Skip to content
Search
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

Europe

A controversial arrest in Germany

AfD politician Daniel Halemba stands in front of the courthouse at the Würzburg Regional Court. The public prosecutor's office is investigating Halemba and four other members of a student fraternity on suspicion of inciting the people.

AfD politician Daniel Halemba stands in front of the courthouse at the Würzburg Regional Court. The public prosecutor's office is investigating Halemba and four other members of a student fraternity on suspicion of inciting the people.

Heiko Becker/DPA via Reuters
Willis Sparks
By Willis SparksOctober 31, 2023
Willis Sparks
Willis Sparks is a senior editor for GZERO Daily. He is also a Director in the Global Macro practice at Eurasia Group, where he has worked since 2005. He has made speeches on international politics on every continent except Antarctica. Willis holds degrees from Brown University, the Juilliard School, Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. He also holds an honorary degree from the Moscow Art Theatre School. A native of Macon, Georgia, Willis has worked as a stuntman at New York's Metropolitan Opera. As a child, he declined an opportunity to spend an afternoon riding the Great American Scream Machine, a rollercoaster, with Ronald McDonald, for money. He has never regretted that decision.
See Full Bio
Make us preferred on Google

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party has made news in recent years with the kind of taboo nationalist-xenophobic extreme rhetoric associated with the Nazis — and by performing surprisingly well in German elections. On Monday, police arrested Daniel Halemba, a 22-year-old AfD politician elected to Bavaria’s Parliament earlier this month, on charges of sedition and possessing banned Nazi symbols.

This drama began when police were called last week to a student fraternity house in Würzburg after neighbors heard a crowd inside chanting “Sieg Heil,” a well-known Nazi slogan. Inspection of the house reportedly produced a number of banned items. Halemba was arrested just hours before he would have gained immunity from prosecution by being sworn in to Bavaria’s Parliament.

The leader of the AfD, which finished third in the most recent Bavarian parliamentary elections, called the charges against Halemba politically motivated. We’ll be watching to see if the coming court case will have any impact on the party’s national standing, where it currently polls second only to the opposition CDU, with 21% support.

Latest Videos

UK’s new prime minister faces an uphill battleplay icon
GZERO Europe

UK’s new prime minister faces an uphill battle

Why AI needs a global referee
ask ian

Why AI needs a global referee

Mounting pressure between US and Iran with no end in sight
Quick Take

Mounting pressure between US and Iran with no end in sight

Ukraine is gaining momentum, but the war is far from over
GZERO World Clips

Ukraine is gaining momentum, but the war is far from over

Is Ukraine turning the tide against Russia?
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Is Ukraine turning the tide against Russia?

Can Putin still outlast Ukraine?
Ian Explains

Can Putin still outlast Ukraine?

More For You

Spain-Gibraltar border comes crashing down, US and Iran enter shaky equilibrium, Mexico’s Sheinbaum finally challenges an ICE killing

The demolition of the border fence between Spain and Gibraltar in La Línea de la Concepción, on July 15, 2026.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares and Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo attend a ceremony marking the demolition of the border fence between Spain and Gibraltar in La Línea de la Concepción, on July 15, 2026.

Samuel Vega/JNA Press/Sipa USA
A physical border falls, a digital one risesSome 118 years after it was installed, the border fence between Spain and the British overseas territory of Gibraltar fell on Tuesday, after the European Union and the United Kingdom clinched a long-awaited deal last year over how to manage the border in the wake of Brexit. But while one wall falls, [...]

Europe has one last spree of Russian gas

Europe has one last spree of Russian gas
Will Fitzpatrick
Months before an EU ban on Russian gas imports goes into effect, European countries are filling up their proverbial cups. The massive purchase of liquified natural gas, mostly from France, Belgium and Spain, highlights just how reliant Europe has been on Russian energy, even as it has sought to wean itself off since the beginning of Moscow’s [...]

Trump grants Ukraine Patriots license, US-Iran ceasefire stumbles, Australia to fuel India’s nuclear energy ambitions

US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the NATO leaders summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8, 2026.​

US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky alongside the NATO leaders summit at the Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8, 2026.

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Trump gives Ukraine another boostUS President Donald Trump said he would grant Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot air-defense missiles during the NATO meeting in Turkey on Wednesday, fulfilling a longstanding request from Kyiv. These interceptors can protect Ukraine from Russia’s ballistic missiles – Kyiv is struggling to block such attacks. [...]

Europe’s most consequential vote since Brexit starts now

The day after announcing her candidacy for the 2027 presidential election, Marine Le Pen visits La Fleche, in the Sarthe department, on July 8, 2026.​

The day after announcing her candidacy for the 2027 presidential election, Marine Le Pen (National Rally – RN), accompanied by Jordan Bardella, made her first campaign appearance during a visit to the market in La Fleche, in the Sarthe department, on July 8, 2026.

Frederic Petry / Hans Lucas
Yesterday, a French appeals court shortened a ban on far-right leader Marine Le Pen seeking public office, effectively allowing her to stand in the 2027 presidential election. Hours after the verdict was announced, Le Pen officially announced her fourth bid for the Elysée Palace, despite judges upholding her embezzlement conviction and sentencing [...]