Germany in Brief

Chancellor Chides Aide About Comment
German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder on Monday criticized a top Defense Ministry aide who has been accused of calling President George W. Bush a dictator, but said he saw no reason to fire him. The official, undersecretary Walter Kolbow, came under fire from the political opposition after statements attributed to him appeared in a German newspaper, the Kitzinger Zeitung. The newspaper quoted Kolbow as saying in a speech last week: "Bush takes political and economical positions that are absolutely one sided, without consideration for anybody else. That is not being a partner. That is being a dictator." In a statement issued on Monday, Kolbow worked to clarify the comments, saying he had spoken of a "dictatorship of one-sided decisions."

It is the second time in the past six months that a high-ranking official has gotten into trouble over a comment about Bush. On the day after Germany's Sept. 22 election. German Justice Minister Herta Däubler-Gmelin announced that she was resigning in the wake of a controversy about a comparison she allegedly made between Bush and Adolf Hitler. Before quitting, Däubler-Gmelin insisted that a report published in the Schwäbisches Tagblatt misrepresented her actual statements. The southern German newspaper quoted her as saying that "Bush wants to divert attention from domestic political problems. That’s a popular method. Even Hitler used it."

Right-Wing Crimes Rise in Berlin
Right-wing groups in Berlin committed twice as many crimes in 2002 as in 2001, officials reported on Monday. Of the 948 registered offenses, there was a marked increase in those involving propaganda and incitement of the masses. Berlin Police President Dieter Glietsch attributed the jump in the overall offenses to intensified police investigations and a new statistical registration method.

No U.S. Boycott of German Cars
American car buyers continue to buy German cars despite the current dispute between the German and the U.S. governments over the possible invasion of Iraq. A survey of Americans who said they were planning to buy a new car within the next 18 months showed that only 4.1 percent would boycott German cars because of the political tensions. But 11.9 percent of respondents said they considered German cars to be too expensive, and 12.4 percent said they wanted to remain loyal to American automobile companies.

Fischer Wins Medal for Peace Efforts
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer was awarded the Buber-Rosenzweig-Medal from the Council for Christian-Jewish Coordination on Sunday. Fischer received the award for his peace missions in the Middle East. Paul Spiegel, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, praised the politician as a "distinguished and respected mediator between Israeli and Palestinian fronts." The medal takes its name from the two Jewish philosophers Martin Buber (1878-1965) and Franz Rosenzweig (1886-1929). It has been awarded since 1968 to people and institutions that promote a dialogue between the two religions.

New Travel Guide for Gays and Lesbians
Germany is trying to attract more gay and lesbian tourists from the United States. The Gayfriendly Germany Guide was presented at the International Tourism Fair in Berlin on Monday. Berlin's mayor, Klaus Wowereit (photo), who is gay himself, welcomed the initiative, saying there was a huge gap in the market for gay tourism. The guide is mainly aimed at the 18 million gays and lesbians in the United States and presents Germany as a whole as well as the "gay capitals" Hamburg, Cologne, Munich and Berlin. The book will be introduced in the United States during the "Equality Forum 2003" in Philadelphia from April 28-May 4.

Thousands Protest Against Longer Shop Hours

Around 20,000 people demonstrated against proposed longer shop opening hours in Berlin on Sunday, according to police information. The service sector union ver.di, which organized the protest, put the number of protestors higher. The trade union is against the planned loosening of German shop closing laws, arguing that that longer shop hours would have negative consequences for employees. Germany’s ruling coalition wants to allow shopping until 8 pm instead of 4 pm on Saturdays. ver.di head Frank Bsirske told protestors that lengthening shopping hours would lead to a loss of jobs. Germany has some of the strictest store opening laws in the western world.