German election 2025: The winners and losers

The CDU is celebrating (somewhat), the SPD is reeling, and the AfD is making history.

SPD WORST LOSS SINCE ENGELS DAYS

For months, Friedrich Merz has positioned himself as a kind of antidote to Olaf Scholz's left-leaning coalition, hammering the government over its policies on migration and the economy. 

| Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images

POLITICO EU
February 24, 2025 
By Chris Lunday


BERLIN ― Germany’s snap election, triggered by the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s left-leaning coalition, has resulted in a sharp rightward shift. With results now in, the next government is almost certainly to be led by Sunday’s conservative victors — though the road to forming a coalition may be anything but smooth.

Here’s a breakdown of the biggest winners and losers of the night. Some have been easier to assess than others.

The Winners

Democracy

Germans turned out in force for what many believed to be the most consequential election in years. With voter participation reaching 83 percent, turnout surged compared to the 76.6 percent recorded in 2021. That’s the most intense public engagement in an election since the reunification of Germany.

Friedrich Merz and his conservative alliance

For months, Friedrich Merz has positioned himself as a kind of antidote to Scholz’s left-leaning coalition, hammering the government over its policies on migration and the economy. That strategy paid off, making them the dominant force in German politics once again.

The AfD

The far-right Alternative for Germany was in some ways the biggest winner of the night, recording double its 2021 result. The party’s relentless focus on immigration, economic grievances, and Russia-friendly positions struck a nerve with disillusioned voters, particularly in the East, where it has cemented itself as the strongest party.

The Left

After years of decline and an existential crisis sparked by star politician Sahra Wagenknecht’s defection, The Left has managed to pull off a stunning revival. The party, which traces some of its roots back to East Germany’s communist party, is doing particularly well at appealing to young voters across the country who are outraged by the rise of the far right

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The Left has managed to pull off a stunning revival. 

| Massimo Di Nonno/Getty Images

The Losers

Friedrich Merz and his conservative alliance

We’re putting them in both sections. Although things aren’t too bad if you’re a clear victor and you become chancellor, it’s clear the vote-share wasn’t as high as opinion polls were suggesting just a few months ago. Merz will likely move to form a coalition with the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), leaving his conservatives exposed to attacks from the AfD — which is aiming to win the next national election.

Olaf Scholz and the SPD

This one’s categoric. The SPD, Germany’s oldest party, had the worst result in a national election in well over a century. After the results came in, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced he will not serve a post in the next government. The party will try to reinvent itself in the next weeks with leadership changes. Despite the huge loss, the SPD is likely to remain in government in a two-party coalition with Merz’s conservatives.

The FDP

The fiscally conservative Free Democratic Party (FDP), led by former finance minister Christian Lindner, was the biggest loser of the night. Falling under the five-percent threshold needed to enter parliament, the party crashed out of the Bundestag, punished for its involvement in Scholz’s ill-fated, left-leaning coalition. After the result became clear, Lindner announced that he would retire from “active politics.”

Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW)

Leftist icon Sahra Wagenknecht suffered the most heartbreaking loss of the night. Her new populist-left party soared in polls last year — and performed very well in three state elections in eastern Germany. But as the national election approached, the party lost steam, while the party she had previously defected from, The Left, gained ground. With all constituencies counted in the early hours of Monday morning, BSW garnered 4.972 percent, just shy of the threshold needed to gain parliamentary seats.

The Greens (and the climate)

The once-soaring Greens took a beating, with a drop of three percentage points from the last national parliamentary election. High energy prices and disillusionment with Economy Minister Robert Habeck’s economic policies pushed voters elsewhere, though the party didn’t lose as badly as its other coalition partners, the SPD and FDP. With Merz likely to seek a coalition with the SPD, the Greens aren’t likely to be part of the next government. That means policies to slow climate change are likely to take a back seat in the next government.

The inside story of how 31 days made Merz chancellor — and changed Germany forever


Based on more than a dozen interviews in the final weeks of the German election campaign, POLITICO tells the story of how violence and migration shaped one of the most momentous votes in the country's postwar history.

By NETTE NÖSTLINGER and EMILY SCHULTHEIS
in Berlin

POLITICO EU



Illustration by Dato Parulava for POLITICO

February 24, 2025 4:01 am CET

It was late at night, exactly one month before the Feb. 23 election, that Friedrich Merz confided to a group of party insiders that he had come to a historic decision.

The country was reeling from a horrific attack a day earlier, when an Afghan asylum-seeker wandered into a park in the wealthy southern state of Bavaria and used a kitchen knife to stab to death a 2-year-old boy and a man looking after him.

According to those who know him well, Merz ― Germany’s next chancellor ― is a person who is just as likely to be swayed by his own emotional reaction as through cold political calculation. That night proved he could harness both at once.

German election: Provisional results

2021 2025
28.5%

CDU/CSU
20.8%

AfD
16.4%

SPD
11.6%

Greens
8.8%

Left
5.0%

BSW
4.6%

Others
4.3%

FDP
Christian Democratic Union of Germany/Christian Social Union
Alternative for Germany
Social Democratic Party of Germany
Alliance 90/The Greens
The Left
Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht
Others
Free Democratic Party
Turnout: 82.5%

Note: Without rounding, BSW’s result stands at 4.972%, Source: Bundeswahlleiterin

He told his colleagues in the private chat that the murders were the last straw. Over the previous few weeks public support in his party had begun to ebb ― and the far-right Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) was creeping up to unprecedented levels. But now he had renewed resolve. Within hours of the attack he had decided on a radical course of action that would transform the final weeks of the election campaign, propel him to victory, and change Germany itself.

“[Merz] is someone who can be moved emotionally,” Serap Güler, a conservative parliamentarian who was briefed by Merz in the immediate aftermath of the killings, told POLITICO. “This attack, especially because it affected a child, really hit him to the core.”

This account is based on interviews in the final weeks of the German campaign with more than a dozen politicians and campaign officials from across the political spectrum, many of whom spoke on condition of anonymity so that POLITICO could have the frankest account possible of the decisions, gambles and missteps that gave Merz the keys to the chancellery in Europe’s largest country.

‘I don’t care’

The Aschaffenburg attack lit a fuse under Merz. He had long believed his conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) needed to take a harder line on migration — but the shocking nature of the assault, combined with the AfD’s surging support, convinced him it was now or never.

“I don’t care who goes down this path politically,” he told reporters the day after the attack, hinting at the criticism he knew would come his way for embracing the rhetoric of his populist rival. He looked funereal, opting to wear a black suit and tie against a sober blue background. “I’m just saying I won’t go any other way.”

In the late-night call with members of his CDU alliance, he talked them through his new strategy, as historic and radical as it was controversial. Those listening paid attention to every word. They thought he sounded emotional and agitated. In the month still to go before the election, Merz told them, he would push through tough migration proposals in parliament and ― dramatically ― he wouldn’t be deterred even if it meant, for the first time in Germany’s postwar history, relying on votes from the far right.

It was a gamble of seismic proportions. Insiders said he hoped that by projecting strength in the face of tragedy he would stem the flood of votes to his anti-migration rivals. But the risk of it backfiring was massive too ― he knew that some centrist voters could be so appalled they’d go back to other mainstream parties and, more critically still, he knew that the move could be seen as removing the stigma from the AfD and bolster its support.
Chipping away at the postwar firewall

The decision completely changed the course of the election campaign.

Literally overnight, all the parties’ attention shifted to the issue of migration, and the challenge Merz’s move posed to what Germans call the Brandmauer, the firewall, which had until that moment stopped mainstream parties from cooperating formally or informally with the far right.

Suddenly gone were the questions expected to dominate pre-election discussions: how to reinvigorate the country’s flagging economy, how to modernize the military, or how to handle the ongoing war in Ukraine.

And all that seemed to play into Merz’s hands.

On Sunday, Merz’s CDU/CSU alliance came in first with nearly 29 percent of the vote. The gamble paid off. Just. Only a few votes prevented the hard left, whose supporters hated the conservatives’ flirtation with the far right, from entering parliament, which would have made getting a stable coalition tougher. Still, with the AfD in second place on just over 20 percent, effectively doubling its 2021 record, it was a mixed night for the new chancellor and the result underscores the difficult times ahead.
Solingen, Magdeburg, Aschaffenburg

For months before the election, Merz’s conservative alliance had looked odds-on to win. It consistently led in the polls since the spring of 2022, capitalizing on voter frustration with the three-party governing coalition under Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Support for Scholz and his center-left Social Democrats took a nosedive over the course of the government’s tenure. Internal tensions between the SPD, the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats finally came to a head in November, when the coalition collapsed and triggered snap elections seven months earlier than scheduled.

Aschaffenburg, the latest in a series of high-profile crimes perpetrated by foreign citizens living in Germany, jolted the abbreviated campaign.

In December, a Saudi man killed six people and wounded 300 when he crashed a rental car into a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg, and a deadly knife attack in the western German city of Solingen last August left three people dead and another eight injured

.

Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images

The names of cities that had witnessed attacks had become political shorthand for apparent proof that Germany’s migration policy had failed: Solingen, Magdeburg, Aschaffenburg.

Merz’s change of tack wasn’t solely emotional. Conservative politicians confided to POLITICO that it was also part of a calculated effort to win back voters who had defected to the far right.

In the days after Aschaffenburg, one lawmaker from Merz’s conservative alliance told POLITICO that the party had watched with dismay as its position in the polls dropped from 35 percent in the beginning of December to just 28 percent in late January. Things were only going in one direction.

“People have the impression that nothing will change, that they’re signing up for the same old politics,” the lawmaker said. “The migration issue is hopefully the way to change that.”

As his proposals reached the floor of the German parliament in the last week of January, Merz walked a political tightrope, which critics said was more like splitting hairs. While he insisted his party would never enter a coalition with the AfD, leaving the firewall intact, he still argued the situation required immediate action.

“Yes, it may be that the AfD will for the first time make it possible for a necessary law to be passed,” Merz said during the debate on the floor of parliament. But “we are faced with the choice of continuing to watch helplessly as people in our country are threatened, injured and murdered,” or “to stand up and do what is indisputably necessary in this matter.”

That’s why, despite the immediate blowback it received in the media and from left-leaning parties, the CDU almost unanimously fell in line behind Merz. Even rare public criticism from former Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said she considered Merz’s decision “wrong,” did little to shake criticism from within the party.

Speaking to POLITICO at the time, Jürgen Hardt, a senior CDU parliamentarian, said the move would help ensure the mainstream parties stop losing votes to the AfD — and potentially even bring some back.

“We’re making sure no one else moves toward the AfD’s side,” he said, “Because they can find a political answer to their urgent concerns within the democratic parties.”
The mainstreaming of the far right

The AfD watched the debate over Aschaffenburg and the firewall unfold with jubilation. It finally had the mainstream parties right where it wanted them: talking about them, and about migration.

“If there has been a key campaign moment, then one could say it’s the fact that the narratives of our competitors have been shattered by reality,” an AfD lawmaker said in the days before the vote. “Many of the things we’ve been saying in our party from the very beginning … have suddenly turned out to be correct.”

Under the leadership of Alice Weidel, a blond-haired, stern-faced former economist who has successfully managed the increasingly radical party, the AfD had already made great strides toward cementing its place in German politics.

Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images

That increasing domination of the debate at home coincided with increasing acceptance abroad.

Following Elon Musk’s enthusiastic endorsement of the party late last year, high-ranking AfD members attended Trump’s inauguration in Washington in a sign that his administration was actively looking to boost Germany’s far right.

“Our relationship with our foreign friends, both with our European neighbors and with the U.S., as well as with China and Russia, has never been so bad,” Weidel said in early February. “As the second-strongest force in Germany, it will also be my primary task to help repair this.”

Her team requested a visit ahead of the election with nationalist pro-Russian Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in what was her first official meeting with a European leader.

“The AfD is not a party that is welcomed by prime ministers in all European countries — but it is high time we change that,” said Orbán after meeting Weidel at his official residence.

The backlash

But other parties considered Merz’s willingness to pass legislation with the help of the AfD a direct contradiction of a promise he’d made in November.

The Social Democrats and the Greens, which had been in government together since 2021, realized that this could help their own chances, using as a line of attack the claim Merz couldn’t be trusted.

Any momentum was short-lived, however. Within the SPD, Scholz’s position was so fragile some members mused about replacing him with his more popular colleague, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. Behind the scenes, they were even more critical, with several candidates refusing to put up posters bearing Scholz’s face.

The Greens, too, began making direct reference to the taboo-breaking move. Fresh campaign posters depicted Greens leader Robert Habeck as the trustworthy alternative to Merz.

But to both parties’ surprise, the real winner of the anti-Merz surge was The Left, whose young leader Heidi Reichinnek hammered Merz for “deliberately” working with the AfD and whose speech on the parliament floor took off on TikTok and Instagram. The party surged in the final days, making it to nearly 9 percent of the vote ― a tally it was delighted with.

“Merz’s approach to the migration issue in the Bundestag, together with the AfD, has brought The Left new supporters,” said opinion pollster Manfred Güllner. “In this respect, The Left is indeed a winner in the final phase of the election campaign.”

That was especially frustrating to the Greens, who had in the past been the preferred choice of young, progressive voters.

The Left has “been better at picking up those who find the migration debate absurd and frightening,” one Green parliamentarian lamented.
The American one-two punch

While the German parties were focused on migration and the firewall — decidedly domestic topics — the new administration in Washington was preparing to drop a couple of bombshells.

At the Munich Security Conference, just nine days before the election, U.S. Vice President JD Vance delivered a scathing speech, decrying European democracies. Referencing another deadly attack that had taken place in Munich earlier that day, he denounced European leaders who had opened “the floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants.”

The divide between Europe and President Donald Trump’s America is growing ever wider. | Ronald Wittek/EPA-EFE

The speech came on the heels of Trump’s announcement that he was planning to launch peace talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin — over the heads of Ukrainian and European leaders, and with concessions to Moscow before negotiations could begin.

Despite the gravity of these developments and their potential implications for Germany, foreign policy seemed like an afterthought on the campaign trail. Greens and CDU officials told POLITICO that downplaying the issue was a conscious decision to win votes and start positioning for coalition negotiations.

It wasn’t until the campaign’s final day that foreign policy came to the top of the candidates’ agendas.

Merz warned two days before the election that Europe could no longer rely on American protection.

“As in 1949, we are facing nothing more and nothing less than the refoundation of the Federal Republic of Germany,” Merz wrote in a note to supporters on Friday.

It was a remark that hinted at the challenges he knows will come.

“We can really achieve independence from the USA,” he said shortly after declaring victory on Sunday evening. After Trump’s statements, “it is clear that the Americans, at least this part of the Americans, this administration, are largely indifferent to the fate of Europe.”

After Merz’s gamble following the Aschaffenburg attack ― the decision he outlined in that late-night call ― migration became the issue that galvanized the campaign. But the new government will find it hard to ignore the geopolitical earthquakes that struck while everyone was looking away.


Gordon Repinski, Johanna Sahlberg, Jürgen Klöckner, Rixa Fürsen and Rasmus Buchsteiner contributed reporting.

Resuming life in the ruins of Gaza


Taghreed Ali 

The Electronic Intifada 

24 February 2025

A Palestinian builds a shelter amid the ruins of destroyed building in Jabaliya, northern Gaza, on 5 February. Yousef ZaanounActiveStills

Mustafa al-Ashqar has a simple explanation for why he and his family have returned to the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City: “We missed our home and we were exhausted from living in tents.”

Al-Ashqar, 47, fled Shujaiya in December 2023, along with his wife and five children.

They went to al-Tuffah, another area in Gaza City. The family somehow survived despite how they had to go without food for long periods, drink unsafe water and how al-Tuffah was itself besieged by the Israeli military.

Al-Ashqar and his family have only come back to Shujaiya following the ceasefire which went into effect in January. With part of its ceiling collapsed and the walls destroyed or badly damaged, he found that his home was not fit to live in.

Nonetheless, he undertook repairs of one room, removed some rubble and used fabric to erect makeshift walls. “The conditions are difficult but I now feel safe in my home,” he said.

Moving from a tent into a building was vital. “I wanted to protect my family from the severe cold,” he said.

Al-Ashqar is acutely aware that everyone remains at risk.

Israel has continued committing acts of violence in Gaza, breaching the ceasefire deal. The memory of how the house shook whenever an airstrike occurred nearby also remains raw.

Yet al-Ashqar is adamant that he will stay in his home. “There is no alternative,” he said.

Approximately 92 percent of homes have been destroyed or damaged in Gaza.

The devastation has not undermined a widespread determination to try and resume life.
“Nightmare”

The scenes of people who had been displaced southwards moving back to the north recently have been dramatic. Less attention has been paid in the past few weeks to the plight of people who had been uprooted within southern Gaza.

Sidqi al-Najjar, 43, is a carpenter from Khuzaa, a town near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

Before the genocidal war, he lived in a three-story building. After it was bombed by Israel in January 2024, he and his family were displaced to al-Mawasi, another area in southern Gaza, where they set up a tent.

Just two rooms are still standing in the family’s Khuzaa home today and the family has returned there.

Al-Najjar said that “I felt a sense of despair” when he saw his old home. But with help from relatives, he soon got down to the business of clearing the debris from the two rooms that were still standing.

“Both rooms are dangerous,” al-Najjar said. “Things fall on us while we sleep. I am constantly afraid that the ceiling might collapse on top of us.”

Sidqi al-Najjar with his children in Khuzaa, southern Gaza. Sakher Rami

The costs of cement and other construction materials have skyrocketed since October 2023. By some accounts, the prices of such material have increased by as much as 400 percent.

Al-Najjar cannot afford to rebuild his home properly. As the remains of the building were exposed to the elements, he has undertaken a rudimentary patch up job using metal and fabric.

“Living in a house on the brink of collapse is still better than living in tents,” he said. “The cold conditions had become a nightmare that we couldn’t adapt to.”

The family’s tent had been pitched on a beach in al-Mawasi. The family’s situation was especially desperate when the tent was flooded by strong tides in September last year.

“The occupation has left us with nothing,” he said. “All our possessions have been destroyed – our homes, farmland and memories.”
“Catastrophe”

Said al-Shurfa, 36, grew up in al-Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza. His home was attacked by Israel in June last year.

Even though it is in ruins, al-Shurfa regards his home as preferable to the dilapidated tent in which he and his family had been forced to live.

“My house was almost completely destroyed,” he said.

As its windows and doors were shattered, he has now covered them with pieces of cloth. He managed to extract some of the family’s old beds and blankets from under the rubble, so that they have something to sleep on.

“When we leave or enter the house, we have to climb over a lot of rubble,” he said. “But that is better than living in tents.”

A permanent ceasefire is vital in order to get the long and arduous process of reconstruction underway.

“We need to end the nightmare of war,” al-Shurfa said. “What happened was a real catastrophe.”

Taghreed Ali is a journalist based in Gaza.

Korea University in chaos as pro-, anti-Yoon rallies take over campus
Protesters taking part in rallies for and against President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment at Seoul National University in South Korea on Feb 17.PHOTO: EPA-EFE

UPDATED Feb 24, 2025

SEOUL – The wave of pro- and anti-impeachment rallies surrounding South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has spread to university campuses, deepening divisions among students and raising concerns over campus security.

On Feb 21, rallies supporting and opposing Mr Yoon’s impeachment were held simultaneously at Korea University, following earlier protests at Seoul National University and Yonsei University. The universities are considered the top three educational institutions in the country.

The gatherings turned volatile quickly, as they attracted not only students but also external stakeholders, including YouTubers, political organisations and members of far-right factions.


Supporters and opponents of impeachment clashed physically, with verbal attacks as well, leading to ambulances being dispatched to the scene. According to unofficial police estimates, the pro-impeachment rally drew around 165 participants, but only about 20 were students. Over 130 were impeachment supporters from outside groups and 15 were YouTubers.

Meanwhile, the anti-impeachment rally gathered 340 people, with only 20 students among them. The remaining 320 consisted of YouTubers and supporters of Mr Yoon. Many waved South Korean flags, a common symbol used in conservative protests.

The tense atmosphere mirrored similar violent confrontations at Seoul National University and Yonsei University in previous rallies, where verbal disputes escalated into physical altercations, prompting concerns over campus safety.

In response, Seoul National University said it was considering calling the police to break up potential future rallies if they escalate. This marks a significant shift in university policy, as South Korean campuses have traditionally been treated as spaces exempt from the Assembly and Demonstration Act, which requires protest organisers to notify the police of planned assemblies at least 48 hours in advance.

“Traditionally, police have respected university autonomy and refrained from intervening in campus affairs. However, given the recent situation, we are now prepared to request police cooperation to ensure safety,” a Seoul National University official told the local media.

Other universities are also deliberating their responses, as students raise concerns over the increasing presence of non-student participants on campus. The student communities of Hanyang University, Ewha Womans University, Sogang University, Konkuk University and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies are monitoring the possibility of similar rallies breaking out on their campuses.

With the spring semester approaching, students are calling for stricter measures to prevent external interference in campus protests. As tensions escalate, universities face a difficult balancing act between protecting freedom of expression and ensuring campus security amid rising political unrest.

 THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

Despite regulatory challenges, hotels in the Dominican Republic drive sustainable tourism with solar energy

 TOURISM IS NOT SUSTAINABLE

Despite regulatory challenges, hotels in the Dominican Republic drive sustainable tourism with solar energy

Challenges include project approval delays, changes in billing, and hindrances to independent project development

Written byCarolina Pichardo

Posted 24 February 2025 

The photovoltaic plant and electric charging station at the Grand Sirenis Punta Cana Resort in the Dominican Republic. Photo courtesy the hotel, used with permission.

The Dominican Republic's hotel sector is advancing towards a more sustainable model by integrating renewable energy into its operations, although significant obstacles persist in some regions.

Electrical engineer Luis Jonas Ortiz, former project manager for biomass hybridisation at the country’s National Energy Commission, says that the transition to solar power in hotels has been slow, especially in isolated areas where electricity concession companies impose restrictions. These companies, planning to develop their own renewable energy projects, hinder external initiatives, affecting the pace of clean technology adoption.

“Renewable energy is being implemented to supply part of the electricity and hot water demand. The government facilitates energy exchanges with distribution companies within their concession zones through the net metering programme,” Ortiz explains. “The other mechanism is independent self-production. In both cases, tax incentives are associated with equipment costs, such as photovoltaic modules, inverters, and batteries.”

Hodelpa Garden Court, for example — located in the city of Santiago about 155 km northwest of the capital — has a photovoltaic solar system that saves approximately 32 percent annually on energy consumption from the distributor. It plans to expand this project, which will cover around 45 percent of the hotel's needs. With investments in automation and energy efficiency, operators predict that they could reduce their grid electricity consumption by up to 70 percent per year.

The five-star Gran Almirante, another property in the seven-hotel Hodelpa chain — which is beginning to establish energy management systems that include investments in photovoltaic systems — powers 40 percent of its sanitary hot water through solar heating systems, saving 28 percent of its annual fuel consumption. It plans to install a photovoltaic system to cover approximately 60 percent of its annual electricity consumption.

However, Ortiz points out that regulatory and administrative barriers persist, particularly for hotels located in isolated concession zones. The main challenges include project approval delays, changes in billing, and commercial pressures that hinder independent project development.

“Hotels outside isolated zones have benefitted from tax incentives, lower electricity bills, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions,” Ortiz said. “Some have combined these actions with electric mobility, increasing occupancy by attracting guests who value environmental contributions.”

The Punta Cana-Macao Energy Consortium (CEPM) leads renewable energy projects in the eastern Dominican Republic, home to the country's largest tourism activity. Take the FV3 solar park in Bávaro, which has an installed capacity of 10 MW, plus storage technology that can support the grid for four hours, generating 40 MWh. Additionally, the CEPM has begun constructing new photovoltaic plants (FV4, FV5, and FV6) with a USD 56.4 million investment financed by BID Invest.

Executive Director Roberto Herrera said that the CEPM has been “fundamental” to the development of tourism in the Dominican Republic “by providing reliable energy that has boosted growth and global competitiveness”: “We are proud to be the energy partner of these visionary companies that have chosen to adopt a cleaner, more sustainable operational model. Now, we focus on making our generation 100 percent clean to continue leading the transition towards a more sustainable energy model.” The organisation's commitment, he says, is focused on “pioneering projects” that not only steer the country towards emissions-free generation, but also ensure long-term sustainability.

Rolando González Bunster, president of InterEnergy Group — CEPM’s parent company — agrees that the goal is “to lead projects that drive a clean, competitive energy model for the tourism sector.” Collaboration with hotels has enabled the installation of solar panels that will generate 395,023 MWh of clean electricity over 15 years, avoiding the emission of 225,558 tonnes of CO2.

Additionally, several hotels have integrated electric vehicle charging stations powered by renewable energy. Diego Díaz, Operations Director at Grand Sirenis Punta Cana Resort, says initiatives like the hotel’s photovoltaic plant and electric charging station have been well received.

“In terms of sustainability,” he says, “the impact has been very positive as we continue to grow and earn new certifications for becoming a sustainable hotel. Energy savings have significantly increased, and guest satisfaction regarding environmental and sustainability aspects has been high.” The solar project at Grand Sirenis, with a capacity of 1.05 MWp and 1,568 photovoltaic modules, will generate 1,659 MWh in its first year, reducing 1,173 tonnes of CO2, and offering guests a unique experience in a sustainable environment.

“So far, we have not faced significant challenges regarding renewable energy,” Díaz continues. “Whenever we start a project, we ensure it is the right decision, positively impacting our guests and staff while emphasising environmental care.” As the Dominican hotel industry advances towards sustainability, it is clear that public-private collaboration will be essential to overcoming barriers and consolidating an environmentally responsible tourism model.

Written byCarolina Pichardo

Bangladeshi students who ousted former PM Hasina set to launch political party

Nahid Islam, one of the coordinators of Students Against Discrimination, who is now in charge of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, speaking at an interview with Reuters in Dhaka on Aug 12, 2024.

Reuters

February 23, 2025 


DHAKA - Bangladeshi students, who were at the forefront of last year's protests that ousted then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, are set to launch a political party this week, two sources with direct knowledge of the development said.

The Students Against Discrimination (SAD) group spearheaded the protests that began as a student-led movement against public sector job quotas but quickly morphed into a broader, nationwide uprising that forced Hasina to flee to India as the unrest peaked in early August.

The student group is finalising plans to launch the new party during an event likely on Wednesday, said the sources who did not want to be named as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

Nahid Islam, a student leader and adviser to the interim government that took charge of Bangladesh after Hasina's exit, is expected to lead the party as convener, the sources said.

Islam has been a key figure in advocating for student interests within the interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, which has been at the helm of Bangladesh since August 2024. He is expected to resign from his current role to focus on leading the new political party.

Islam did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Yunus has said that elections could be held by the end of 2025, and many political analysts believe that a youth-led party could significantly reshape the country's political landscape. Yunus has said he was not interested in running.

His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the launch of the student-led political party.

The south asian nation has been grappling with political unrest since Hasina left following weeks of protests during which more than 1,000 people were killed.

Officials from Hasina's former government and security apparatus systematically committed serious human rights violations against the protesters during the uprising, the UN human rights commission said this month.

Hasina and her party deny any wrongdoing.

UN envoy calls for early political settlement in Myanmar so Rohingya can return

Special envoy of UN secretary general on Myanmar meets with Bangladeshi adviser for foreign affairs

Sm Najmus Sakib |24.02.2025 -TRT/AA

DHAKA, Bangladesh

The United Nations Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar, Julie Bishop, called Sunday for an early political settlement in Myanmar that would lead to the return of the Rohingya to their home country.

Bishop made the remarks while meeting with Md. Touhid Hossain, adviser for foreign affairs to the interim government of Bangladesh, at his office in the capital Dhaka.

Bangladesh has been hosting over 1.2 million Rohingya in southeastern Cox’s Bazar district since they fled a military crackdown in Myanmar in August 2017.

Bishop is on a two-day visit to Bangladesh and will visit Rohingya camps on Monday.

She stressed that she was working to keep the world’s focus on the issue and hoped that a UN conference proposed by the Chief Adviser of the interim government of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus, would generate enough momentum for meaningful efforts from the international community.

Hossain highlighted the critical role the UN and the special envoy to the UN secretary-general can play in bringing a lasting solution to the crisis impacting Bangladesh in various ways.

He shared deep concern that failing to bring a sustainable solution to the crisis will not only affect Myanmar and Bangladesh but also further destabilize the peace and security of the entire region.

Yunus said last month that around 100,000 more Rohingya crossed the country’s borders and took shelter in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar amid the escalating conflict in Myanmar between the junta government and rebels, placing an additional burden on Bangladesh.

Enhanced pressure from the international community on Myanmar can lead to the end of the conflict and bring peace within Myanmar, said Hossain, adding that neighboring countries can play a significant role in rebuilding Myanmar and it would require everyone’s support.

The two agreed to work together to bring a lasting outcome from the UN conference to be held this year on the Rohingya and other minority-related issues.

Trump’s Reciprocal Tariffs Of Trade Destruction – Analysis

 February 24, 2025 

By Dan Steinbock

At the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, investor Warren Buffett warned of derivatives as weapons of financial mass destruction. President Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” could have a similar impact on world trade.

Last week, President Trump tasked his economic team with devising plans for “reciprocal tariffs” on every country taxing US imports. Designed in part as bargaining leverage with other countries, they are ramping up prospects for a global trade war with both American allies and adversaries. As Trump put it, “I will charge a reciprocal tariff, meaning whatever countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them. No more, no less.” 

Since Trump did not impose new tariffs yet, Wall Street sighed in relief. Though the prime financiers of the Trump campaign, U.S. financial institutions are increasingly concerned that the administration’s new tariffs are broadening trade war, penalizing consumer and business confidence and risking accelerated inflation in America.

The financial institutions should be concerned. The only reason that Trump did not impose fresh tariffs was that he initiated investigations that could ignite a far worse global trade war toward the late spring.

Trump’s tariff war with the world

The US deficits first emerged in the early 1970s; decades before offshoring, the rise of China and other large emerging economies. Since the mid-2000s, China and the large emerging economies have driven global growth prospects. In the process, U.S. goods and services deficit has soared to $918 billion in 2024, up $134 billion from the previous year. 

Today, the world factory is not in the US, but in China. The US doesn’t benefit from trade surplus; it suffers from a huge deficit. Similarly, in the past eight decades, US dollar’s share of global payments has halved to less than 50% of the total. Thanks to the past Trump and Biden administrations, US trade deficit has more than doubled from $40 billion per month to about $90-$100 billion monthly. 

On February 1, President Trump imposed 25% tariffs and 10% duties on energy products on Canada and Mexico, and 10% tariffs on China. The three countries are America’s greatest trade partners and the US has a trade deficit with each. Together with Germany and Japan, these five countries account for more than half of all US imports. They and all the rest will be next in the firing line.

This week Trump suggested 25% tariffs on autos, pharma and semiconductors, which could “go very substantially higher over a course of a year.” 

A (very) broad definition of reciprocal tariffs

Starting with countries with the biggest trade surpluses and highest tariff rates first, the aim is to offset not just tariffs but also non-tariff measures, including vehicle safety rules. 

The same goes for value-added taxes (VAT), even though VATs are faced by both US and other international companies in different countries. VATs create no advantage for European firms and no disadvantage for US firms because they are neutral with respect to trade. 

Thanks to the new tariffs and non-tariff measures the Trump administration is also on a collision course with its major allies, the European Union and Japan.

The idea is also to go after what the Trump administration deems as “burdensome” regulations, harmful “government subsidies” and flawed exchange rate policies. 

In the Trump world, all these measures erect unwarranted costs and barriers to US products in foreign markets. 

The Commerce Department and the US trade representative are expected to prepare their plans to achieve “reciprocal trading status” by April 1 – perhaps appropriately on April Fools’ Day. 

Penalizing emerging and developing economies

Should this trade war materialize, it could prove far costlier to the emerging and developing economies, and it might push several fragile economies over the edge. Ironically, export-led growth, the development doctrine that fueled the rise of many East and Southeast countries, could now hit the wall. 

In the postwar decades, the so-called Asian tigers – Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea – were lucky enough to industrialize during increasing global integration. The more they still rely on export-led growth and a US trade surplus, the more they will find themselves in tricky waters with the Trump White House. 

The successors of these countries – particularly the large emerging economies and many of the BRICS, including China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico – that rely on international trade and US trade surpluses would also have to reassess their growth models. Things are likely to get even more heated with those countries that trade oil and gas or other commodities in local currencies. 

Reiterating his longstanding threat, Trump said last week that US “if [the BRICS] want to play games with the dollar” and “if any trading gets through, it’ll be 100% tariff, at least.” However, big trading economies like China, which have diversified economies and can divert their trade into the Global South, will be better insulated from US economic coercion. 

If the expansive BRICS can unite their forces, their collective leverage will prove formidable, even vis-à-vis the US and other G7 economies. By the early 2020s. China alone used its currency to settle half of its foreign trade and investment transactions. 

Overall, the emerging world will face elevated uncertainty surrounding US trade policy that can defer investment decisions and impact emerging economies linked to countries targeted by US tariffs.

Undermining the WTO

In a short order, Trump has tried to decimate the US aid agency (USAID), withdraw the US from the UN refugee relief agency in the Middle East (UNRWA) and the World Health Organization (WHO), while sanctioning the International Criminal Court (ICC). If completed, reciprocal tariffs would increase duties on many trading partners, while violating decades of normative trade policies by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Trump’s attacks against the WTO began in the first term, when he put the global trade body into sleep by blocking judges from its top dispute-settlement panel. Instead of correcting the wrong, the Biden administration continued it. Now the Trump administration is eager to destabilize the WTO’s principle of “most favored nation” (MFN) status. 

The MFN requires member nations to ensure equal tariff and regulatory treatment to other members unless they have free-trade agreements in place. The idea of applying different tariff rates to different countries violates the WTO principle of non-discrimination among its members. As Trump’s elevated tariff rates exceed the maximum rate negotiated with other WTO members, trading rules are violated. 

Expressing the views of many WTO members, China condemned these “tariff shocks” that could upend the global trading system. 

Ironically, Trump is purposely undermining the “rules-based trading world” that US claims to have fostered since the 1950s. Effectively, Trump’s reciprocal tariffs would mean a fatal rupture from the WTO. It could effectively endanger the very role of the trading body, the US role in the organization and the world’s trading system itself – for the first time in 75 years.

Positioning for talks with China

With an eye on his legacy, Trump wants a “deal of a century” in China. He knows it needs to be a deal that can benefit both the US and China. His neoconservative hawks – Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Sinophobe trade counselor Peter Navarro – will oppose any Chinese investment in the US. 

Yet, it is advisers like Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent; and tech billionaire Elon Musk who he will listen. 

In the Middle East and Ukraine, Trump has used his special convoy Steve Witkoff to get things done (and override neocon mutinies). With China, he could do the same. 

But this time around, Chinese policy authorities are more wary. Trump’s interest in a “deal of a century” with China is an opportunity. But he is seen as a risk amplifier. The stakes are too high for policy mistakes.

• This is an abbreviated version of the commentary published by China-US Focus on Feb 21, 2025
  

Dr Dan Steinbock is an recognized expert of the multipolar world. He focuses on international business, international relations, investment and risk among the leading advanced and large emerging economies. He is a Senior ASLA-Fulbright Scholar (New York University and Columbia Business School). Dr Dan Steinbock is an internationally recognized expert of the multipolar world. He focuses on international business, international relations, investment and risk among the major advanced economies (G7) and large emerging economies (BRICS and beyond). Altogether, he monitors 40 major world economies and 12 strategic nations. In addition to his advisory activities, he is affiliated with India China and America Institute (USA), Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (China) and EU Center (Singapore). As a Fulbright scholar, he also cooperates with NYU, Columbia University and Harvard Business School. He has consulted for international organizations, government agencies, financial institutions, MNCs, industry associations, chambers of commerce, and NGOs. He serves on media advisory boards (Fortune, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, McKinsey).

Australian Defense Force removes officer's security clearance over undisclosed ties to Israel

Officer made trips to Israel and attended firearms and tactical training funded by Israeli government, report says

Amir Latif |24.02.2025 - TRT/AA



KARACHI, Pakistan

The Australian Defense Force (ADF) has removed the security clearance of a serving Jewish officer who has been labeled a risk to security due to undisclosed ties to Israel.

The officer, anonymized as HWMW, made trips to Israel and attended firearms and tactical training funded by the Israeli government, local broadcaster SBS News reported.

A tribunal removed the officer’s security clearance due to fears he is susceptible to "foreign interference and exploitation."

The officer has appealed the decision.

In the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s (ASIO) “assessment, there are real concerns about the Applicant’s loyalty to Australia, his susceptibility to foreign influence and his compliance with security holder obligations which pose a risk to security," the tribunal report said.

ASIO said that the officer, who is Jewish but not an Israeli citizen, failed to disclose to Australian officials training courses he had completed in Israel, including self-defense, security, and firearms training.

The officer, who has served in the Australian military for 19 years, "stated he doesn’t view Israel as a foreign government" and said "on two occasions that he would provide classified or sensitive information to Israel if they asked for it," the tribunal report said.

The tribunal also found that HWMW failed to disclose the nature of his travels to Israel and said his access to defense information was a "risk to security" for Australia.

"By virtue of HWMW’s demonstrated poor judgement, poor security practices, failure to comply with the obligations of a security clearance holder, his vulnerability to influence or coercion by the Israeli Intelligence Services, and HWMW’s demonstrated loyalty to Israel above the Australian government, ASIO assesses if HWMW were to continue to hold any level of security clearance, he would pose an unacceptable and avoidable risk to security."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declined Monday to answer questions on the tribunal's findings.

"I don't comment on national security issues. I don't comment on national security issues in press conferences," he said.