Today in Germany: A roundup of the latest news on Wednesday
Lufthansa strike continues in Munich, a legal battle for the far-right AfD, and more news from around Germany on Wednesday.
Lufthansa continues strike in Munich
Lufthansa cabin crew continued their strike on Wednesday: At Munich airport, Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cityline flight attendants walked off the job at 4 am.
The cabin crew union Ufo plans to strike all Lufthansa departures in Munich until 11 pm. The airline estimates that 400 flights with 50,000 passengers will not be able to take off.
Lufthansa cabin crew had already gone on strike at Frankfurt Airport on Tuesday.
According to the company, 600 flights were cancelled there and around 70,000 passengers did not reach their destinations as planned.
READ ALSO: Germany braces for new week of strikes in rail and air travel
Inflation drops dramatically in February
Dampened by lower energy prices, inflation in Germany eased in February to its lowest level since the summer of 2021.
According to preliminary data released by the Federal Statistical Office on Tuesday, consumer prices were 2.5 percent higher than in the same month last year. This marks the lowest rate of inflation since June 2021.
An annual inflation rate of 2.9 percent was recorded in January of the current year, following inflation 3.7 percent in December.
READ ALSO: Can Germany revive its struggling economy?
"The price situation for energy continues to ease," explained statistician Ruth Brand. "The rise in food prices has slowed significantly and is now below overall inflation for the first time in more than two years."
Economists expect inflation to fall further over the course of the year, offering much-needed relief to consumers who have seen their spending power fall significantly in the wake of the Ukraine war.
AfD appeals in court over 'extremist' label
Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has launched proceedings against the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) over whether wings of the party can legally be monitored by the government.
In the appeal, the party led by Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla is seeking to have the BfV revoke its categorisation of the AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist party. Parties that are branded 'extremist' can be kept under watch by the authorities to assess threats of criminal activity or to the constitution.
Laying out his arguments on Tuesday, the AfD's lawyer claimed that the BfV should not just assess whether statements made by the far-right party controvened criminal law, but also whether they threatened the democratic order.
AfD leader Alice Weidel makes a statement to the press during a meeting of the parliamentary party in Berlin. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Jonathan Penschek
"This is not about some rabbit breeders' association", but about a relatively successful party, legal representive Christian Conrad stated in the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) in Münster.
Conrad also called for an adjournment of the trial, arguing that it had not been possible to deal with the approximately 4,200 pages of documents and 116 hours of video material submitted in January in the short time available.
Among other things, he demanded access to a new report by the Federal Office on the AfD. A representative of the Federal Office emphasised in court that the authority's new assessment of the AfD was not yet final - "there is no finished report".
The proceedings are set to continue in Münster on Wednesday.
Greens call for health tests for older drivers
In the debate about seniors' fitness to drive of following a fatal car accident in Berlin, the Greens in the Bundestag are calling for regular health checks for older people.
"After novice drivers, old people cause the most accidents per kilometre driven - despite their many years of driving experience," said Stefan Gelbhaar, transport policy spokesperson for the Green parliamentary group in the Bundestag, to the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) newspaper.
Gelbhaar went on to say that many had been driving accident-free for decades. "But with age, eyesight, hearing and responsiveness slowly deteriorate. Regular tests therefore make sense."
Over the weekend, an 83-year old driver hit and killed a mother and her four-year old son in Berlin.
READ ALSO: Could Germany introduce health checks for drivers over the age of 70?
Volkswagen reports big profit rise for 2023 while Adidas profits plummet
German auto giant Volkswagen on Wednesday reported a robust rise in profits for 2023, with sales in Europe and North America advancing strongly.
Net profit rose 13.1 percent to €17.9 billion from the previous year. Sales rose more than 15 percent to €322.3 billion.
Meanwhile, German sportswear giant Adidas reported an annual loss for 2023, still weighed down by the fallout from the end of its tie-up with controversial rapper Kanye West.
The loss of €75 million followed a profit of €612 million the previous year. Sales fell by five percent to €21.4 billion, and were hit particularly hard in the United States due to the discontinuation of sales of Yeezy trainers that were designed with West.
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Lufthansa continues strike in Munich
Lufthansa cabin crew continued their strike on Wednesday: At Munich airport, Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cityline flight attendants walked off the job at 4 am.
The cabin crew union Ufo plans to strike all Lufthansa departures in Munich until 11 pm. The airline estimates that 400 flights with 50,000 passengers will not be able to take off.
Lufthansa cabin crew had already gone on strike at Frankfurt Airport on Tuesday.
According to the company, 600 flights were cancelled there and around 70,000 passengers did not reach their destinations as planned.
READ ALSO: Germany braces for new week of strikes in rail and air travel
Inflation drops dramatically in February
Dampened by lower energy prices, inflation in Germany eased in February to its lowest level since the summer of 2021.
According to preliminary data released by the Federal Statistical Office on Tuesday, consumer prices were 2.5 percent higher than in the same month last year. This marks the lowest rate of inflation since June 2021.
An annual inflation rate of 2.9 percent was recorded in January of the current year, following inflation 3.7 percent in December.
READ ALSO: Can Germany revive its struggling economy?
"The price situation for energy continues to ease," explained statistician Ruth Brand. "The rise in food prices has slowed significantly and is now below overall inflation for the first time in more than two years."
Economists expect inflation to fall further over the course of the year, offering much-needed relief to consumers who have seen their spending power fall significantly in the wake of the Ukraine war.
AfD appeals in court over 'extremist' label
Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has launched proceedings against the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) over whether wings of the party can legally be monitored by the government.
In the appeal, the party led by Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla is seeking to have the BfV revoke its categorisation of the AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist party. Parties that are branded 'extremist' can be kept under watch by the authorities to assess threats of criminal activity or to the constitution.
Laying out his arguments on Tuesday, the AfD's lawyer claimed that the BfV should not just assess whether statements made by the far-right party controvened criminal law, but also whether they threatened the democratic order.
"This is not about some rabbit breeders' association", but about a relatively successful party, legal representive Christian Conrad stated in the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) in Münster.
Conrad also called for an adjournment of the trial, arguing that it had not been possible to deal with the approximately 4,200 pages of documents and 116 hours of video material submitted in January in the short time available.
Among other things, he demanded access to a new report by the Federal Office on the AfD. A representative of the Federal Office emphasised in court that the authority's new assessment of the AfD was not yet final - "there is no finished report".
The proceedings are set to continue in Münster on Wednesday.
Greens call for health tests for older drivers
In the debate about seniors' fitness to drive of following a fatal car accident in Berlin, the Greens in the Bundestag are calling for regular health checks for older people.
"After novice drivers, old people cause the most accidents per kilometre driven - despite their many years of driving experience," said Stefan Gelbhaar, transport policy spokesperson for the Green parliamentary group in the Bundestag, to the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) newspaper.
Gelbhaar went on to say that many had been driving accident-free for decades. "But with age, eyesight, hearing and responsiveness slowly deteriorate. Regular tests therefore make sense."
Over the weekend, an 83-year old driver hit and killed a mother and her four-year old son in Berlin.
READ ALSO: Could Germany introduce health checks for drivers over the age of 70?
Volkswagen reports big profit rise for 2023 while Adidas profits plummet
German auto giant Volkswagen on Wednesday reported a robust rise in profits for 2023, with sales in Europe and North America advancing strongly.
Net profit rose 13.1 percent to €17.9 billion from the previous year. Sales rose more than 15 percent to €322.3 billion.
Meanwhile, German sportswear giant Adidas reported an annual loss for 2023, still weighed down by the fallout from the end of its tie-up with controversial rapper Kanye West.
The loss of €75 million followed a profit of €612 million the previous year. Sales fell by five percent to €21.4 billion, and were hit particularly hard in the United States due to the discontinuation of sales of Yeezy trainers that were designed with West.
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