Claudia and Scott have already noted that this day marks the breach of the Berlin Wall (and, as Claudia notes, a lot of other important events in German history). Let me chime in with my felicitations to the German people, and a couple of thoughts.
In 1989, the German Democratic Republic saw a revolution. The citizens [...]

Catalan, Basque, Valencian and Galician as EU official languages? That’s what Spanish foreign minister Moratinos proposes. You’d think the famously proud Catalans would be purring with cultural satisfaction.
You’d be wrong. Last week the Economist observed the astonishing reaction of some Catalans to this suggestion. They’re furious that Valencian might be given status equal with [...]

Some time ago I wrote about Metin Kaplan, the ‘Caliph of Cologne’, and the attempts of the Keystone Kommisare to pack him off to his Turkish homeland. As I learned from Abiola Lapite this morning, they have finally succeeded. Kaplan has been flown to Istanbul and today stands before a Turkish court. (See here and [...]

CDU chief Angela Merkel’s strong opposition to Turkish EU accession faces criticism from her own side, reports the FT Deutschland. Volker R?he, the CDU chairman of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee and one-time defence minister, has lambasted Merkel’s position as ‘populism’, especially in its menacing vision of a Europe ‘flooded’ by Turks. ‘When Europe comes [...]

Further to that business about the Turkish government advancing, and then as quickly aborting, plans to criminalise adultery, the very valuable ?????????? (Histologion) notes that:
It’s a good thing that the state of Virginia won’t be applying for EU membership anytime soon, since it is one of the 23 US states, where adultery is considered a [...]

The European Commission won’t release its report on the possibility of opening accesion talks with Turkey until 6 October. But after expansion commissioner G?nter Verheugen’s comments yesterday, the report will not be much of a surprise. ‘There are’, said Verheugen, ‘no further barriers‘ to beginning talks.
(All the links to outside sources in this post, incidentally, [...]

Some nazis won elections yesterday, and nobody in Germany is quite sure what to do about it. Should one adopt a tone of moral outrage? Or would it be better to make reassuring noises? (‘Germany is not moving towards extemism. This was merely a protest vote’. Repeat till you feel better.)
In the elections to the [...]

Picking up a riff from the gutter-press Bild-Zeitung, the Spiegel* discusses the coming-out of Guido Westerwelle, leader of the Free Democrats. (As a technical matter, this seems in fact to have been more an outing by the press, with the close and willing cooperation of the outee.)
Abiola Lapite waxes indignant at Bild’s front-page story [...]

Metin Kaplan, the ‘Caliph of Cologne’, is a Turkish Islamist long resident in Germany. The Turkish government would like to try him for treason. The German government would like to oblige their Turkish friends by extraditing him. The courts, thus far, have stood in the way. It looks as though a final decision may be [...]

Sunday saw an historic event in Germany.
After failing thrice before, football club FSV Mainz 05 achieved promotion to the 1. Bundeliga for the first time ever. Tobias is doubtless rapt with joy even now.
To honour the stalwart lads from Rheinland-Pfalz I have composed a wee verse:
Climb whither thou couldst not before, now
Freed at last of [...]