Today In Germany: A roundup of the latest news on Monday
German-Israeli hostages released, police officers clash with Frankfurt football fans, a contentious Green Party convention, and more news from around Germany on Monday.
Berlin 'relieved' by release of Hamas hostages, including 4 German-Israelis
Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said early on Sunday that she was "relieved" over the release of a second group of Hamas hostages, including four German-Israelis.
"I am thinking of them and of those who are still in the hands of Hamas. We are working with all our might to ensure that they too will soon be free," she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Erleichterung und Bangen liegen auch heute so nah beieinander. Unter den freigelassenen Geiseln sind erneut vier deutsche Doppelstaater. Ich denke an sie und an die, die noch in den Händen der Hamas sind. Wir arbeiten mit aller Kraft daran, dass auch sie bald in Freiheit sind.
— Außenministerin Annalena Baerbock (@ABaerbock) November 25, 2023
READ ALSO: Berlin 'relieved' by release of Hamas hostages, including 4 German-Israelis
Police officers injured in clashes at Frankfurt game
Around 50 officers were injured in clashes between law enforcement and supporters of Eintracht Frankfurt ahead of their game against Stuttgart on Saturday, according to local police.
Four of the injured officers were taken to hospital for treatment, Frankfurt police said in a statement late Saturday. Stadium staff were also injured in the clashes in the build up to the Bundesliga game, which resulted in "several suspects" being arrested, police said.
READ ALSO: Police officers injured in clashes at Frankfurt game
Green Party holds fractious convention amid global and domestic crises
The Green Party held a long weekend of debate and division at its party convention in Karlsruhe, where the party was first founded in 1980.
Yet, despite returning to its roots and attracting 4000 people, including journalists, the event was marked by intense debate on various issues including immigration and asylum policy, the war in Ukraine, the budget, the Middle East, as well as the party's own internal political positioning as part of the ruling government coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD) and Free Democrats (FDP).
When the Greens joined the government two years ago, the feeling in the party was one of optimism. But as global events and internal tensions have taken their toll, some in the German press question if the coalition will last until the next election in 2025.
Finance Minister slammed over energy cap announcement
Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Friday that the price caps for electricity and gas would end earlier than planned.
But the FDP leader is being criticised by his coalition partner, the SPD. The co-chair of the Social Democrats, Lars Klingbeil, told a talkshow on ARD: "Unilaterally announcing the end without having discussed it together is not acceptable."
The SPD wants there to be security for consumers if prices shoot up, said Klingbeil.
Lindner said in an interview on Friday that the government price caps for electricity and gas would expire at the end of the year and not at the end of March, as was planned.
It's due to the budget ruling by the Constitutional Court on November 15th, which threw spending plans into disarray.
Klingbeil called for an "overall package" to be thought through and announced by the government.
Covid cost Dortmund €151 million, says CEO
Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke told Sunday's AGM the club had emerged battered but afloat from the Covid-19 pandemic with a cost of €151 million ($165 million).
The CEO said Dortmund had made "€500 million in sales" including player transfers in the previous financial year, saying "economically nobody needs to worry about Borussia Dortmund."
But he told club members he suffered sleepless nights at the time. "We have left the valley of darkness behind us, but it cost us €151 million."
Honest teen hands in lost wallet containing thousands of Euros
A teenage girl in Cuxhaven (northern Germany) has been praised by police after finding wallet containing several thousand Euros in cash and handing it into the authorities.
Cuxhaven police said in a statement that "a wallet containing €7,371.04 (a little over $8,000) was handed in to police," and that the "honest finder" informed them she had found it close to a building site in the Lüdingworth area of the town.
Police added that the grateful owner of the wallet gave the girl an "appropriate finder's fee", without specifying how much it was.
German priest abducted in Mali in 2022 freed
A German Catholic priest widely thought to have been abducted after going missing in Mali in late 2022 has been freed and is on his way back home, officials said on Sunday.
"The priest Hans-Joachim Lohre, abducted November 20th, 2022, was freed this Sunday. He's in a plane heading to his country," an official with the archdiocese told AFP on condition of anonymity. A government official confirmed the information.
No other details were provided.
Lohre had been due to celebrate Mass in the Malian capital when he went missing. His car was left parked outside his home and calls to his phone went to voicemail
He was widely thought to have been kidnapped, although no one ever claimed responsibility.
Lohre had lived in Mali for around 30 years and taught inter-religious dialogue at the Islamo-Christian Institute, which receives students from around the world.
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Berlin 'relieved' by release of Hamas hostages, including 4 German-Israelis
Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said early on Sunday that she was "relieved" over the release of a second group of Hamas hostages, including four German-Israelis.
"I am thinking of them and of those who are still in the hands of Hamas. We are working with all our might to ensure that they too will soon be free," she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Erleichterung und Bangen liegen auch heute so nah beieinander. Unter den freigelassenen Geiseln sind erneut vier deutsche Doppelstaater. Ich denke an sie und an die, die noch in den Händen der Hamas sind. Wir arbeiten mit aller Kraft daran, dass auch sie bald in Freiheit sind.
— Außenministerin Annalena Baerbock (@ABaerbock) November 25, 2023
READ ALSO: Berlin 'relieved' by release of Hamas hostages, including 4 German-Israelis
Police officers injured in clashes at Frankfurt game
Around 50 officers were injured in clashes between law enforcement and supporters of Eintracht Frankfurt ahead of their game against Stuttgart on Saturday, according to local police.
Four of the injured officers were taken to hospital for treatment, Frankfurt police said in a statement late Saturday. Stadium staff were also injured in the clashes in the build up to the Bundesliga game, which resulted in "several suspects" being arrested, police said.
READ ALSO: Police officers injured in clashes at Frankfurt game
Green Party holds fractious convention amid global and domestic crises
The Green Party held a long weekend of debate and division at its party convention in Karlsruhe, where the party was first founded in 1980.
Yet, despite returning to its roots and attracting 4000 people, including journalists, the event was marked by intense debate on various issues including immigration and asylum policy, the war in Ukraine, the budget, the Middle East, as well as the party's own internal political positioning as part of the ruling government coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD) and Free Democrats (FDP).
When the Greens joined the government two years ago, the feeling in the party was one of optimism. But as global events and internal tensions have taken their toll, some in the German press question if the coalition will last until the next election in 2025.
Finance Minister slammed over energy cap announcement
Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Friday that the price caps for electricity and gas would end earlier than planned.
But the FDP leader is being criticised by his coalition partner, the SPD. The co-chair of the Social Democrats, Lars Klingbeil, told a talkshow on ARD: "Unilaterally announcing the end without having discussed it together is not acceptable."
The SPD wants there to be security for consumers if prices shoot up, said Klingbeil.
Lindner said in an interview on Friday that the government price caps for electricity and gas would expire at the end of the year and not at the end of March, as was planned.
It's due to the budget ruling by the Constitutional Court on November 15th, which threw spending plans into disarray.
Klingbeil called for an "overall package" to be thought through and announced by the government.
Covid cost Dortmund €151 million, says CEO
Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke told Sunday's AGM the club had emerged battered but afloat from the Covid-19 pandemic with a cost of €151 million ($165 million).
The CEO said Dortmund had made "€500 million in sales" including player transfers in the previous financial year, saying "economically nobody needs to worry about Borussia Dortmund."
But he told club members he suffered sleepless nights at the time. "We have left the valley of darkness behind us, but it cost us €151 million."
Honest teen hands in lost wallet containing thousands of Euros
A teenage girl in Cuxhaven (northern Germany) has been praised by police after finding wallet containing several thousand Euros in cash and handing it into the authorities.
Cuxhaven police said in a statement that "a wallet containing €7,371.04 (a little over $8,000) was handed in to police," and that the "honest finder" informed them she had found it close to a building site in the Lüdingworth area of the town.
Police added that the grateful owner of the wallet gave the girl an "appropriate finder's fee", without specifying how much it was.
German priest abducted in Mali in 2022 freed
A German Catholic priest widely thought to have been abducted after going missing in Mali in late 2022 has been freed and is on his way back home, officials said on Sunday.
"The priest Hans-Joachim Lohre, abducted November 20th, 2022, was freed this Sunday. He's in a plane heading to his country," an official with the archdiocese told AFP on condition of anonymity. A government official confirmed the information.
No other details were provided.
Lohre had been due to celebrate Mass in the Malian capital when he went missing. His car was left parked outside his home and calls to his phone went to voicemail
He was widely thought to have been kidnapped, although no one ever claimed responsibility.
Lohre had lived in Mali for around 30 years and taught inter-religious dialogue at the Islamo-Christian Institute, which receives students from around the world.
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