OF JOSEPH ROTH'S BERLIN AND TODAY'S

Writing from Berlin, the capital of Germany, I remember the reports of one of the most important German-language writers, a Jew from Galicia, Joseph Roth. He was the correspondent of the influential Frankfurter Zeitung in flourishing Berlin after the First World War until he left in 1933 after the Night of Crystals, when the Nazis destroyed the synagogues. The reports and books describe a capital that who knows has returned to being but with the same fates of the past: emigration, right-wing extremist rise, threat of Russia and more war in Ukraine. And in the background, industrial restructuring with China threatening almost the same as Trump's United States.

Item emigration, in taxis, on the streets, in restaurants, you feel that, it's problem number one for German politicians. To rebuild the country after the war and to continue its growth, they needed labor. Of 83 million inhabitants, today 23% are emigrants, of which most, 1.5 million are Turks who represent in total with their descendants, German citizens, a total of 3 million. That is, almost 4% of the German population are either Turkish citians or their descendants. And they have 100,000 companies among them the most important German biotechnology company, BioNtech, discoverer of Covid vaccine. And of course there are mayors, deputies and even ministers. And Turks here are German Turks, and Kebab became typical German food.

The emigration problems, which worsened when then Chancellor Angela Merkel allowed the entry of thousands of Syrians and Africans and who today continue to ask for asylum and above all feed far-right parties, AfD, which already has 20% of votes, did not stop. German justice tied the hands of the current Chancellor Mertz who has just taken over, prohibiting the return to the border of immigrants who ask for asylum. That is, Germany remains a sanctuary of emigration, regardless of whether or not it needs this labor.

How to reconcile the new economic policies, especially with Chinese competition in the automobile industry, pillar of the German economy, with the imperative use of robotics, the Germans sold their best robot factory to the Chinese, AI and other digital tools, with pressure from emigration and more Trump tariffs, is a million-dollar question. Foreign investors continue according to the Germany Trade study confident in the development of the country that will put all the cards in the war industry to ensure its safety. Meanwhile, Poland gains a president against the EU and Mercosur agreement and complicates the entire peace effort in Ukraine. By the way, do the big ones really want peace?