, saying: “This case was clearly intended to be swept under the rug for political reasons. It wasn’t even put on the agenda at the district office, even though it should have been. Neither the youth welfare office nor the responsible city councilor filed any reports with the police. This is a scandal and must have consequences.”
Neukölln Mayor Martin Hikel, of the far-left Social Democrats (SPD), said he saw no grounds for disciplinary action against the Left Party youth councilor with political responsibility for the case, on the basis that she was only informed by her own welfare office on March 2.
He nonetheless acknowledged the gravity of the situation: “This shocking case shows that the structures and processes within the youth welfare office require a self-critical internal review. In this context, a survey on the topic of sexual assaults in youth recreation facilities would be advisable in order to develop systematic improvements. The district office will discuss this.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called for Europe to lead a revival of nuclear power, despite having personally supported the decision to phase out Germany’s nuclear energy sector while serving in Angela Merkel’s government.
Speaking on Tuesday at the Nuclear Energy Summit in Paris, von der Leyen argued that nuclear energy must become a central pillar of Europe’s energy system alongside renewables, warning that high electricity prices threaten the continent’s industrial competitiveness.
“Europe’s electricity prices are structurally too high. This matters enormously,” von der Leyen said. “Affordable electricity is not only important for our citizens’ cost of living, but it is also decisive for our industrial competitiveness.”
She argued that Europe faces a structural disadvantage because it relies on imported fossil fuels, adding that nuclear and renewable energy together could provide the “joint guarantors of independence, security of supply, and competitiveness.”
Von der Leyen also said Europe had made a “strategic mistake” by allowing nuclear energy to decline over the past three decades.
“While in 1990 one-third of Europe’s electricity came from nuclear, today it is only close to 15 percent,” she said. “This reduction in the share of nuclear was a choice. I believe that it was a strategic mistake for Europe to turn its back on a reliable, affordable source of low-emissions power.”
The Commission president outlined plans to revive the sector through support for next-generation reactors and small modular reactors (SMRs), including a proposed €200 million EU guarantee scheme aimed at attracting private investment into innovative nuclear technologies. The EU is also preparing a strategy designed to make SMR technology operational across Europe in the early 2030s.
Yet, von der Leyen’s remarks stand in contrast to her own role in the decision that dismantled Germany’s nuclear energy supply.
Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, Merkel’s government abruptly reversed Germany’s earlier pro-nuclear policy and pushed through legislation to phase out the country’s reactors. On June 30, 2011, the German Bundestag voted overwhelmingly to end nuclear power by 2022, passing the measure by 513 votes to 79.
At the time, von der Leyen was both a CDU member of the Bundestag and serving as Germany’s federal labour minister in Merkel’s cabinet. She voted in favor of the phase-out.
The policy, known as the Energiewende, ultimately led to the closure of Germany’s final nuclear power plants in April 2023.
The decision contributed enormously to Europe’s broader energy crisis, forcing Germany — Europe’s largest economy — to rely increasingly on electricity imports, including nuclear-generated power from neighboring countries, driving up energy prices for families and businesses.
During periods of weak wind and solar generation, Germany has repeatedly had to import large volumes of electricity from France, where reactors operated by Électricité de France continue to supply nuclear power to the grid.
While Germany phased out its nuclear power with the implicit support of the European Commission, other countries were not so short-sighted. France erred on the side of caution by keeping its plants operational, while many countries across Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland and Hungary, ramped up their nuclear energy production.
Last year, energy economist Manuel Frondel of the RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research warned that Germany’s energy policy had left it exposed.
“By phasing out nuclear power and coal, we have become heavily dependent on foreign countries and accepted higher supply risks,” Frondel said.
Von der Leyen, a proponent of the Merkel government’s decision to self-harm, now argues that Europe still has the capacity to regain global leadership in nuclear technology.
“The nuclear tech race is on, but we know that Europe has everything it needs to lead,” she claimed.
A 34-year-old Iraqi man illegally residing in Italy was arrested on March 9 after attempting to snatch a five-month-old baby from a car outside a supermarket in Latina — the latest in a disturbing series of child kidnapping attempts carried out by foreign nationals across the country.
According to initial reports, the Iraqi man had been acting suspiciously in the car park before approaching a vehicle where the baby was strapped into a car seat with his mother. He opened the door and attempted to grab the child.
The mother screamed for help while physically trying to stop him, drawing the attention of bystanders and the child’s father, who chased the man down and held him until police arrived.
The mayor of Latina, Matilda Celentano, also commented on the case, saying: “The reconstruction by the State Police leaves me deeply shocked, but at the same time proud of the immediate response of our security system. On behalf of the entire administration and the citizens, I want to express our deepest sympathy for the mother and child involved in this terrible situation. My heartfelt thanks go to the citizens present who did not turn a blind eye, and especially to the State Police officers.”
She added that their intervention “averted a heinous crime and immediately brought the perpetrator to justice. “This episode, despite its exceptionality and gravity, demonstrates the importance of territorial control. We will not lower our guard: we will continue to work closely with the Prefecture and law enforcement to strengthen video surveillance and the protection of sensitive areas. Latina must be and will remain a city where families can feel safe. I will closely monitor the legal proceedings, reaffirming my ongoing commitment to upholding the rule of law.”
Officers determined the Iraqi was in the country illegally and in possession of a rubber mallet.
A member of the public had also earlier reported the Iraqi man’s suspicious behavior in the area, according to police. He was arrested on charges of attempted kidnapping and possession of an offensive weapon and taken into custody pending validation of his arrest, according to Italian news outlet Il Tempo.
Wave of similar kidnappings
The Latina case is far from isolated. A pattern of similar incidents has emerged across Italy in recent years, with foreign nationals implicated in a significant share of child abduction attempts. According to figures cited in Italian reporting, in 2024 alone, 38 percent of arrests and reports related to kidnapping involved foreign nationals — a group that represents just 9 percent of Italy’s resident population.
Homeless Roma man tries to kidnap 18-month-old girl
The incidents stretch from north to south. On Feb. 14, outside a supermarket in Bergamo, a homeless Romanian man attempted to tear an 18-month-old girl from her mother’s arms. Her father managed to stop the attacker, who was then restrained by passersby and security staff. The violence left the toddler with a fractured femur.
Remix News also published a video of this horrifying incident.
🇮🇹Italy
In Bergamo, a Romanian migrant tried to kidnap a one-and-a-half-year-old girl at the entrance of a supermarket.
The mother and other witnesses managed to stop the man, but the little girl suffered a fractured femur.
He fought back violently during his arrest, kicking and striking an officer.
Gambian tries to snatch baby
A month earlier, near Bologna’s train station, a young Gambian male residing at a reception center for unaccompanied migrant minors approached an Italian family and attempted to lift a baby girl from her pram. The child had fortunately been secured with a harness. The man fled but was tracked down within minutes following a call to the police operations center.
The school’s pedagogical coordinator requested identifying documentation, at which point the two left without the child.
Romanian tries to kidnap 7-year-old
On July 27, 2025, near Piazzale della Radio in Rome, a Romanian man with no fixed address and a prior criminal record was arrested after attempting to snatch a seven-year-old girl from her mother, then chasing the family while brandishing a bottle. The child’s father and bystanders held the man until the Carabinieri arrived.
Nigerian man tries to kidnap 2-year-old
In October 2024, inside a Bricocenter DIY store in Turin, a 46-year-old Nigerian man with a prior record grabbed a two-year-old boy from behind and ran out of the shop. The father gave chase, wrestled his son free, and the suspect then stripped off his clothing and threatened passersby with a glass bottle.
At the time, Italian politician Matteo Salvini wrote about the case: “Horrible! How can someone commit such acts? No ‘tolerance’ whatsoever for those who bring violence and crime into our homes, but a one-way ticket back to their country. Go!”
Another Nigerian tries to attack pregnant woman and rip her son from her arms
“I resisted with all my might, was thrown to the ground and beaten, screaming desperately, but no one intervened to help us. It was terrible». Mrs. Adriana G. said after filing a formal police complaint.
While telling her story, she broke out into tears when telling the reporter that her grandson screamed, “Grandma, please don’t leave me,” during the incident.
Italy is far from the only country experiencing this traumatic trend. A video from Bordeaux, France, helps encapsulate how quickly a child can be snatched. The video went viral when it was first released and is still routinely posted on social media. In short, this is a European-wide issue.
Bordeaux, France:
A thug tries to kidnap a little girl at the front door of her own house, throwing her grandmother to the floor.
Immigration is now the most important issue facing Britain, with 51 percent naming it ahead of the economy as the top concern, according to YouGov’s latest tracker.
Separate YouGov tracking shows deep public dissatisfaction with how the government is handling the issue, with 78 percent saying it is doing badly and only 13 percent saying it is doing well.
That anger represents something of a paradox within the U.K. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that long-term immigration fell to 898,000 for the year ending June 2025, down from 1.3 million a year earlier, while net migration dropped to 204,000, roughly two-thirds lower than the revised 649,000 recorded in the previous year.
YouGov most important issues tracker, 7-9 March 2026
That frustration comes despite official figures suggesting migration has fallen sharply from recent peaks. Data from the Office for National Statistics shows long-term immigration to the U.K. fell to 898,000 in the year ending June 2025, down from roughly 1.3 million the previous year. Net migration dropped to 204,000 over the same period, down from a revised 649,000 the year before. A slight rise in emigration has also contributed to this.
But the fall has failed to shift public sentiment. Illegal immigration remains a pressing issue as Home Office figures show that 1,200 migrants arrived in small boats during the week from March 3 to March 9 alone. Daily figures released by the department show crossings on every day during that period, including 309 migrants arriving in four boats on Monday.
However, mass legal immigration from successive governments over the past decade has made the greatest impact. Roughly 3.3 million people arrived in Britain between 2021 and 2023, many entering on non-work visas such as study routes. In the most recent year alone, 809,000 long-term visas were granted, equivalent to a population roughly the size of Leeds arriving in a single year. Last week, the Centre for Migration Control showed how tens of thousands of migrants regularly fail to leave the country at the end of their visa, including nearly 1 in 10 Pakistan and Philippines nationals.
Visas are not just being abused through spurious asylum claims. Tens of thousands arrive legally and then simply disappear.
In the latest data nearly one in ten Pakistanis were not identified as having left at the end of their visa.
— Centre for Migration Control (@migrationCtrl) March 3, 2026
This week, data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) cited by The Sun revealed that 179,482 people with indefinite leave to remain in Britain were claiming Universal Credit as of December 2024. Estimates by the Migration Observatory suggest around 720,500 non-EU citizens had settlement status by the end of that year, meaning roughly a quarter of those with indefinite leave to remain were receiving the welfare benefit.
Home Office projections suggest that a further 1.6 million migrants could obtain settled status between 2026 and 2030. By the end of the decade, that group could cost close to £5.5 billion annually in welfare payments.
The immigration issue is now impacting voting intention. In the latest national polling published this week, Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK leads with between 27 and 29 percent of the vote, followed by Labour on 20-21 percent. Most polling does not prompt for the latest right-wing party, Restore Britain, led by former Reform MP Rupert Lowe. In a separate Find Out Now survey that included Restore Britain, it registered around 7 percent support.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will receive the European Union’s highest honor, the European Order of Merit, which is being handed out for the first time this year. The award has been launched on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, “the starting point of European unity.”
“The award recognizes individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to European integration and the protection of the EU’s fundamental values - respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law,” according to the EU’s site.
The award comes at a questionable time though, with Zelensky recently generating global headlines with what appeared to be a direct threat on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s life.
Speaking about the state of Ukraine’s armed forces on Thursday last week, Zelensky expressed frustration to a Ukrainian parliamentary committee that Hungary has blocked a proposed €90 billion joint European loan intended to finance weapons for Ukraine. Budapest has withheld support for the measure amid an ongoing dispute triggered by the shutdown of the Druzhba, or Friendship, oil pipeline that carries Russian crude oil through Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia.
“We hope that not a single person in the European Union will block the 90 billion, or the first tranche of the 90 billion [euros], and that the Ukrainian soldiers will have weapons,” Zelensky said during the briefing.
He then added a remark that Hungarian officials interpreted as a threat directed at Orbán.
“Otherwise, we will give this person’s address to our armed forces, and then they will call him and speak to him in their own language,” Zelensky said.
The remarks were not only broadly condemned by the Hungarian government, but even the Hungarian opposition leader, Peter Magyar, said the comments were unacceptable. Furthermore, other European political leaders also spoke out against the threat, as well as Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Even the European Union itself condemned his threat.
“Specifically in relation to the comments made by President Zelenskyy, we are very clear as the European Commission that that type of language is not acceptable. There must not be threats against EU member states,” Commission deputy chief spokesperson Olof Gill told reporters last week, in what Politico noted was a rare condemnation of the leader in Kyiv.”
Zelensky’s questionable history
The threat against Orbán is not even the only issue facing Zelensky, either. In light of the numerous corruption scandals Zelensky has found himself in, not to mention that Ukraine is not a member of the EU, there are some who are questioning the gesture of awarding Zelensky with such a prestigious award. However, it is perhaps no surprise given the EU’s fervent support for Ukraine at all costs, even if it runs against the interests of current EU members such as Hungary.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Polish President Lech Walesa are also among the recipients, with the three alone receiving the highest honor of “Distinguished Member.” Several others received the distinction of “Honourable Member” and still others, “Member.”
Máté Kocsis, leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group in Hungary’s National Assembly, commented on the news in a video published on his Facebook page.
“The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola announced that the highest degree of the European Order of Merit will, of course, be awarded to Volodymyr Zelensky,” Koscis began the video.
“Who the hell would get it, if not the one who threatened to kill the prime minister of a European Union member state, or the one who blocked an oil pipeline from a member state, causing an energy crisis, or the one who interfered in a country’s election campaign?” the leader of the Fidesz parliamentary faction continued.
“Of course he gets it, Zelensky gets it! Congratulations, Mr. President!” concluded Kocsis.
AfD leader Alice Weidel had this to say about the recognition: “The EU awards Merkel and Zelensky the highest Order of Merit. One of them ruined Germany for 16 years, the other is picking up right where she left off. The EU calls this ‘services to Europe.’”
As fuel prices soar after a year of economic stagnation, following two years of recession, and continued layoffs, Germans are fearing what higher energy prices could mean, both at the pump and in terms of higher prices across the wide range of products and services that rely on oil.
Following a meeting with Christian Democrat (CDU) party leaders on Monday, German Chancellor Merz told press that the German government is monitoring the situation closely, in cooperation with the Economy Ministry and the Federal Competition Authority. However, any form of direct intervention to ease price hikes seems to be off the table.
Admitting that higher energy prices can impact Germany’s economy, Merz said they are “doing everything possible” to address the situation via energy independence and supply security over the long term, according to Eadaily.com, adding that the job will take more than “a few days.”
Merz’s stance is in stark contrast to that of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The Hungarian government announced price caps at gas stations on Monday in response to the rise in global energy prices due to the Iran War. According to the prime minister, the measure will protect Hungarian families and Hungarian entrepreneurs.
Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Alice Weidel took aim at Merz for his lack of action, especially in light of the fact that Germany has taken all of its nuclear reactors offline.
“Merz claims that the exit from nuclear energy is ‘irreversible’ – while his federal government is definitively ruining Germany’s economy and consumers are footing the bill. An utterly incomprehensible statement from a completely incompetent chancellor!” she posted on X.
A 45-year-old woman who allegedly botched cosmetic procedures on at least 88 patients at a Vienna beauty clinic will not be appearing before the Vienna Regional Court. Her excuse is that she is currently in Iran and unable to travel due to the ongoing war.
The case against Sanaz M. was already quite remarkable. Together with her sister, the Iranian-born woman is accused of running a fraudulent cosmetic practice called “WeUtyful,” located steps from St. Stephen’s Cathedral in the heart of Vienna. Neither woman, according to prosecutors, ever held a legitimate medical qualification.
Despite this reality, the two women allegedly performed complex surgeries and treatments that left dozens of victims injured, disfigured, and in pain.
Nevertheless, both women confidently presented themselves as trained physicians to patients and staff — with Sanaz M. styling herself as “Mrs. Dr. Med.” at every opportunity, despite, as the judiciary alleges, never attending any medical program.
Now, with trial proceedings underway at the Vienna Regional Court, the defendant has sent word that she cannot attend — requesting a rescheduling of her court date “since the accused cannot leave at present.” The woman says she is currently in Iran and cannot leave due to the war.
The explanation has done little to generate sympathy. As her victims’ lawyer, Dr. Alfred Boran, put it, “If this woman apparently prefers to stay in the war zone out of fear of the trial in Vienna, that says a lot about the defendant.”
The 27-page indictment makes clear why facing court in Austria may hold little appeal. Among the allegations documented within it are descriptions of disfiguring and painful outcomes across dozens of patients. One victim, 50-year-old nurse Snezana T., went to the clinic for what she hoped would be a minor rhinoplasty. The procedure left her with lasting physical and psychological damage that she continues to live with today.
Other patient complaints listed in the indictment include “permanent change of facial expressions, drooping eye, a petrified face, etc.”
Lawyers Dr. Alfred Boran and Dr. Christian Werner, who together represent several of the 88 alleged victims, have studied the indictment closely. They note that the actions committed by the two women reveal that “it was intentional serious injury.”
The Vienna public prosecutor’s office also sees the case as a deliberate violation of dozens of patients. Prosecutors allege that the Iranian defendant knowingly accepted the risk of causing serious harm to her patients, concluding that the treatments administered amounted to clear quackery — procedures that were not performed “lege artis,” meaning they fell outside any accepted standard of legitimate medical practice.
Cases involving foreigners working with forged credentials are commonplace in Western nations, but in many cases, these fraudulent degrees are never even uncovered. Just yesterday, Remix News reported on a former Iranian asylum seeker, Taghi B, who is accused of sexually assaulting multiple children and teens during therapy sessions, including a 9-year-old girl. An investigation revealed that the man, who worked in the German city of Nordhausen, used a fake Russian diploma.
A left-wing Swedish politician, whose party advocates for locals to further mix with migrant communities to ease integration concerns, refused to answer questions on the topic when challenged at a meeting in Malmö over the weekend.
Lawen Redar, the Social Democrats’ spokesperson on integration and the architect of the party’s new strategy to combat segregation, was questioned by Malmö politician Nils Littorin, who leads the Malmö List party.
Littorin approached Redar at a public meeting she was holding in the Swedish city, but the left-wing politician objected to the filming of the exchange, and swiftly walked away, refusing to answer any questions.
Remix News published an English translation of the exchange.
WATCH: 🇸🇪 A left-wing Swedish MP makes a swift exit when she is asked about her party's call for the forced mixing of Swedes and immigrants.
She runs away when asked which members of her party's leadership will be moving to Stockholm's migrant-dominated suburbs.
“That’s not okay. You didn’t ask me in advance. No. Turn it off. Turn it off,” Redar said when she noticed Littorin filming.
When Littorin refused, Redar told him, “You have to ask me if you want to ask me questions and if I want to be filmed.”
Littorin had challenged her on her party’s stance regarding the forced mixing of Swedish nationals in heavily populated migrant suburbs of Swedish cities. The party suggests such a move is a necessary radical measure to alleviate integration concerns.
Redar was asked whether she would personally be moving to one of these suburbs affected by her party’s policy proposals, many of which are now plagued by parallel societies and rising gang violence.
She refused to answer the question, despite being one of the policy’s main proponents.
“We are serious about the fact that we intend to break segregation and use housing policy as an engine in that work,” she said when presenting the party’s new platform.
The proposals include preventing newly arrived migrants from settling in already struggling districts, encouraging demographic diversity in residential areas, and reshaping housing construction so that people from different socio-economic backgrounds live together.
Her party leader, Magdalena Andersson, has similarly argued that Sweden must avoid the formation of ethnic enclaves and promote mixed communities. “We do not wish to see Chinatown, Somalitown, or Little Italy in Sweden,” Andersson said previously. “We should be able to live mixed with the experiences we have.”
Sunday’s confrontation has drawn attention not only to the policy itself, but also to Redar’s own living arrangements. In a profile piece published by ABF in May last year, Redar is reported to live between Stockholm and Copenhagen, where her partner, Danish journalist Uffe Tang, is based.
Critics have pointed out that while the policy would affect Swedish families living in heavily immigrant suburbs such as Rinkeby or Rosengård, Redar herself has the ability to escape that reality and spend time outside Sweden whenever she pleases, a luxury not afforded to those who the policy will affect.
Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki believes that removing Donald Tusk from power should be a priority.
“We cannot afford a prime minister who cannot control the country,” the Law and Justice (PiS) MP said during an interview on the “Rymanowski Live” program.
Morawiecki’s comments just after PiS named a new candidate for prime minister this past weekend, Przemysław Czarnek.
During the interview, Morawiecki was asked whether he was “still in Law and Justice” after Saturday’s convention. “Absolutely. Of course, we are fighting this evil government,” he replied, as cited by Do Rzeczy.
When asked if he was happy with Przemysław Czarnek’s nomination, he replied: “I am definitely the man who will support him in his mission.”
The former prime minister has also recently taken on the failings of the current government in Poland, led by Donald Tusk.
“At the end of this intense day, it is worth remembering and emphasizing one thing: The overriding goal for all of us is to remove Donald Tusk from influencing Polish affairs as quickly as possible,” the former head of government wrote on X late yesterday.
As Morawiecki pointed out: “We cannot afford a prime minister who has no control over the state, sweeps every crisis under the PR rug and is unable to hold elections even in his own party.”
“There is no major issue at the moment, everything else is stage directions,” he added.
Earlier, Morawiecki also posted a video on X, addressing Tusk directly regarding the impact of higher oil prices, which have been surging in the wake of the Iran War.
“Tusk, get to work! I am calling for the immediate introduction of protective shields for citizens and businesses, a reduction in VAT and excise duty, and guaranteed support for entrepreneurs – from transport companies, to heating plants and bakeries, to fertilizer and chemical producers. Quick and decisive action is needed. The cheat sheet is on the table – simply do what my government did in 2022. And don’t look for excuses, look for solutions. Before it’s too late,” Morawiecki said.
German automaker Volkswagen plans to cut around 50,000 jobs in Germany by 2030 as profits slump and the company struggles with rising costs, tariffs, and declining margins.
The job cuts were announced alongside the company’s 2025 financial results, which showed net profit falling 44 percent to €6.9 billion — the lowest level since the fallout from the Volkswagen emissions scandal.
At the same time, Volkswagen’s board has come under fire after securing additional bonus payments tied to the 2025 financial year.
According to reporting by Tichys Einblick, board members are set to receive bonuses of up to €1.75 million each after the company unexpectedly reported around €6 billion in net automotive cash flow for 2025, a figure that the news outlet claims was achieved by adopting “creative accounting practices.” It pushed Volkswagen above the €5.6 billion threshold in its executive compensation scheme, activating the highest bonus tier for board members.
The cash-flow result was partly achieved through a factoring operation in which Volkswagen sold outstanding receivables from its operating business to generate immediate liquidity, according to the report.
In the same financial year, workers were forced to forgo bonuses of up to €5,000 due to the company’s weak performance.
In a letter to shareholders on Tuesday, CEO Oliver Blume confirmed the planned workforce reduction, saying the figure applies across the entire Volkswagen Group in Germany. The company had already announced plans to cut around 35,000 jobs at the core Volkswagen brand by the end of the decade.
The company said the drop in net profit was driven by billions of euros in charges linked to its sports car subsidiary Porsche AG, the impact of U.S. import tariffs, and the costs of restructuring across the group.
Revenue remained largely stable at just under €322 billion, down 0.8 percent compared with the previous year, while global vehicle deliveries slipped slightly to just under 9 million units.
Sales rose 5 percent in Europe and 10 percent in South America, but declined 12 percent in North America and 6 percent in China, where the Asian country’s domestic market continues to thrive.
Profitability was particularly affected by a sharp collapse in earnings at Porsche, where operating profit fell to just €90 million from more than €5 billion a year earlier.
CFO Arno Antlitz warned that the current level of profitability is not sustainable. “2025 was shaped by geopolitical tensions, tariffs, and intense competitive pressure, but the operating margin of 4.6 percent adjusted for restructuring is not sufficient in the long run,” his statement from the company’s press release read.
Volkswagen said its transition toward electric vehicles is also weighing on margins. Fully electric models now account for 22 percent of the company’s order backlog, and electric vehicle sales rose 55 percent last year, but high development and production costs continue to reduce profitability.
Looking ahead to 2026, the group warned that “challenges are expected in particular from the macroeconomic environment, uncertainties regarding restrictions in international trade and geopolitical tensions.”
It also cited “increasing competitive intensity, volatile commodity, energy and foreign exchange markets, as well as high requirements resulting from emissions-related regulations.”
A dormitory dispute at a vocational school in St. Pölten has landed a 17-year-old student from Lower Austria’s Mostviertel region with a week-long suspension — and the decision has drawn sharp criticism from politicians.
The trouble began with a matter of religious observance. Two Muslim girls sharing a four-person room at the St. Pölten State Vocational School’s boarding house were waking before dawn each morning during Ramadan to eat before sunrise, setting their alarm for 3 a.m.
Their two non-Muslim roommates found their sleep routinely broken as a result. One mother said the disruption went beyond just the early alarm.
Upon waking up at 3:00 a.m., the mother said that “they even turn up the music.”
Attempts to resolve the situation through a room reassignment came to nothing after the Muslim students declined to move.
Tensions eventually boiled over when the 17-year-old rang her mother late one night to vent.
“My daughter called me next time in a rage and let her frustration run wild,” her mother told the Kronen Zeitung.
The call took place in the corridor, where the roommates heard parts of it through the door. The Directorate of Education says the confrontation went further still, with the teenager allegedly going on to insult her roommates face to face — an exchange said to have been caught on video. The two girls subsequently reported her to school management.
The school quickly took the side of the two Muslim students, issuing the girl a one-week suspension from the boarding house.
“It was without warning. She was told by the management to reflect on her conduct and her choice of words,” she said.
The fallout has also crept into the classroom, with the mother claiming her daughter is now being made to sit apart from the others.
“Although the girls insulted each other, the teacher only heard or understood my child’s words,” she said. Authorities confirmed the student will be readmitted once the suspension ends, though she will be moved to a different room.
The case has since drawn in politicians. Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) deputy governor and Lower Austria state party chairman Udo Landbauer came out swinging against the school’s decision.
“When an Austrian vocational school student complains about her roommate breaking her fast at night and loud music and is subsequently suspended, one wonders: Do we actually still live in Austria?” he said in a press release.
He added: “Our children are suspended so that others can behave and break their fast. That’s not possible.”
The Freedom Party framed the episode as a question of integration, arguing that it requires newcomers to adapt to and respect the rules and culture of the country they have settled in.
FPÖ education spokesman Helmut Fiedler called for a thorough inquiry while striking a more balanced note.
“Of course, personal life and religious practice must be respected. At the same time, a boarding school has clear rules and rest periods that are binding for everyone. These must not be softened,” he said.
The clash between cultures may only increase in the coming years. Last year, Vienna reported that for the first time, over half of first graders do not speak sufficient German to learn in school. In addition, the city now features more Muslims than Christians in the elementary school system. This has led to an education system crisis in Austria’s largest city, but if demographic trends hold, this same crisis and the cultural clashes seen in Vienna will likely spread to the rest of the country.
“The Muslim children told my daughter and her friend: We have Ramadan, you must fast now and throw your bread in the bin!” the mother of a schoolgirl said about the incident. When the girls approached a teacher, he said “children should turn away while eating.”
Other parents also reported allegations of bullying from Muslim students. Some students reportedly made “choking and vomiting noises“ when other children ate. A student was insulted as an “ugly German girl.” One mother told Bild newspaper: “Demanding our daughter to turn away from eating and drinking or to hide it is a restriction of her personal freedom.”
Russia will not win the war against Ukraine because its army is stalled, its economy is in steep decline, and its demographic situation is deteriorating, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said in a speech to EU ambassadors in Brussels on Monday.
The biggest threat posed by Moscow at the moment, stated Kallas, is that it can achieve more at the negotiating table or through information warfare than on the battlefield, reports Hirado.
“There can be no minimalist response to Russia’s maximalist demands,” Kallas said, stressing that if a peace agreement were to include a limit on the size of the Ukrainian army, it should also apply to Russia. She added that Moscow must pay compensation for the damage caused to Ukraine, there should be no amnesty for war crimes or aggression, and abducted Ukrainian children must be returned.
Currently, Russia has shown no indication that it is truly interested in ending the war, Kallas continued, citing the large-scale Russian attacks over the weekend, which again claimed civilian casualties in Ukraine and showed that Moscow seeks to widen the conflict.
According to Kallas, the two most significant crises in the world today – the situation in the Middle East and the Russian aggression against Ukraine – demonstrate the erosion of international law.
“When Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, attacked its neighbor without consequences, it sent a message to the world that there is no accountability for violating the rules,” she said. Without restoring international law and accountability, according to the EU High Representative, further violations, instability and chaos could follow. She added that aside from Ukraine and the Middle East, conflicts in Africa, such as Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, continue to drag on as well.
Kalls said that the current conflicts point to the emergence of a new world order, characterized by great power competition, coercive power politics, and military powers seeking to establish spheres of influence, while the international institutions and norms established over the past eight decades are weakening.
She then stressed that the international community must respond properly. Their success, she said, depends on two factors: whether the European Union can deliver on its own priorities and whether it can mobilise international support. The first priority, Kallas listed, is the defense of Europe, along with military, financial and political support for Ukraine; the latter, she emphasized, must be seen as an existential issue for the EU, before confirming that Brussels has already provided around €195 billion in support to Ukraine since 2022, and a further a further €90 billion loan package is being prepared.
Kallas highlighted that the EU has taken action against the so-called Russian “shadow fleet” and against foreign intervention and information manipulation operations, for example, in Moldova. The EU is also placing greater emphasis on the protection of the continent, with around 40 percent of the personnel and budget of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) now allocated to Europe.
According to Kallas, the EU is currently the largest international presence in Ukraine, thanks to the Union’s civilian and military missions. “Europe’s armaments have also accelerated, partly on a bilateral basis and partly by strengthening the European pillar within NATO,” she added.
The second priority is the stability of the EU’s neighbourhood. Enlargement, she said, was the European Union’s most successful foreign policy instrument, expanding the area of stability, peace and prosperity. Kallas stressed that the enlargement process should remain merit-based, but at the same time, the process should be accelerated in the current geopolitical situation.
The EU High Representative also noted that the crises developing in the Middle East and North Africa directly affect Europe, with the new war in Iran bringing uncertainty and instability. She added that Brussels is preparing a new initiative that would link Ukrainian military production with the military needs of Middle Eastern countries, especially in the field of counter-drones.
Kallas named strengthening global partnerships as a third priority to ensure European economic growth. He said that the EU’s free trade agreements, including those with Mercosur and India, connect nearly two billion consumers to the common market.
The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs voted on Monday to adopt a harder line on asylum returns.
The committee voted 41 to 32, with one abstention, in favor of implementing a single framework for handling third-country nationals staying illegally in European Union member states.
The majority was formed by the European People’s Party (EPP) together with right-wing groups, including the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), Patriots for Europe (PfE), and the Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) group.
Lawmakers from the Socialists and Democrats, Renew Europe, the Greens, and the Left opposed the measure.
The proposed regulation would introduce EU-wide recognition of return decisions, meaning migrants ordered to leave one member state could be deported by another. It would also expand the use of detention while deportations are organized, allowing detention periods of up to 24 months.
Furthermore, the text opens the possibility for deportation centers in third countries under agreements with EU states and introduces stricter entry bans and enforcement measures.
L’UE reprend enfin sa politique migratoire en main.
Le mois dernier, nous votions le durcissement de la politique d’asile de l’Union. Aujourd’hui, le Parlement européen vient de voter en commission des libertés civiles sa position sur le règlement retour, qui facilitera… pic.twitter.com/UFdoDANTVJ
French MEP Marion Maréchal welcomed the vote, saying, “The EU is finally taking back control of its migration policy. Today, the European Parliament has just voted in the Committee on Civil Liberties on its position on the return regulation, which will considerably facilitate the detention and expulsion of illegal immigrants or rejected asylum seekers.”
Maréchal added that the vote showed a new right-wing coalition was decisive in shaping EU migration policy. “Once again, the right-wing coalition, including our ECR group, is the pivotal force, which also includes the EPP, the Patriots, and the Sovereignists, and has prevailed over the left.”
Europe is waking up: Those who do not have a right to stay will be deported.
Tonight's vote in the European Parliament solidifies a historic deal among right wing groups.
Swedish MEP Charlie Weimers said the vote could lead to stronger enforcement of deportation decisions. “Soon, more deportations of those who do not belong in Europe will become a reality,” he said.
In an ECR press release following the vote, Weimers cited figures from the European Commission that revealed only 20 percent of failed asylum seekers, “who receive a return decision, are actually returned.”
“For too long, the European debate has focused on ineffective procedures rather than achieving results. A return system that works in practice is essential for maintaining public trust in Europe’s asylum system,” he added.
Taka radość po przegłosowaniu na komisji PE przepisów pozwalających skuteczniej odsyłać nielegalnych imigrantów z UE! 😊
Zaraz potem rozpoczął się jazgot skrajnej lewicy, która nie mogła się z tym pogodzić. Słychać wycie? Znakomicie 😎
— Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik (@EwaZajaczkowska) March 9, 2026
Polish MEP Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik also celebrated the result. “Such joy after the European Parliament committee voted in favor of regulations allowing for more effective return of illegal immigrants from the EU,” she said.
“The ‘Regulation establishing a common system for the return of third-country nationals staying illegally in the EU’ is another victory for the right wing in the European Parliament. Citizen safety is paramount,” she added.
The measure will now move toward a vote in the full European Parliament before negotiations can begin with the European Council.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced on Monday afternoon that the government will introduce a protected price for gasoline and diesel due to the oil situation in the Middle East.
In a live broadcast on Facebook, Orbán said that the government meeting decided to protect Hungarians, private individuals, farmers, and entrepreneurs from high fuel prices. According to the prime minister, the government will introduce a protected price for both gasoline and diesel, above which consumer prices at gas stations and filling stations cannot exceed.
“This means 595 forints for gasoline and 615 forints for diesel,” the prime minister explained, adding that in order to maintain these prices, state reserves will be opened. “The protected price is only for vehicles with Hungarian license plates and Hungarian registration permits, and is valid for private individuals, farmers, transporters and entrepreneurs alike. The measure will come into effect on Monday, i.e., at midnight today,” Orbán said.
Due to the ongoing war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the price for Brent oil per barrel rose to as much as $120 by Monday morning. However, since then, it has plummeted to below $90. It is currently at $86. Meanwhile, the forint is also rapidly weakening against the dollar.
This will result in the wholesale price of gasoline increasing by 10 forints gross and that of diesel by 20 forints gross from Tuesday.
Citing data from Holtankoljak.hu, Hirado writes that 95 octane gasoline can currently be refueled at the pump at an average price of 585 forints per liter, while diesel fuel costs 629 forints per liter, so the 10 and 20 forint price increases from Tuesday may be added to this.
According to Index, MOL had previously sent a letter to its partners indicating that the oil and gas company is introducing “extraordinary pricing” at its gas stations, to come into effect immediately, according to which gasoline will cost 619 forints per liter and diesel 639 forints.
The letter also called on the operators of gas stations to check the fuel prices displayed for customers and to update them accordingly.
Minister of National Economy Márton Nagy shared further details about the government’s intervention on Monday evening, writing in a Facebook post that “in order to reduce burdens and increase security of supply,” the excise duty on fuels will be reduced to the EU minimum level.
This means a tax reduction of 19.25 forints per liter for gasoline (from 158.8 forints/liter to 139.55 forints/liter), and 20.48 forints per liter for diesel (from 148.76 forints/liter to 128.28 forints/liter). In addition, the export of crude oil, 95-octane gasoline and diesel will be prohibited.
Despite the massive spike in fuel prices caused by the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, Polish economics professor Marcin Piątkowski believes that Poland can stand out from the rest of the world, writes Do Rzezcy. Poland’s oil conglomerate Orlen seems to agree.
Speaking on Polsat News, the economist and lecturer at Leon Kozminski University said, “Poland will be affected by this ongoing crisis just like everyone else, but less than everyone else.”
Addressing potential price increases for gasoline, oil, gas, as well as food products, the expert believes Poles will face a better situation than the rest of the world. “I think it will be much smaller. It could be a one-time shock, with our inflation rising by one percentage point,” he said.
“I believe that Poland will once again prove, as it has over the past 35 years, that we are an economy that is more flexible, more resilient to crises,” he continued. “One could even say anti-fragile, one that even relative to others benefits from shocks.”
Professor Piątkowski also took the opportunity to promote electric vehicles, given the current oil shock. “I think we should wait at least a little while. On the other hand, let this be a signal and motivation for many Poles to consider whether it might be worth switching to electric cars, which would ideally be powered by their own sockets, whether in an apartment building or at home. Then we wouldn’t be concerned at all about the situation in the Persian Gulf,” he told Polsat News.
Piątkowski also emphasized that the Polish government should not radically reduce petrol and gas prices.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has told press that fuel supplies in Poland are secured, while it has very little impact on the global scenario.
“I won’t allow anyone to profit from this critical situation. We have no influence on global fuel prices. A different Donald certainly has a real influence on what happens with fuel worldwide. So please direct your questions there, not to the humble Polish Donald,” Tusk said.
Concerns have nevertheless been raised after news that Saudi Aramco is cutting production at two of its oil fields due to the Strait of Hormuz closure. Crude oil comes to Poland primarily from Saudi Arabia, with the remainder coming from countries such as Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Nigeria.
Saudi Aramco is a key strategic partner of Orlen, Poland’s state-controlled multinational oil and gas conglomerate, notes Do Rzeczy. It supplies over 45 percent of crude oil to the Polish company’s refineries. The cooperation includes long-term crude oil supplies. The Saudis also own a 30 percent stake in the Gdańsk Refinery, which is part of the Orlen-Lotus merger finalized in 2022.
Orlen has issued a statement to press that no deliveries are currently at risk. “Currently, oil deliveries are being carried out according to schedule and are not at risk in any way. Orlen is constantly monitoring the development of the geopolitical situation in the Middle East and its potential impact on commodity markets and maritime transport routes,” the Orlen press office said.
The Orlen Group operates refineries in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Lithuania, operates retail operations in Central Europe, and produces oil and gas in Poland, Norway, Canada, and Pakistan. It also produces energy, including renewable energy sources, and distributes natural gas, notes Do Rzeczy.
Police in western Germany have arrested two foreign suspects after 151 urn graves were damaged and looted at a cemetery in the city of Monheim am Rhein, with stolen metal items later recovered during a vehicle stop near the Dutch border.
According to a police statement, visitors to the Waldfriedhof cemetery on Knipprather Straße discovered widespread damage on the morning of March 7. Numerous urn graves and casket graves had been broken open, apparently by perpetrators searching for copper and bronze items.
Officers responding to the scene confirmed that a total of 151 graves had been damaged.
Later that afternoon, members of a cross-border policing unit operating between Germany and the Netherlands stopped a vehicle with German license plates at a border crossing in the nearby district of Viersen. During the inspection, officers discovered several urns and copper objects inside the car.
Investigators quickly suspected the items had been stolen from the Monheim cemetery earlier that day.
The two occupants of the vehicle, a 16-year-old Romanian national and a 23-year-old Romanian national, were taken into custody and transported to a police station in the town of Geldern. Police said both suspects have ties to Monheim am Rhein.
Authorities confiscated the vehicle and seized the recovered items as evidence.
Police have opened criminal proceedings against the pair on suspicion of aggravated theft and disturbing the peace of the dead. The investigation remains ongoing.
The incident follows another case of suspected metal theft at the cemetery earlier this year. In January, a large bronze statue depicting a nurse was stolen after perpetrators cut the figure from its base using an angle grinder, leaving only its feet.
As reported by Bild, police believe several individuals were involved in that theft due to the statue’s size and weight. The sculpture, which stood more than 2.8 meters tall, had an estimated material value of between €15,000 and €20,000, and investigators suspect it was melted down and sold for scrap metal.
