Shopkeepers are facing a staggering financial toll following the widespread damage and looting during the Oct. 17 demonstrations, with preliminary estimates out of the IFRAP Foundation surpassing €1 billion.
“Initial reports from insurance companies indicate that the losses will exceed one billion euros,” reported CCI France on Tuesday. “For Paris, we’re talking hundreds of millions,” France’s network of chambers of commerce, CCI France, has stated, as cited by Le Figaro.
Damage in Paris alone already stretches into the hundreds of millions of euros.
IFRAP’s €1.1 billion estimate includes nearly €910 million in physical property damage and €190 million in lost business revenue due to forced closures and reduced activity. The financial hit is heavily concentrated on businesses (€666 million) and public property (€200 million), the latter including the fire-ravaged Limoges City Hall.
These amounts would eclipse the summer 2023 riots, which cost insurers €793 million across 16,400 claims, with the unrest spanning 11 nights and impacting 672 municipalities.
Rating agency Morningstar DBRS estimates the current damage could peak at €1.2 billion, provided the unrest subsides.
Comparing these estimates to the Yellow Vest movement, which caused retail revenue losses averaging €400 million per weekend between late 2018 and early 2019, IFRAP’s baseline estimate for the Oct. 17-18 riots projects €190 million in operating losses for just the single weekend.
Still, the damage is real. During Saturday protests, “city center businesses lose up to 80% of their revenue,” said CCI France.
In response to the crisis, CCI France President Alain Di Crescenzo is urging authorities to ban all demonstrations, including those in suburban areas, until after the holiday season. “We absolutely must revive commerce,” he stressed.
In the wake of the riots, French government bonds were unloaded by investors in a dramatic sell-off. Ratings agency Moody’s was expected to downgrade France’s credit rating last week but instead maintained its long-term sovereign credit rating at Aa3 with a negative outlook. Some say, this reprieve may not last long.
Former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has launched a sharp critique against the government of Donald Tusk, accusing state-owned energy giant Orlen of drastically overcharging Polish citizens and businesses for natural gas.
Speaking on behalf of his political movement Rozwój Plus (Development Plus), Morawiecki demanded an immediate and thorough audit of Orlen’s pricing margins, claiming the company is exploiting its market position at the expense of Polish households.
According to Morawiecki, Orlen has been acquiring liquefied natural gas (LNG), largely sourced from the United States, at a rate of approximately 100 PLN per megawatt-hour (MWh). However, the former prime minister alleges that the state-controlled company is reselling that same gas to Polish consumers at inflated rates as high as 350 PLN per MWh.
Orlen kupuje gaz za ok. 100 zł/MWh, a Polakom sprzedaje nawet za 350 zł!
Budżet dziurawy jak ser szwajcarski, a za nieudolność rządu znów płacą Polacy!
Oto prawdziwy CPN Tuska – Ciepło Przywilejem Najbogatszych!
“If this is not a gigantic scandal in the Polish economy, hitting the wallets of Poles, the wallets of small and medium-sized enterprises, then I don’t know what is,” he said during an interview on Wirtualna Polska’s Morning Show, as cited by Wiadomosci, framing the pricing strategy as a failure of economic oversight by the current administration.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his coalition government have pushed back against the narrative of mismanagement, according to the portal. Tusk has repeatedly defended Orlen’s current corporate governance and market valuation, drawing a sharp contrast between its current operation and its performance under the previous Law and Justice (PiS) administration.
Supporters of the current government structure argue that Orlen’s pricing strategies align with broader European market realities, long-term contract structures, and the financial necessity of funding Poland’s ongoing green energy transition.
The clash over Orlen arrives at a moment of heightened political maneuvering in Poland. Morawiecki is currently in the process of formally registering a new political party stemming from his Rozwój Plus movement.
The energy price dispute serves as a central pillar in a broader opposition campaign targeting the Tusk government’s economic policies, particularly its handling of the national budget deficit and inflation.
As winter approaches, the cost of living and energy security remain highly sensitive topics for the Polish electorate, ensuring that the battle over Orlen’s balance sheets will remain at the forefront of the country’s political debate. And while Morawiecki had originally indicated he would work within his previous party, Law and Justice (PiS), that ship has clearly sailed.
AfD has reached another milestone, this time in the German state of Hesse. The latest “Hessentrend” poll shows the party, co-chaired by Alice Weidel, at a record 23 percent, just two points behind the CDU/CSU, after the latter suffered a seven-point drop to 25 percent.
This is the lowest result the CDU has ever achieved in this survey for Hesse, notes Nius.
The Greens, meanwhile, reached 16 percent, the SPD 15 percent, and the Left Party 7 percent, the FDP 4 percent, and the Free Voters 3 percent, making a black-red coalition no longer possible.
Weidel pointed out the news on her X page, posting: “Even in the West, more and more citizens are realizing that the firewall-CDU is governing the country ever deeper into the abyss with left-wing policies. A turnaround can only come with the AfD.”
Hessen: CDU stürzt ab; AfD legt zu. Auch im Westen merken immer mehr Bürger, dass die Brandmauer-CDU das Land mit linker Politik immer weiter in den Abgrund regiert. Eine Kehrtwende kann es nur mit der AfD geben.
https://t.co/ujS6Ic9ZLR
Dissatisfaction with the state government is clearly behind the new results, with 54 percent saying they are dissatisfied with its work and only 38 percent indicating it is doing enough.
Regarding any form of cooperation with the AfD, an issue long touted by ruling parties as of key importance to their base, no majority favors a strict separation, writes Nius. Around a third support decisions on a case-by-case basis, while another quarter are generally in favor of cooperation.
As to an outright ban on the AfD, some 50 percent reject the idea, rising to 59 percent among CDU voters.
Weidel has been on a roll, pointing out the continued failings of the current ruling parties.
“Black-Red is getting clobbered by the industrial electricity price,” she wrote in another post yesterday, highlighting the importance of energy prices for German industry, which has been in freefall.
Die Milliarden-Investition von Audi für ein Werk in den USA ist ein Warnsignal: Schwarz-Rot treibt die Autoindustrie durch Verbrennerverbot und hohe Energiekosten ins Ausland. Nur mit der AfD wird es Technologieoffenheit und bezahlbare Energie geben!
https://t.co/QDRCwTp23M
“Due to the rising energy prices, the costs for subsidies to companies are growing. The AfD will make electricity affordable for everyone again with a sensible energy policy!” she added.
Bemoaning in yet another post Audi’s new plant announcement in the U.S., Weidel accused the ruling coalition of “driving the automotive industry abroad through engine bans and high energy costs” and promised that the AfD will deliver “technological openness and affordable energy!”
Weidel also blasted left-wing parties for attempting to “craft themselves a new electorate” by granting foreigners voting rights after just 5 years of residency.
Conservative voices have long raised concerns over the demographic shift arising from high sustained migration from the Middle East and Africa, and new data confirms these fears.
According to data published by La Razón, cited by La Gaceta, the number of Muslims in Europe has jumped from roughly 15 million around the year 2000 to approximately 32.5 million today (excluding Russia and Turkey).
Statistics from the Pew Research Center aligns with this upward trajectory, reporting that Europe’s broader Muslim population—including Russia—climbed to 46 million in 2020, a 16 percent increase from 2010.
Spain has experienced a pronounced increase in its Muslim demographic. Data from the CEU-CEFAS Demographic Observatory shows that Spain’s Muslim population reached between 2.4 and 2.5 million by early 2025, accounting for roughly 5 percent of the total population. Within this group, an estimated 1.79 million are first-generation immigrants, while 680,000 were born in Spain to at least one Muslim parent.
But Spain is not alone. Italy’s Muslim population has reached about 2.7 million. In Sweden, Muslim residents doubled from roughly 4 percent to 8 percent between 2010 and 2020, while Germany saw this demographic hit 7 percent of its overall population by 2020. In the U.K., census data for England and Wales saw the number of Muslims increased from 2.7 million in 2011 to 3.9 million in 2021.
Even without any further migration, Muslims are expected to increase their share of populations across Europe simply because they have higher birth rates than native ethnicities.
Data from Pew Research previously cited by Remix News estimated there could triple to 75 million Muslims in Europe by 2050 if they manage to maintain a high birth rate and immigration rates continue their pace. Some are actively cheering on such an expansion, with Muslim influencer Mohammed Hijab even stating in a reply to Elon Musk on X: “Muslims of the West, get married and have many kids try and aim for 5 minimum that is what these fragile far-right anti-Muslims hate the most.”
Meanwhile, birthrates are plummeting for local populations. Thilo Sarrazin, the former Bundesbank board member who authored the 2010 book “Deutschland schafft sich ab” (“Germany Is Abolishing Itself”) now predicts that by 2070, 80 percent of births will be to non-German mothers.
Lower Saxony police arrested three individuals at a local residence following a targeted vehicular assault late Monday evening.
Authorities confirmed Tuesday morning that those involved belong to extended families previously known to law enforcement for clan-related criminal activity, reports Junge Freiheit.
BMW rast in Menschengruppe, Schüsse fallen, Autos werden beschädigt. In Niedersachsen eskaliert offenbar ein Streit im Clan-Milieu. https://t.co/GkKaQGcEQW
The incident unfolded when a suspect drove a BMW directly into a group of people standing on a street before abandoning the vehicle and fleeing on foot. Investigators believe the driver and the victims were acquaintances.
According to the German Press Agency (dpa), multiple vehicles sustained damage during the attack, with an on-scene reporter noting flattened tires, a shattered rear window, and bullet holes.
Police initially discovered the situation during a routine traffic stop, firing shots toward the BMW upon realizing what was happening. While the victims sustained non-life-threatening injuries, authorities cordoned off the scene for several hours to conduct a forensic investigation.
Statewide data cited by JF reveals that Lower Saxony police recorded 2,691 crimes linked to organized clan structures last year, primarily involving violent offenses, property damage, forgery, and theft.
German citizens account for over 56 percent of the suspects in these cases, with the Lebanese Miri clan and the Arab-Kurdish Al-Zein family identified as the most active networks in the region.
However, as Remix News often notes and as indicated by the foreign ethnicity of the clans mentioned, “German citizens” can also include those who were migrants themselves but have since acquired German citizenship or children of migrants.
This past April, data from the PKS 2025, published by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), showed that foreigners are responsible for 41 percent of all violent crimes and 38 percent of all murders, despite accounting for just 15 percent of the population.
And last summer, a story broke about a Syrian clan patriarch with three wives married under Islamic custom, 32 children, and 25 grandchildren who received state child support payments of nearly €100,000 a year.
A 26-year-old ride-hailing driver was stabbed following a late-night trip from Toulouse to Colomiers on Oct. 26.
The incident began in the Rangueil district, where the driver picked up a 14-year-old passenger who was later identified as an unaccompanied minor, according to Fdesouche, citing a report out of La Dépêche.
When they reached Boulevard Jean-Baptiste-Ingres, the teenager disclosed that he could not pay the fare. In response, the driver locked the vehicle’s doors. The teenager then attempted to climb out of a window before drawing a knife and stabbing the driver, causing an injury to the driver’s hand.
Amid the altercation, the car collided with a lamppost under circumstances that authorities are still reviewing.
Two 16-year-old unaccompanied minors then intervened and ran away with the passenger. Officers from the anti-crime unit quickly located and arrested all three teenagers, taking them into custody. However, the status and nationality of the suspects have not been disclosed.
Remix News recently reported on data out of France’s own Interior Ministry revealing that foreigners accounted in 2025 for 87 percent of simple thefts on Île-de-France public transport, 60 percent of robberies, and 38 percent of physical assaults.
Italy has hit record-high employment of over 63 percent and historic low unemployment of 6.3 percent amid a major welfare overhaul led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. By Q2 2026, the workforce expanded to 24.36 million people.
In January 2024, Italy completely replaced its old guaranteed minimum income with two targeted programs. Averaging €672/month for 690,000 vulnerable households (elderly, disabled, families with kids), as of June 2026, active benefits are tied to mandatory job training, covering over 84,000 individuals, writes La Gaceta, citing data out of Istat.
Of former welfare recipients, 60 percent transitioned to the new benefits, and 26 percent of these households had at least one member find a job in 2024. However, around 850,000 families saw their income drop by an average of €2,600 per year due to stricter welfare criteria.
Especially in historically lagging Southern Italy (Mezzogiorno), the results have been impressive. The region grew 8.5 percent between 2021 and 2024 and creating nearly 500,000 jobs via tourism, construction, and EU funds.
Italy’s employment rate still lags 8 percentage points behind the eurozone average, bogged down by low youth and female workforce participation.
Backed by strong employment and business resilience, Scope Ratings affirmed Italy’s BBB+ rating with a positive outlook. The agency forecasts 1 percent GDP growth, 3 percent inflation, and a reduced public deficit of 2.9 percent for 2026, noting positive consumption while low productivity remains a weak spot for the country.
Real GDP growth for 2026 for all of the EU is forecasted at 1.1 percent.
Last month, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni touted tourism and “Made in Italy” exports as key factors for helping the economy stay resilient.
Following his victory in the second round of Brazil’s presidential election, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva thanked Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for his congratulations.
Sánchez had posted to X: “A great victory for Lula. What has happened in Brazil will happen in Spain.”
¡Gran victoria de @LulaOficial!
Lo que ha pasado en Brasil, pasará en España.
La remontada del progresismo global acaba de comenzar.
Reposting Sánchez, Lula emphasized: “Brazil will stand alongside Spain in defending democracy, social justice, multilateralism, and peace. We are allies in global progressivism!”
Muito obrigado pela mensagem, presidente @sanchezcastejon. O Brasil seguirá ao lado da Espanha na defesa da democracia, da justiça social, do multilateralismo e da paz. Somos aliados no progressismo global!
Spain’s upcoming general elections are scheduled for Nov. 29. Recent polling shows Sánchez’ PSOE at 26 percent, trailing the conservative PP, which stands at 31.2 percent. The right-wing VOX party now stands at 18.6 percent.
Following his election defeat in Brazil, Flávio Bolsonaro announced he had been demanded to surrender his passports. He also denied stating that he would leave the country were he to lose the election, something his brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, had previously told a podcast he had said, according to TOI.
Federal Police agents reportedly delivered the travel ban, issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, a central figure in legal investigations involving the Bolsonaro family. The demand is said to be part of a Federal Police investigation into Bolsonaro regarding suspected money laundering linked to online sports betting.
The order heightens political tensions and accusations of lawfare following the election. Flávio Bolsonaro has stated that he will seek to annul the results, citing voting irregularities tied to a controversial two-hour voting extension at polling stations.
U.S. President Donald Trump chimed in, questioning Brazil’s election outcome and noting a “terrible look.” Trump pointed to the “strange” two-hour extension of Sunday’s polling station closing times, although he has made no indication that he will seek to get involved in the matter. “I’m not running Brazil. I’m running the USA,” Trump told press.
Trump was asked whether he plans to do something about Brazil’s election.
“I’m not running Brazil. I’m running the USA.”
He says he likes Lula and gets along with him very well, but he called the voting extension very strange.
With Bolsonaro planning legal action, that extension could get a much closer look.
Writer: Daniyal
https://t.co/b9RiPXBTAq
Spain’s upcoming election comes as many in Spain have been alienated by Sánchez’s mass amnesty program for illegal migrants. Data from 2025 indicated that foreigners, who make up 31 percent of Spain’s prison population, commit per capita 500 percent more rapes and 414 percent more murders than Spanish citizens.
Last month, the Left Party took first place in Berlin’s state elections, and the party is seeking a coalition with the SPD and the Greens, both of which are already on board. The Left Party will announce its final decision on Oct. 31.
Now, Michael Hammerbacher, head of the Association for Democracy and Diversity in Schools and Vocational Training, is concerned that the new leadership will cooperate with organizations tied to political Islam and that funding for vital advisory projects, including his own, could be at risk, writes Junge Freiheit.
He is urging the three parties to establish a strict “firewall” against political Islam in schools, as religious extremism is increasingly threatening education policy and school safety.
According to Hammerbacher, schools—particularly those where 90 percent or more of the student body has a Muslim background—are experiencing severe pressure to conform to strict religious guidelines.
Issues include targeted bullying of liberal Muslims, homosexual students, and Alevi students; pressuring students to fast during Ramadan; and the refusal to attend co-ed physical education or swimming classes,
More and more Islamist material is also regularly popping up in class group chats.
And students are increasingly feeling pressure to join in on activities they would normally not consider, such as at Berlin’s Diesterweg Gymnasium, where students even held a large demonstration in the schoolyard, dressed all in black. Hammerbacher also points out that establishing school prayer rooms leads to gender segregation.
Perhaps most worrying is data from the June Berlin Conflict and Violence Barometer study. Out of 14,000 students and 2,500 staff surveyed, 29 percent of ninth-graders believe religious rules trump school rules. Among Muslim ninth-graders, that figure rises to 41 percent.
Some positive news came out of the Berlin Administrative Court earlier this month, when it ruled that Diesterweg Gymnasium in Wedding can legally ban demonstrative religious rituals to maintain school peace. This decision dismissed a lawsuit from the Society for Civil Rights (GFF), which had argued the ban discriminated against Muslim students.
Hammerbacher noted that the Diesterweg Gymnasium had previously faced severe conflicts, including students being pressured to convert to Islam and girls facing verbal abuse if they failed to wear a headscarf. He sharply criticized the GFF for targeting 20 schools with legal warnings over similar rules; 19 of these schools backed down, making Diesterweg Gymnasium the only one to stand its ground.
The expert warned that legal challenges such as by the GFF give political Islamist groups far too much leeway, further calling for the new Berlin government to be on guard against further opening the door to political Islam.
In August, Remix News wrote about one school teacher who bemoaned the impact of mass immigration, with 75 percent of students at her school having a migrant background, including many from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan or Ukraine. “It’s all blowing up in our faces,” she said. “We are happy if we can teach for a few minutes at a time. Sometimes the police have to come several times a week,” she added, due to incidents involving shouting, fights, and even drugs and prostitution.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy has unveiled a draft resolution designed to cushion the country’s wartime economic strain by pulling in qualified global talent to fill severe workforce deficits. The legislative framework outlines a structured method for evaluating international credentials and establishes a rolling registry of undermanned industries requiring immediate staffing relief.
At least 100,000 to 140,000 working-age Ukrainians have been killed since Russia invaded the country in early 2022, with some estimates for overall casualties (including wounded and missing) exceeding 500,000.
The exodus of Ukrainians from the country has not helped. In October 2025, Remix wrote about this very topic, with Ukraine’s former minister, Dmytro Kuleba, saying at the time that Ukraine may have to open its borders to Asian migrants due to the war. However, another major factor has been Ukraine’s abysmal birthrate.
The country’s fertility rate stands at 1.0 child per woman, less than half of the 2.1 replacement-level, required for a population to maintain itself without immigration.
“After the end of the conflict, Ukraine may begin to be populated with Africans and Afghans in order to prevent a demographic catastrophe,” read a 2025 interview in Focus magazine with Vladimir Paniotto, director general of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS).
Because the government’s new workforce policy is currently in the draft phase, the technical details and administrative requirements remain subject to revision prior to formal execution.
The framework is structured as a temporary pilot program. It is slated to operate for the duration of ongoing martial law and will automatically expire either two years after its inception or three months following the formal cessation of hostilities.
While macroeconomic experts view the policy as a necessary admission of the country’s deep labor challenges, analysts warn that the current text focuses heavily on regulatory compliance rather than active recruitment.
Volodymyr Landa, a prominent investment specialist, pointed out that the administrative journey remains overly complex for a country that is not historically a primary hub for global migration. Candidates require extensive document translations and it remains difficult to even discover active job openings.
Another major hurdle is that candidates face very real physical dangers when relocating to an active conflict zone.
“Ukraine is not the number one destination for international labor migration, so we need to make this journey as simple and clear as possible,” Landa told Kyiv Independent.
Current German law strictly requires teachers to remain politically neutral. However, a recent incident involving Maya Tischler, a 30-year-old Green Party politician, raises questions about whether this neutrality is properly enforced.
Before being elected to the state parliament of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Tischler worked as a history teacher in Ribnitz-Damgarten. Controversial comments she made regarding her former students are now coming to light, highlighting the censorship Germans who do not fall in line with left-liberal ideologies face.
Tischler reportedly stated that she fought daily against discriminatory, racist, and violent rhetoric in her rural school environment. She even openly admitted to frequently removing AfD stickers from classroom furniture and noted that many local parents were involved with the right-wing party.
“I’m simply fed up,” she said at a 2025 Green Party conference, adding that she had “stopped counting how many AfD stickers we unfortunately had to scrape off the chairs in the classrooms,” according to Junge Freiheit.
Tischler also expressed immense relief at being able to openly label the AfD as “definitely far-right” to her students, noting she was exhausted from dealing with the issue, particularly after a tense debate with students during a field trip to the Ravensbrück concentration camp memorial. She also previously confirmed her support for a ban on the AfD.
As vice president of the state parliament in Schwerin, Tischler is expected to remain impartial, a mandate for both teachers and politicians. Her critics are now questioning her suitability for either profession.
Thore Stein, the AfD’s parliamentary manager in the state, condemned her appointment to the parliament’s presidium, telling JF it was “an absolute mockery of the principle of neutrality in office.”
Last year, German influencer Eva Vlaardingerbroek had her shadow ban on X lifted by Elon Musk, in a case where the EU claimed it had restricted her account due to the EU’s Digital Services Act. While her account regained its normal status, many conservatives in Germany and across Europe continue to have their voices muffled. And with teachers like Maya Tischler, this censorship campaign starts early.
Another day in France, another minor revealed to me the victim of forced prostitution.
Five men are facing trial at the Rhône Assize Court from Oct. 26 to Nov. 2 on charges of aggravated pimping involving a 12-year-old girl, referred to by the pseudonym Louna. While the suspects are being prosecuted, none of her clients face charges.
Louna, a vulnerable out-of-school youth who was also the alleged victim of a gang rape at age 10, ran away twice in 2022. On June 17, 2022, she left a campsite in southern France where she was vacationing with her grandmother. Six days later, a client recognized her from a missing person flyer and notified authorities, writes Le Progres.
Police located Louna in a rundown apartment on Quai Gillet in Lyon’s 4th arrondissement, discovering physical injuries (bruises and knife cuts) and that she had cocaine in her bloodstream.
The minor told police that she was manipulated online by a 19-year-old named Moha, whom she believed was her boyfriend. Moha and three accomplices allegedly groomed her with promises of luxury items, coerced her into using cocaine, and managed her prostitution.
Using the now-defunct website Coco, she was forced to see roughly 30 clients in a single week. The suspects threatened her with physical violence if she did not generate €500 to €1,000 a day, monitoring her actions closely.
This is just the latest in a slew of sex crime cases involving minors. Back in 2022, 12-year-old Lola Daviet was brutally raped and murdered in Paris by an Algerian woman, with the case possibly linked to a North African custom involving the killing of a White child with blonde hair.
Grooming gangs have also been on the rise. Child prostitution in France has risen by 43 percent over the past four years. French police are identifying “younger and younger girls” being trafficked.
Speaking at her party’s opening campaign rally in Orléans, Marine Le Pen, presidential candidate of the National Rally (RN), spoke repeatedly about rebirth, or a renaissance, calling on the French to embrace a shift away from the disastrous policies of current President Emmanuel Macron.
Her campaign comes on the back of the disastrous riots that have seen France pillaged and burned. During her speech in Orléans, in line with her past messaging, Le Pen pledged to bring the French better security.
“We are not living the end of the world but the end of a world. It is up to us to build the one that is coming. The Renaissance of France begins today!” Le Pen posted to X.
Nous ne vivons pas la fin du monde mais la fin d’un monde. À nous de bâtir celui qui vient.
La Renaissance de la France commence aujourd’hui ! https://t.co/UuTWqKI1Uh
“No one thinks that we are stronger today than yesterday, or that after 10 years of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency, we are walking on a field covered in rose petals,” she told supporters, as cited by Euronews Hungary.
“The battle for facts has already been won; everyone in France agrees with us,” she added.
“Who can claim that there is a rule of law when hordes come to ransack and burn our buildings?” she asked during her launch speech.
“The rule of law is not law against the state,” said Le Pen, promising strict legal action against those who commit crimes, including the expulsion of foreign criminals, echoing sentiments from right-wing leaders across Europe.
The Great Replacement is driving the French riots, says right-wing politician Éric Zemmour.
"I believe that what we saw yesterday is the true face of the Great Replacement. It has an appearance: hordes of North African and African barbarians who ransack cities."
Follow: @RMXnews
She also called for greater French sovereignty, arguing that France must secure itself a “double border: French and European.”
Le Pen additionally struck out at Zelensky, noting that under her leadership France has no intention of send its youth to die in a war “that is not ours.”
RN Chairman Jordan Bardella turned his sights on Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) who has been adamant in his support for the ongoing riots. Bardella accused Mélenchon of “stirring the embers of rebellion” and called LFI unfit for the “highest functions of the state.”
France heads to the polls in May 2027. Recent polling shows Le Pen in the lead, with as high as 38% of the vote, according to Reuters. Mélenchon would come in second, with as much as 18.5%.
Matteo Salvini has secured another four-year term as the leader of Italy’s League party after winning the leadership election at an extraordinary party congress in Milan. Salvini defeated his challenger, Massimo Garavaglia, by a decisive 465 votes to 146.
During the congress, Salvini sharply criticized internal party dissent, targeting unnamed critics who had pressured local officials to boycott major party rallies, labeling their actions a “betrayal” of the League’s values, writes Il Giornale.
Last week, in the wake of the violent riots in Milan, Salvini had posted on X after an approved security decree: “More troops for Safe Streets, including 500 already in Milan, delayed arrests thanks to cameras, and greater powers for the Armed Forces and Law Enforcement,” he wrote, adding that the government will also seek to enact legislation for “the revocation of citizenship and residence permits for adults who commit crimes, and the impossibility of obtaining citizenship for minors who deal drugs, loot, or vandalize.”
DA STASERA È LEGGE!
Più militari per Strade Sicure, di cui 500 già a Milano, arresto in differita grazie alle telecamere e più poteri alle Forze Armate e alle Forze dell’Ordine.
E poi avanti, in prospettiva, con la revoca della cittadinanza e del permesso di soggiorno ai maggiorenni che commettono reati e con l’impossibilità di ottenere la cittadinanza per i minorenni che spacciano, saccheggiano o devastano.
Chi sbaglia paga.
Perché chi devasta una vetrina o aggredisce una commessa non è un rivoluzionario: È UN COGLIONE.
Looking ahead to upcoming elections, he declared that the party’s focus must remain firmly on “identity, autonomy, and federalism,” asserting that the League would not settle for simply being a minor partner in a center-right coalition.
In his pre-election address, Salvini had also staked out a hardline foreign policy stance, demanding an immediate halt to Italian financial and military aid to Ukraine. He announced that his re-election gives him a direct mandate to challenge the current government coalition on this issue, going as far as to question whether funds sent to Kyiv were being misdirected by corrupt officials close to President Zelensky.
Declaring a firm “No” to a European army, Salvini told those gathered, “We will defend our borders ourselves.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offered her congratulations to Salvini on his reelection. “Let us continue to work together, with responsibility and determination, in the interest of Italy,” she posted to X.
Congratulazioni a @matteosalvinimi per la riconferma alla guida della Lega. A lui e a tutta la comunità del partito i miei auguri di buon lavoro. Continuiamo a lavorare insieme, con responsabilità e determinazione, nell’interesse dell’Italia.
With Halloween approaching on Oct. 31, German security authorities are intensifying preparations for planned youth protests in more than 20 cities, warning that the events could be overtaken by violent actors in patterns seen during recent mass unrest in France.
Many of the videos feature different social media influencers calling for French-style protests.
“On Oct. 31, we will all be on the streets. The French showed us how, now we’re following suit,” said one influencer who earned over 1 million views on TikTok.
"On Oct. 31, we will all be on the streets. The French showed us how, now we’re following suit."
Social media influencers are calling for French-style protests on Halloween night in Germany.
There are now warnings from police of potential unrest.
Stephan Weh, head of the Berlin branch of the police union (GdP), stated: "We must be extremely careful that radical forces do not co-opt democratic protest as in France, use it to live out fantasies of violence, abuse the freedom of assembly, and feed the narrative of a police force hostile to citizens."
GdP national chairman Jochen Kopelke warned of "unpredictable" protests on Halloween night with a risk factor of “young riot migrants who feel like using violence against the police.”
Follow: @RMXnews
Police union and political figures have issued a number of warnings. Stephan Weh, head of the Berlin branch of the police union (GdP), stated: “We must be extremely careful that radical forces do not co-opt democratic protest as in France, use it to live out fantasies of violence, abuse the freedom of assembly, and feed the narrative of a police force hostile to citizens.”
He added that the Halloween night timing compounds risks, given the common use of pyrotechnics during the night.
The protests stem from an initiative known as “Gen Z steht auf,” or “Gen Z stands up” in English, which has called for simultaneous demonstrations in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Leipzig, and others. Organizers, who report thousands of pre-registrations on their site, demand greater investment in education and health care, measures against rising living costs, climate action, and opposition to conscription.
Andreas Roßkopf of the GdP’s federal police section promised that state and federal forces “will proceed massively and consistently” against any riots, warning of radicals mixing into the demonstrations to attack officers “with violence and brutality” or simply to destroy property.
Many videos have called for peaceful protests, but others have alluded to the potential for rioting or looting.
These plans have drawn sharp attention after the Oct. 17 protests across France, which saw demonstrations devolve into violent riots involving masked groups setting buildings ablaze, looting shops, clashing with police, and causing widespread damage.
Authorities reported well over 1,000 arrests and hundreds of injured officers. Further online calls for Halloween gatherings targeting public buildings have also circulated in France as well on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
In Germany, the Federal Interior Ministry has confirmed ongoing risk assessments coordinated with partners including France and Italy, while the German domestic intelligence service (BfV) is increasing surveillance of relevant websites and social-media channels. A ministry spokesman noted the distinction between “peaceful student protests” and “a violence-prone extremist scene that potentially uses such protests to spread violence.”
Hesse Interior Minister Roman Poseck (CDU) said authorities have the date “firmly in view” and that the protests are already being instrumentalized from the left spectrum.
He emphasized that police will be strongly positioned, will not tolerate violence against persons or property, and must prevent France’s situation from spilling over.
Bavaria’s Joachim Herrmann (CSU) urged that comparable tendencies “must be nipped in the bud,” describing the French events not as student protests but as heavy riots involving left-extremists and predominantly migrant men in street battles, arson, and looting.
GdP national chairman Jochen Kopelke has highlighted unpredictability as the core problem of the Halloween protests, unlike more routine large events such as New Year’s Eve, May 1, or football matches. Referring to reports from French colleagues, he described “street battles” and noted German precedents including the G20 in Hamburg and scenes in Leipzig-Connewitz and Berlin’s Rigaer Straße.
He warned of possible simultaneous, digitally mobilized demonstrations across multiple German and European cities, and of “young riot migrants who are included to use violence against the police.” Such actors, he said, “must be kept in check and can expect no mercy from us.”
Manuel Ostermann of the federal police union has cautioned that multi-day unrest with ugly images and possibly brutal violence cannot be ruled out, while insisting German forces are better prepared than their French counterparts and will permit no lawless zones.
The body of 29-year-old Hajar was discovered on the morning of Oct.16 inside a suitcase in the Amstel River along the Amsteldijk in Amsterdam-Zuid, near Martin Luther Kingpark. She had been missing since Oct. 4, when she was last seen cycling away from the RAI convention center toward the Buitenveldert neighborhood with an unidentified man.
Hajar disappeared after sending a series of alarming text messages to a family member. According to reporting by De Telegraaf, one message read: “Help me. Now. He is killing me.”
The messages arrived around 11:15 a.m. on Oct. 4. Her family reported her missing that evening, but police initially classified the case as non-urgent. A public appeal for information was not issued until Oct. 13, nine days later.
Women in the Netherlands and Germany are now trying to defend themselves with "Smurf spray" after an asylum seeker raped and murdered 17-year-old Lisa.
"Since Lisa’s death, many of (self-defense) products have been sold out, including the Smurf spray."
Pepper spray is illegal in both Germany and the Netherlands, which means women are desperate for self-defense options.
Smurf spray paints a potential rapist’s face blue for days, making a suspect easy to identify. But can it really stop a determined rapist?
"After the death of 17-year-old Lisa, practically every woman in Holland wants to carry it."
17-year-old Lisa was not the only victim. The asylum seeker had previously raped and sexually assaulted other women.
(Video source: RTL)
On Oct. 20, Amsterdam police arrested a 23-year-old Somali national identified in reports as Abdi A. (or Abdi Anan). He has lived in the Netherlands since the age of six, holds permanent residency, and has no fixed address.
Authorities said he was first questioned as a witness after CCTV footage placed him with Hajar near the RAI on the day she vanished. He was arrested the following day after a separate violent incident at a home in Koggenland, Noord-Holland, in which a man, later identified as his foster father, was injured.
Police Chief Peter Holla told a press conference that “Hajar died fairly soon after her disappearance” and that “as far as is known, the suspect has no connection to the victim.”
First, a Dutch woman was raped and beaten. It was all caught on surveillance camera, but police never released the footage or an image of the suspect.
A few days later, the African migrant Chris Jude raped and murdered 17-year-old Lisa.
A complete failure of the Dutch police and larger immigration system.
@rblommestijn : “The police and judiciary simply did not do their job properly.”
Investigators later searched an empty school building on De Klencke in Buitenveldert, where police believe Hajar was killed.
Holla described the circumstances of the disposal as “inhumane.”
Family members expressed anger that police did not treat the case as urgent sooner despite the text messages, telling LINDA.nl: “We already knew she had been murdered. That is what she messaged.”
A 13-year-old German boy identified as Bennet was hospitalized with a concussion, bruised ribs and other injuries after an alleged attack by a classmate outside a school in the eastern German town of Eilenburg, according to the boy’s mother.
The incident, which occurred Friedrich-Tschanter High School as Bennet went to retrieve his bicycle, was filmed by three other students and later circulated on WhatsApp and Snapchat, according to the Bild newspaper. The alleged attacker is Mohammed, )a Syrian classmate of similar age who had previously drawn attention at the school for violent acts.
In a statement Bennet’s mother said: “He baselessly accused my son of insulting his mother. Then he suddenly started beating him — on Bennet’s head, temples. He kicked him in the ribs, brought him to the ground, choked him by the neck. When Bennet got up, the other forced him onto his knees.”
Hospital records cited in the accounts documented a skull contusion, concussion, strangulation marks on the neck, and bruised ribs. Bennet spent a night in the hospital and received an IV. His mother has said he no longer leaves the family property out of fear, continues to experience pain and does not feel safe going to school alone.
School officials transferred the alleged attacker to a school in a neighboring town for one year, but the mother of Bennett stated that the boy is engaging in similar behavior at the new school.
The case has drawn attention on social media in Germany, including a widely shared post by radio host Julian Adrat.
“Mohammad from Syria tortures Bennet after school in the Saxon town of Eilenburg….They send the Syrian to a school in the neighboring town so he can continue tormenting Germans there. What’s going on here is almost impossible to put into words,” wrote Adrat.
Mohammad aus Syrien foltert Bennet nach der Schule im sächsischen Eilenburg. Er schlägt ihn zu Boden, tritt ihm in die Rippen, würgt ihn. Er lässt ihn sich vor ihm hinknien und um Gnade winseln. Bennet erleidet eine Gehirnerschütterung, geprellte Rippen, ihm wird eine Infusion gelegt, er verbringt eine Nacht im Krankenhaus. Seitdem verlässt er sein zu Hause nicht mehr. Den Syrer schicken sie auf eine Schule im Nachbarort, damit er dort weiter Deutsche quälen kann. Was hier abgeht, lässt sich kaum in Worte kleiden. Aufwachen!
One of the issues is the widespread violence against German youths in streets, schools, and clubs at the hands of migrants. Remix News has covered this issue in Germany and other European schools for years. Remix News had documented numerous cases of German students being bullied, assaulted and humiliated at the hands of migrant youths.
Muslim students beat him because he was German and gay.
"They hated me because I am German, because I was already a homosexual boy back then, and because I did not submit to Sharia, to Islamic laws on German soil," said David Brough (@_david_brg).
"During my school days, I was mistreated, beaten, ostracized, and insulted every day by Muslim classmates."
It is a hell many German students have faced as schools become more "diverse."
"The situation in our schools – what I call our Sharia schools, I was in a Sharia school in Wuppertal – has gotten even worse," said Brough.
He then describes how, when he sought help, a guidance counselor claimed he must accept "diversity."
"When I went to the guidance counselor with an SPD party membership card back then and told him about the homophobic assaults, the abuse, and running the gauntlet in PE class, he only said to me: ‘David, we are a school of diversity. You just have to endure it. You have to tolerate other cultural conditions. And in Islam, being gay is haram, a sin.’"
This same attitude dominates within the German left. Even if the costs are unbearable, everything must be done in the name of diversity.
"This country, Germany, and the politicians of this country, have not only sold out our cultural identity, our dignity, and our pride. The worst part is that they sold out our children, and we – the former schoolchildren, now young adults – are being robbed of our own culture."
Follow: @RMXnews
In fact, Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Alice Weidel addressed the issue in an interview this week.
“We have a lot of violence in schools, imposed, I’m very sorry to say, but we have to talk about it, by children of Muslim descent, beating up our children in school,” she stated.
German AfD Leader Alice Weidel:
We have a lot of violence in schools, imposed, I’m very sorry to say, but we have to talk about it, by children of Muslim descent, beating up our children in school.
People are very afraid. https://t.co/8K4cyjQPz3
It is not just the right in Germany calling attention to the issue.
Arguably Germany’s most famous currently serving mayor, Tübingen’s Boris Palmer, has attributed the success of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party among young voters to the consequences of mass migration, which have transformed the school system and other areas where young people gather. Palmer is notably associated with the left and was a former member of the Green Party.
“They experience what irregular migration means on a daily basis,” Palmer wrote on Facebook.
“Above all, the young men who have arrived alone are changing the living environment of young people. In the park, in the club, on the street, on the bus, at the train station, in the schoolyard,” he added.
The beating of a German teen in Frankfurt (Oder) also made national headlines earlier this week as well, which sparked a major demonstration against migrant violence in the Brandenburg city.
“The cowardly attack by ten migrants on a single German has had an effect. Around 1,000 people gathered this evening on Leipziger Platz in Frankfurt an der Oder to protest together with the AfD against migrant violence. We won’t tolerate it any longer! The perpetrators and their families need to be deported,” said AfD state lawmaker Lena Kotré at the demonstration.
The other major issue is that German law sets the age of criminal responsibility at 14, which could limit formal prosecution depending on the exact ages involved.
Germany’s federal states are proposing that social media platforms reserve at least 20 percent of algorithmic recommendations for content from a pool of approved media outlets deemed important for opinion diversity, according to a draft under public consultation. The proposed measure is already being slammed as a state-mandated propaganda effort that would force German citizens to view content friendly to the ruling establishment parties.
The measure is part of the second stage of a planned Digital Media State Treaty developed by the Broadcasting Commission of the Federal States. Under the draft, public broadcasters such as ARD, ZDF and Deutschland Radio would automatically qualify for certain offerings.
Meanwhile, private outlets would generally need to apply and demonstrate that they meet criteria including news and political reporting, information and educational content, documentaries, local or regional coverage, original journalistic production, editorial staffing and accessibility standards. Approvals would be decided by the 14 state media authorities.
In other words, the state wants to control what people are seeing in their feeds.
As the Berliner Zeitung reports, the media law involves “media quotas with an advantage for ARD and ZDF,” which are two state broadcasters that already have a massive advantage over private competitors. Both outlets, which are notoriously in favor of mass migration and known for their anti-AfD bias, and which employ virtually all left-wing journalists, are already known for not playing on a level playing field.
Austrian remigration activist Martin Sellner, along with other right-leaning accounts, already are warning about the new plans.
Germany plans to force social media platforms to fill at least 20% of algorithmic recommendations with "diversity positive" government-regulator-approved media content.
Public broadcasters like ARD and ZDF would qualify automatically. Private outlets would need "State approval"
The rule would apply to algorithmic recommendations shown to users, such as in feeds or under videos on platforms including Instagram and X. Content drawn from the approved pool would still be selected according to the platforms’ algorithms and user interests. Officials have framed the quota as a way to protect journalistic content from being sidelined by engagement-driven material.
However, skepticism is obviously abundant.
“And who gets this golden seal of quality for preferential playback completely automatically? Of course, the public broadcasters. Private publishers, on the other hand, get to play the supplicants and politely apply for the status at the so-called “state-independent” media authorities. A rogue mind thinks evil of it,” wrote commentator Bernd Kaiser.
“If you want to exchange views on X in the future, the algorithm will soon forcibly serve you the curated explainer journalism from Tagesschau — right between your friends’ posts. They’re selling us this unprecedented market intervention as ‘Public Value,’ but it’s a blatant attempt to secure air superiority over online discourse,” he added.
Mündiger Bürger? Dass ich nicht lache! Weil ARD, ZDF und Co. trotz 8,5 Milliarden Euro Zwangsgebühren im Jahr immer öfter an den Interessen der Menschen vorbeisenden, greift der Staat jetzt zur digitalen Brechstange.
Die neueste Glanzidee der Länder: Wenn das Publikum freiwillig wegläuft, zwingt man ihm die Inhalte eben per Gesetz auf. Der geplante Digitale-Medien-Staatsvertrag sieht allen Ernstes eine 20-Prozent-Quote für Social Media vor. Das heißt: Jeder fünfte Post in Ihrem Feed bei X oder Instagram soll künftig verpflichtend ein „vielfaltsfördernder“ Beitrag sein.
Und wer bekommt dieses goldene Gütesiegel für bevorzugte Ausspielung völlig automatisch? Natürlich die Öffentlich-Rechtlichen. Private Verlage dürfen hingegen als Bittsteller auftreten und sich bei den sogenannten „staatsfernen“ Medienanstalten brav um den Status bewerben. Ein Schelm, wer Böses dabei denkt.
Wenn Sie sich künftig auf X austauschen wollen, serviert Ihnen der Algorithmus bald zwangsweise den betreuten Erklärbär-Journalismus der Tagesschau – direkt zwischen den Beiträgen Ihrer Freunde. Man verkauft uns diesen beispiellosen Markteingriff als „Public Value“, aber es ist der völlig unverhohlene Versuch, die Lufthoheit über den Diskurs im Netz zu sichern.
Wer exzellenten Journalismus macht, braucht keine algorithmische Rollator-Hilfe durch den Staat. Wer aber Panik vor der eigenen Irrelevanz hat, flüchtet sich in Zwangsquoten. Wir dürfen den Elfenbeinturm nicht mehr nur teuer bezahlen, wir sollen ab sofort auch bei jedem fünften Swipe in Demut daraus lesen.
The draft was released for public comment in late September 2026, with submissions accepted until Nov. 13. It builds on an existing “public value” system that already grants preferential placement to certain media apps in app stores and on smart-TV interfaces. Some private broadcasters, such as those already holding “public-value” status, would also be eligible for the pool.
The Berliner Zeitung, a private newspaper, noted that state-funded broadcasters could expand their visibility relative to private competitors that rely on advertising or subscriptions. Critics have also pointed out that the criteria emphasize structural and production features of outlets rather than the range of viewpoints in individual posts, and that there is limited evidence the specific 20 percent threshold would increase actual diversity of perspectives.
The Digital Media State Treaty is being prepared in two parts. The first, focused largely on implementing European Union rules including aspects of the AI Act, has already advanced. Part two remains a discussion draft and would require agreement by the governments and subsequent ratification by the parliaments of all 16 German states before it could take effect.
Media regulation in Germany is primarily a responsibility of the states under the country’s dual public-private broadcasting system.
Nearly 5,000 Germans emigrated to Poland in 2025, outpacing the numbers who left for Britain, Italy or the Netherlands, according to new government data.
Figures from Germany’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) showed 4,941 people moved from Germany to Poland last year, the highest total since the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, only 1,720 moved in the opposite direction. The resulting negative migration balance for Germany was highlighted by financial daily Handelsblatt reporter Christian Wermke, who asked: “Why are more and more Germans moving across the Oder? What exactly works better in the Polish economy than in Germany? And what could we learn from our eastern neighbor so as not to permanently lose skilled workers?”
Poland features 5 amazing swimming pools just outside Kraków, in Zakrzówek.
German Youtuber @freiformation appears to prefer Poland to Germany when it comes to swimming.
"No groping, no harassment, just families, children, girls, women, men, all peaceful." https://t.co/r3cGmXnsMT
Kevin Wörner, a 33-year-old who relocated from Berlin to Warsaw, and whose mother is Polish, told the newspaper there is “an incredible sense of a new beginning here. Everyone here is very optimistic.”
He contrasted that atmosphere with conversations among friends in Germany, where “it just gets you down.” Wörner cited lower taxes, less bureaucracy, stronger digitalization, and a more business-friendly environment as practical advantages, saying he had the impression “everything is a bit simpler here and more conducive to entrepreneurship.”
The trend also comes at a time when more and more Western European visiting Poland have made remarks about how safe the country is, how there is a lack of migrants, and how much better of a lifestyle the country offers.
A young French-speaking woman traveling in Poland describes how shocked she is to finally not be catcalled and harassed.
"It’s when you come to countries like Poland that you realize there are really problems with our countries, like Belgium or France."
"Whether it’s Brussels, Liège, or slightly bigger cities like that, I would always get catcalled, honked at, harassed… really, everything you can think of."
"And now I’m in Krakow, Poland, and it’s been two days that I’ve been walking around in this outfit, and I get absolutely no comments, no stares – like, only respect."
Follow: @RMXnews
Jens Althoff, head of the Warsaw office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, noted that many Germans still hold a “rather distorted image of Poland.” He pointed to ongoing infrastructure investment, high levels of digitalization, punctual trains, and well-maintained stations as visible differences.
Althoff also observed that younger Poles often emphasize achievement and implementation over the work-life balance discussions common in Germany.
After returning from Poland, French journalist @YOANNUSAI said:
"It’s true that after coming back from certain countries to France, you can say to yourself: ‘My God, what have they done to our country?’"
"And it’s true that Poland is still Poland, while France is no longer France. The reality is this. The Poland of 40 years ago is the same as the Poland of today. France today is nothing like the France of 40 years ago. And immigration, of course, is partly responsible for this."
Many Western Europeans have the same reaction after returning from Poland, which still has basically the same demographics as 40 years ago.
Poland is also a vastly safer country for women on the streets.
"Finally, in Poland, young girls go out freely, without fear. Obviously, in Poland, there are young girls who are dressed however they want to be dressed. They don’t censor themselves, which is no longer the case in France. I had to go out on a Saturday night in Paris, and a lot of young girls self-censor how they dress. This is not the case in Poland, as I have seen. You can walk freely around Warsaw at any time of day or night without worrying about your safety, which is not even the case for me in Paris, as a man, OK? I’m afraid for my own safety at certain hours in some neighborhoods of Paris."
Other interviewees mentioned Polish digital tools such as the BLIK mobile payment system and the mObywatel government app as examples of efficiency that stand out to newcomers. Handelsblatt’s reporting appeared amid broader German media coverage noting Poland’s economic growth and infrastructure improvements, even as some outlets have described ongoing operational difficulties on the German rail network.
The Destatis figures place Poland among the top destinations for German emigrants in 2025, behind Switzerland, Austria and Spain but ahead of several Western European countries. The newspaper framed the trend as a potential signal for German policymakers concerned about retaining skilled workers, while noting that overall German emigration remains highest to neighboring German-speaking countries, such as Austria.
In a podcast with Paul Ronzheimer, ARD chairman Florian Hager conceded that public broadcasters have often lectured AfD voters, that migration coverage was “probably not critical enough” in places, and that journalists from academic backgrounds can lose touch with everyday realities.
During the podcast, Hager distinguished AfD politicians from their voters and said concerns about representation and trust in public media are a problem that public media must acknowledge as a problem.
“I am trying to create a separation between AfD politicians and the people who vote for the AfD,” he said, noting that the concerns of voters should not be ignored. “And if there’s a feeling that we don’t represent them, that they aren’t seen, or that they can no longer trust us, then it’s a huge issue for us. And then you can’t say it is their problem… but it’s our problem.”
These are rare admissions from an ARD chief. However, in a country where approximately a third of voters support the AfD, the party and its voters can no longer be swept aside by public media as anger over mass immigration soars.
In general, public trust has eroded in public broadcasting while the AfD consolidates its position at nearly 30 percent in national polls.
Public media’s trust problem is measurable and persistent. A Media Tenor “Zukunftsindex Deutschland” survey of more than 3,000 people found only 31 percent trust ARD, ZDF and related programs; among 16- to 29-year-olds the figure was 25 percent, and among AfD supporters it dropped to 15 percent.
WDR/Infratest Dimap data from spring 2025 put institutional trust in public broadcasting at 55 percent overall, with a clear East-West gap (higher in the West, lower in the East).
Compulsory fees continue to fund a system whose audience is shrinking relative to the political landscape, and the people who have to pay those fees are even willing to hold public demonstrations over the issue. t has strong echoes of the protests against the BBC.in Britain, where taxpaying Brits who vote for conservative parties have launched campaign after campaign for the abolition of compulsory fees to support the network.
The ideological skew inside the German journalism industry helps explain much of the uncritical migration coverage. Hager is now being forced to confront this issue, but the problem is that the vast majority of journalists working in public media are extremely supportive of left-green parties, and many of these same journalists could even be considered open-border extremists.
The 2024 TU Dortmund “Journalism and Democracy” survey of 525 journalists — with 40 percent of respondents working for public broadcasters — found 41 percent leaning toward the Greens, 16 percent toward the SPD, 6 percent toward the Left, and only 8 percent toward the CDU.
As for the AfD, it either was not listed or received support so low, at below 1 percent, that it was considered “negligible.”
In total, among those expressing a preference, left-green parties accounted for roughly 82 percent of journalists. Green Party support among journalists was several times the party’s national polling level at the time.
Meanwhile, the party that is supported about a third of the population, the AfD, does not even have 1 percent representation in the public media networks, even though those same networks are obligated by law to represent a full spectrum of the public’s political opinions.
What does this mean in practice? When the people producing the news overwhelmingly favor parties that have defended high immigration levels, expansive asylum rules, and framing that treats immigration restriction as morally unjustified, then the type of “uncritical” reporting described by Hager is the predictable outcome — not an accidental oversight.
Hager’s attitude has been repeated not only throughout German politics, but across the entire Western world. The elite, the political establishment, and the organs of the press offer a constant platitude, claiming to have not “paid enough attention” to voters and that we “need to do better” on the topic of immigration. This has been repeated ad nauseam for decades, and is only amplified when right-wing parties opposed to immigration get closer to power.
They are ultimately empty words at the end of the day meant to paper over a real crisis. Is Hager going to hire more journalists who support the AfD? The thought would never cross his mind. Is he going to start reporting on the nationality of suspects in crime reports? Highly unlikely. Is he going to start running more pieces critical of immigration? This is also unlikely, although there may be some subtle steering toward acknowledging there is a problem but that the public should never vote for the AfD to potentially fix the problem.
Notably, he also expresses worry that an AfD-led government may place curbs on the cash cow that feeds the ARD with tens of millions of euros in mandatory fees on German citizens, who have to pay to keep the ZDF and ARD running whether they like it or not.
Hager says he wants to separate AfD voters from the party and address feelings of being unseen. That is tactically sensible for an institution facing state-treaty threats and potential cuts to its funding. Yet the parties that dominate journalistic preferences – the Greens, SPD, and large parts of the center-left spectrum – continue to support higher immigration and more open policies that sharply contrast with the AfD’s core demand for sharp reductions and stricter controls.
That problem is not going away.
Even if Hager truly wanted to turn the ship around and gain back the trust of AfD voters, would there even be any institutional support for such a change of pace within the ARD itself?
For an example of this, it is important to review the case of Julia Ruhs. Her case shows, along with the cancellation of her show, that reporting critically on immigration can lead to a witch hunt within the German public broadcasters. Remix News covered the moment she learned public broadcasters had dropped her show.
A female German journalist wanted to research the topic of gang rapes by migrants in Bavaria but was labeled "racist" and "right-wing" by her colleagues.
Julia Ruhs, a high-profile television presenter, said it is still a "taboo" to research topics regarding why "certain population groups are more susceptible to committing sexual offenses."
"That’s when I realized the whole editorial imbalance that when you dedicate yourself to such a topic."
She added that it became an environment where she was told: "You’re not allowed to say that and you’re totally racist."
Ruhs is currently at the center of a significant "Cancel Culture" and media sovereignty debate in Germany.
She is often described as a rare conservative voice within the German public broadcasting landscape, which is frequently criticized for having a "left-green" bias.
In 2025, Ruhs was chosen to host a new experimental debate format called "Klar," co-produced by the northern public broadcaster NDR and the southern BR. The show’s mission was to reach viewers who felt alienated by mainstream media by tackling sensitive topics like migration, Covid-19, and the farmers’ protests.
After the first episode on migration, a massive internal wave of criticism hit. Approximately 250 NDR employees signed an open letter distancing themselves from the show, accusing Ruhs of one-sided and populist reporting.
In September 2025, the NDR officially decided to drop Ruhs as a presenter for their portion of the show, citing a desire to move toward a "multi-moderator concept."
Ruhs responded on social media, calling the decision a "disgrace" and claiming she was "too right-wing for the NDR."
High-profile politicians like CSU’s Markus Söder (Bavaria) and Daniel Günther (Schleswig-Holstein) criticized the NDR for stifling diversity of opinion.
While the NDR canceled her, the Bavarian broadcaster BR stood by her. New episodes of "Klar" are planned from the BR broadcaster for 2026.
Hager is aware of this problem to a large degree. He also cites police and local officials repeatedly describing persistent problems over migration. However, he is offering nothing more than a weak mea culpa on behalf of years of ARD reporting, which has gone to great lengths to whitewash the growing problems with mass immigration.
Most importantly, Hager does not address how the ARD actually plans to change its reporting and win back the trust of these voters. Additionally, he completely fails to confront the structural imbalance in who is hired, trained, and promoted, or the compulsory funding that insulates the system from market feedback.
Damage control without altering the underlying editorial incentives or the immigration positions of the favored parties is unlikely to restore broad trust from AfD voters. If he was serious about truly diverse representation in the public media, he would require measurable diversification of political backgrounds inside the newsrooms and reporting that treats migration outcomes – crime correlations, integration failures, fiscal costs, and local pressures – with the same rigor applied to other policy areas.
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