Who Is Germany’s First Muslim Minister, Cem Özdemir?

On December 8 2021, Germany swore in a new chancellor, Olaf Scholz of the Social Democrats (SPD), ending the 16-year reign of Angela Merkel. Scholz will oversee a three-party coalition, which includes the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats (FDP) as junior partners. Long-time Green Party member and former head of the party, Cem Özdemir,…

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Germany’s Bundestag Could See a First Syrian Refugee Member

Tareq Alaows is a Syrian politician, activist and legal advisor living in Germany, and is making his mark as the first Syrian refugee candidate for the German parliament, the Bundestag. Representing the Green Party, he plans to stand as representative of the electoral district of Oberhausen, come the state elections of North-Rhine Westphalia in the…

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German Muslims’ struggle for participation in local politics

In many ways, German politics is notable for its lack of diversity. For instance, no minister in the current government is non-white; none of them possess what in Germany is referred to as a ‘migration background’ – a slippery term that in politico-administrative parlance refers to everyone with at least one parent born outside of…

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Germany grapples with return of pro-Kurdish fighters from Syria

Much public concern and political squabbling in Europe has focused on returnees from the battlefields of Syria and Iraq. Above all, anxieties have been centred on the potential security risks posed by former fighters and supporters of the so-called Islamic State. Over 1,000 German citizens and residents had joined the self-declared caliphate in the Levant;…

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New Austrian Conservative-Green government doubles down on anti-immigration, anti-Islam stance

Sebastian Kurz, Austrian Chancellor and leader of the conservative Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) has pulled off a remarkable political feat: having governed in a coalition with the far-right nationalists of the Freedom Party (FPÖ) since 2017, he has not only emerged unscathed from the rubble of his ÖVP-FPÖ government, which collapsed amidst a corruption scandal….

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