French President Francois Hollande called Thursday for Berlin to supply all the information it had after reports Germany's foreign intelligence service spied on Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, saying it was not the kind of behavior he expected between friendly countries.
"We ask that all the information be given to us," Hollande said on the sidelines of a migration summit in Malta.
Full StoryGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that fighting could break out in the Balkans, along the main route of migrants trying to reach Europe, if Germany closed its border with Austria, in remarks published Tuesday.
Amid ever-louder calls for Merkel to undertake drastic action to stem the tide of people entering her country, she again rejected the appeals, noting that tensions were already running high between the Western Balkans countries.
Full StoryGermany on Monday welcomed Turkey's peaceful weekend election won by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party and urged his government to rule "in the spirit of national unity".
Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief spokesman Steffen Seibert praised the peaceful election process and high voter turnout, which he said proved "how deeply the Turkish people are invested in the democratic process".
Full StorySome 50 people at a German shelter for asylum seekers engaged in a violent brawl overnight, hurling chairs and beating each other with table legs, leaving six people injured, police said Saturday.
The punch-up, which took place in the northern town of Itzehoe, was the latest illustration of the rising tensions between refugees at the country's overstretched reception centers.
Full StoryA German man suspected of kidnapping and killing a four-year-old Bosnian refugee has admitted to murdering another child, police said on Friday.
"The man confessed overnight that he had also killed Elias," said Berlin police spokesman Stefan Redlich, referring to a six-year-old German boy who has been missing since July.
Full StoryGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel came under fire Friday from her deputy leader for infighting within her conservative alliance over the country's refugee influx, calling it "simply irresponsible".
Merkel's open-door policy for those fleeing war and persecution has led to a growing backlash in Germany, and among her sharpest critics is the leader of her conservative CSU allies, Horst Seehofer.
Full StoryGermany on Thursday pledged to support Greece in dealing with the "extraordinary burden" of migrants landing on its shores every day, as the death toll from the latest boat sinkings rose to 27.
More than half a million people have arrived by sea in Greece this year seeking safety and a better life in Europe, while more than 3,200 people have died making the perilous crossing from Turkey.
Full StoryGerman federal prosecutors have received a flood of criminal complaints against Chancellor Angela Merkel accusing her of "high treason" over her welcoming policy toward refugees, a spokeswoman said Thursday.
Contacted by AFP, spokeswoman Frauke Koehler said around 400 complaints had been filed against the German leader, who has taken an open-door stance on those fleeing war and persecution.
Full StoryGerman police Thursday arrested a man suspected of kidnapping a four-year-old refugee, and said they found the body of a child in his car.
"The identity of the child as well as the circumstances surrounding the death will be clarified in an autopsy carried out today," said Berlin police in a statement.
Full StoryTensions mounted at the key southern gateway for thousands of migrants into Germany, with overstretched German and Austrian officials trading barbs as asylum seekers queued for hours in the cold at border posts.
"Yesterday, I was here from five o'clock in the morning to two o'clock the next night. But the police didn't open the border," said Murtaza, 18, an Afghan at one of the crossings, Simbach am Inn.
Full Story