Damien McGuinness
Appearances
Global News Podcast
Concern in Europe after Trump and Putin agree to start Ukraine talks
What appears to have happened is that this was indeed committed on purpose. What the motivation is of the perpetrator, we don't know. But what appears to have happened, according to police, is that a beige Mini Cooper was driving behind this trade union demonstration, which was surrounded by police cars, so there was security around the demonstration. Then the car, the Mini...
Global News Podcast
Concern in Europe after Trump and Putin agree to start Ukraine talks
started speeding up as if to overtake the police car. And then as it did, it rammed at high speed into the crowd of demonstrators. And so we now know that at least 28 people are injured, many of them seriously and some critically.
Global News Podcast
Concern in Europe after Trump and Putin agree to start Ukraine talks
And we're finding out more information about the suspect as well, who appears to be a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker whose application for asylum had been rejected, but he was legally in Germany. He had a legal status here, but quite a temporary one, which meant his situation here was rather precarious.
Global News Podcast
Concern in Europe after Trump and Putin agree to start Ukraine talks
And now police are really talking to him to try and find out why he carried out such a terrible act.
Global News Podcast
Concern in Europe after Trump and Putin agree to start Ukraine talks
Yeah, that's right, because over the last few months there have been a number of attacks involving asylum seekers, and most notably in January in the Bavarian town of Aschaffenburg, where a kindergarten child was stabbed and a passerby also was killed by an asylum seeker, and that sparked a huge debate around migration connected to criminality.
Global News Podcast
Concern in Europe after Trump and Putin agree to start Ukraine talks
It hadn't really been the case before then, because I think mainstream parties had tried to calm, You know, this quite controversial debate and the polarised atmosphere around migration.
Global News Podcast
Concern in Europe after Trump and Putin agree to start Ukraine talks
But after that attack in Aschaffenburg, the conservative leader Friedrich Merz, who wants to be Germany's next chancellor, went very hard line because his argument is he wants to undermine the poll numbers of the far right AFD, which appear to be gaining traction online. on the back of these terrible attacks. And since then, we've seen a ferocious debate around migration.
Global News Podcast
Concern in Europe after Trump and Putin agree to start Ukraine talks
A lot of people have criticised it, saying it's very one-sided, this idea of connecting migration to criminality. So, obviously, it stigmatises people with a migration background. But either way, it's certainly a big, big debate in the political run-up right now. And the fact that we've now had another terrible incident...
Global News Podcast
Concern in Europe after Trump and Putin agree to start Ukraine talks
will certainly play into the debate and could well have an impact in the election results in 10 days' time.
Global News Podcast
Israel delays scheduled release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners
Es gibt ein energisiertes Gefühl, ein politisiertes Gefühl und ein polarisiertes Gefühl. Der Mood ist sicherlich einer, in dem die Leute wieder über Politik sprechen und sich in der Politik engagieren, aber nicht unbedingt in einer positiven Weise, weil es all diese Krisen gibt. Und das ist, weshalb die Leute bewusst sind, wie wichtig diese Wahlsitzungen sind. Viele Leute sind unentschieden.
Global News Podcast
Israel delays scheduled release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners
Sie sagen, sie mögen keine der Parteien oder der Hauptkandidaten. Und viele Menschen sprechen mit der aktuellen Führung, den Führern der Parteien und in manchen Fällen sogar mit dem politischen System.
Global News Podcast
Israel delays scheduled release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners
Ja, es geht viel mit den AfD-Fraktionen um. Sie sehen sich, laut den Verteidigungen, um die Zahl der Sitzungen im Nationalparlament zu doppeln, von vielleicht 10% bis vielleicht 20%, wenn die Verteidigungen korrekt sind. So if they get 20% or more, they will be absolutely jubilant.
Global News Podcast
Israel delays scheduled release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners
But it has to be said, they won't get into government, they won't get into political power, because there's a firewall, as it's known here, around them. No other party will work with them. That's because they're seen as so toxic, and they are judged to be in part at least right-wing extremists. The question is, though, what will happen if they get well over 20%, and if...
Global News Podcast
Israel delays scheduled release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners
Die konservative Partei, die Angela Merkels Partei war, ist jetzt Friedrich Merz, der die nächste Kanzlerin bezeichnet. Er ist der Leiter dieser Partei.
Global News Podcast
Israel delays scheduled release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners
Wenn sie in den unteren Zwanzigern nicht mehr als die AfD sind, was dann passieren wird, ist, dass es viele rechte Winger in der konservativen Partei gibt, die dann beginnen, diese Feuerwahl zu beantworten und zu sagen, dass es eine mächtige Partei ist, mit fast einer Quartier von Votern, die sie wählen. Und es gibt dann auch Fragen über demokratische Legitimität.
Global News Podcast
Israel delays scheduled release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners
Wie lange kann man eine Partei aus der Macht halten? Und kann man mit einer Partei arbeiten, die vielleicht 20 oder 25 Prozent der Verteidiger gewählt hat? Also ich denke, was die Partei tut, was die AfD tut, ist, dass sie vier Jahre Zeit sucht. Das ist ihr erster Schritt zur nationalen Macht. Sie sagen, sie wollen diese Wahl nutzen, um ihren Appell zu brechen.
Global News Podcast
Israel delays scheduled release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners
um ihre Legitimität zu erstellen, um dann die Chance zu haben, die Feuerwalle nächstes Mal herunterzubringen. Aber Friedrich Merz, der konservative Leiter, ist ehrgeizig, dass er es nie machen wird. Und seine Strategie ist wirklich, die AfD zu unterbinden, indem sie die rechten Winger mit einer ziemlich schwierigen Rhetorik, besonders auf Migration, entlastet.
Global News Podcast
Israel delays scheduled release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners
What he did a couple of weeks ago was to pass a motion in Parliament, a non-binding motion with the support of the AFD, which in theory does undermine the firewall. But again, he would argue that he was pushing through this quite controversial measure in order to do the opposite, to undermine the AFD, because he says that only by... Damien McGuinness in Berlin.
Global News Podcast
Fatalities and injuries in German Christmas market attack
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Global News Podcast
Fatalities and injuries in German Christmas market attack
Well, what officials have now told us is that at least two people have been killed, one of them a small child, one of them an adult, and it's thought that as many as 70 people could be injured, possibly 15 seriously injured. But of course, when you're talking about such large numbers, there's a lot of A lot of things that are unclear. You know, this is an ongoing situation, really.
Global News Podcast
Fatalities and injuries in German Christmas market attack
The whole area has been secured off now. The suspected perpetrator has been arrested and officials are describing this as an attack because the numbers are so big of people involved. It does sound like and it does seem, according to what police have been saying, that this was indeed a deliberate act. And it was a hired car that he drove into crowds at the Christmas market.
Global News Podcast
Fatalities and injuries in German Christmas market attack
And I think that's what's really shocked people. You know, it's a time when people would be relaxing and enjoying the festive season. And Christmas markets are, of course, a big tradition across the country. And, you know, that just makes this an even more horrendous and horrific situation for all those involved.
Global News Podcast
Fatalities and injuries in German Christmas market attack
And that's why officials now and politicians have been coming out expressing their sadness and sorrow at this tragic event.
Global News Podcast
Fatalities and injuries in German Christmas market attack
Yes, that's right. So as you'll remember, in 2016, there was a terrible attack on a market here in Berlin, not far from where I'm standing right now, committed by an Islamist extremist. And that shifted the debate in Germany. In that attack, 12 people were killed. And this was at a time when there were large numbers of asylum seekers coming to Germany. And
Global News Podcast
Fatalities and injuries in German Christmas market attack
You know, there had been a feeling of welcome to a lot of those people and Germany had been coping well with the influx of lots of new people who were seeking asylum and refuge here. But what we saw after that attack, that the political debate shifted to a certain extent and it gave... a boost to the far-right AFD party, which had been a new party on the scene in politics in Germany.
Global News Podcast
Fatalities and injuries in German Christmas market attack
And it also, I think it's fair to say, shifted the rhetoric slightly and made the debate around migration a lot more heated and in some quarters quite toxic. And I think that'll be the worry about this attack as well. We still know very little about the suspect and we don't know why he committed this.
Global News Podcast
Fatalities and injuries in German Christmas market attack
And I think that'll be the next question about why he carried out this terrible attack at a festive time of celebration for people.
Global News Podcast
Fatalities and injuries in German Christmas market attack
Yeah, that's right. It is, of course, a very uncertain time for Germany. There are snap elections coming up in February after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition collapsed in November. So politically, it's quite an uncertain time. And economically, the economy is effectively stalled. So there's lots of uncertainties around in Germany now.
Global News Podcast
Fatalities and injuries in German Christmas market attack
And I think the last thing the country needs is a terror attack in the run-up to Christmas. So I think that... That will make people even more nervous. And, of course, the idea of other terror attacking around Christmas has been something people have been talking about for a long time and hoping would not happen.
Global News Podcast
Fatalities and injuries in German Christmas market attack
But, of course, unfortunately, the tragedy has happened this evening, and that's why people will be mourning across Germany tonight.
Global News Podcast
Ukraine's Zelensky meets US vice-president at Munich security conference
Munich's chief state prosecutor has revealed that during questioning, the 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker had admitted that he drove a car into the crowd intentionally.
Global News Podcast
Ukraine's Zelensky meets US vice-president at Munich security conference
The prosecutor, Gabriela Tillmann, told reporters that she was cautious about making hasty judgments about the motive, but from what the suspect told police, she had reason to believe this was an Islamist extremist attack, but that he was acting alone.
Global News Podcast
Ukraine's Zelensky meets US vice-president at Munich security conference
Officials have also corrected previous statements and have now confirmed that the suspect had no criminal record and was legally in Germany.
Global News Podcast
Trump implements threatened tariffs
The reason why Friedrich Merz took this risky decision to put forward such a controversial bill... ...and the risk of possibly the far-right AfD supporting it, which has never happened in modern Germany before... ...is because the AfD are polling at around 20% at the moment. And he argues that in order to take the wind out of their sails... He needs to offer something to AFD voters.
Global News Podcast
Trump implements threatened tariffs
So he has gone, as he puts it, all in on migration. And he's proposed some pretty drastic measures. But he feels that if he's this hard line, he can lure back. right-wing voters who are considering voting for the AFD. The difficulty with that is, is that the more you talk about migration, the more this potentially plays into the AFD's hands because that is really their main topic.
Global News Podcast
Trump implements threatened tariffs
That's the danger that Friedrich Merz has undergone, that he has decided since a number of attacks over the past month involving suspects who are asylum seekers, that migration is the top concern of voters. And he has put it at the top of the agenda for his election campaign. And since then, it's all people have been talking about. It's a risky strategy.
Global News Podcast
Trump implements threatened tariffs
And I think it seems to have backfired today in Parliament, at least for the Conservative leader, possibly not for the AFD, though.
Global News Podcast
Trump implements threatened tariffs
That's right. Right now, his party, the Conservative CDU, is leading in the polls at around 30 percent. But they have been slipping. And that's another reason why it appears that he's getting more hardline and migration. He feels that's how he can boost his numbers in the polls.
Global News Podcast
Trump implements threatened tariffs
The key thing, though, Valerie, I think what this week also shows is this is a fight for the soul of the Conservative Party, because this is traditionally a broad church party. with a more moderate wing and a more right wing, conservative wing. And Friedrich Merz personifies the more right wing of the party. And the former chancellor, Angela Merkel, is the figurehead for the more centrist wing.
Global News Podcast
Trump implements threatened tariffs
And that's potentially also why he lost the vote today. Because yesterday, Angela Merkel very unusually intervened in German politics and came out and said that what Friedrich Merz is doing, the leader of her own party, is wrong.
Global News Podcast
Trump implements threatened tariffs
Yeah. And I think Germany has been a cause of concern for a while now because for the past couple of years, it's been led by a very argumentative government, a three-way coalition. Three very different parties pulling in different directions. And that's been one of the reasons why it's been hard to get agreement within Germany on certain issues.
Global News Podcast
Trump implements threatened tariffs
But it's also made it hard to do certain things on an EU level. So I think most EU leaders are looking at Germany and thinking, OK, whoever is going to be the next chancellor, we're really hoping for a more assertive, more unified government where at least we know what the results are going to be.
Global News Podcast
Ukraine's future is focus of Munich Security Conference
Munich's chief state prosecutor has revealed that during questioning, the 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker had admitted that he drove a car into the crowd intentionally. The prosecutor told reporters that she was cautious about making hasty judgments about why he had carried out this attack, but that based on what officials know so far, he may have had an Islamist motivation.
Global News Podcast
Ukraine's future is focus of Munich Security Conference
There is no evidence, though, that he's linked to any extremist organisation. Officials have also corrected previous statements and have now confirmed that he had no criminal record and has a work permit, so was legally in Germany.