EUROPE

Nigeria’s new ambassador to Germany, Hon. Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, discusses taking up the post in Berlin, which has been vacant for three years, and how the growing relationship between the two countries can be strengthened further. Ambassador Tuggar also talks about his aim to encourage more German investment in Africa in the exclusive interview with the German international broadcaster Deutsche …

Cyprus is at the centre of controversy surrounding the issuing of EU passports to wealthy foreigners, reports Emma Beswick According to UK newspaper, The Guardian, Cyprus received over 4 billion euros since 2013 by granting “golden visas” to the super rich, in exchange for cash. Applicants have to invest 2 million euros in property, or 2.5 million euros in companies …

Collins Nweke, Belgian politician of Nigerian origin, writes on the expected changes in bilateral relations between Nigeria and Belgium as the new Nigerian ambassador to Brussels assumes office. Nigeria and Belgium have a 56-year diplomatic relations. When the new Ambassador of Nigeria to Belgium presented her Letters of Credence to His Majesty, Phillipe I, King of the Belgians today, Wednesday …

Hundreds of Muslims gathered just meters away from where the Barcelona terror attack of last Thursday took place to protest against Islamic-inspired violence. Spain was hit by its worst terrorist attack in more than a decade on 17 August, when a van driver rammed into dozens of people enjoying a sunny afternoon on one of Barcelona’s most famous thoroughfares, killing …

Britain is reportedly planning to allow visa-free travel to the country for people from the European Union after Brexit. There has been no official announcement but British media, quoting unnamed government sources, say visitors won’t face any new constraints. However, people who want to work, study or settle in the UK will need to comply with future migration rules once …

An 18-year-old Italian woman who applied for a job at a local shop was reportedly refused the position because she is in a relationship with an African man, according to Italian media. Chiara Del Gaudio applied for the job in Torino, Piedmont region, after seeing an advert posted on the internet and was soon contacted by the shop’s owner, according …

The population of people of African origin in Germany has nearly doubled in only five years, according to new figures published on Tuesday by the Federal Statistics Office. Moreover, the number of people with an immigrant background in the country reached a new high of 18.6 million in 2016, an increase of 8.5 per cent compared to the previous year. …

The Kenyan Diaspora and well-wishers of the East African country will gather in six German cities on Saturday, 5 August for Amani Kenya-Open Air Prayers for Peace and Unity.  According to the organizers, the event, which will hold in Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Munich and Wurzburg, is to show solidarity with their compatriots at home who will go the polls …

Operation Sophia, the European Union migrant-rescue mission in the Mediterranean Sea, has been extended and will now run until 31 December 2018. EU leaders reached the agreement in Brussels on Tuesday (25 July) after Italy withdrew its veto. The extension was expected to be agreed upon last Monday but Italy, discontent with other EU member states’ efforts on the migrant …

The Italy Chapter of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe (NIDOE) has elected a new executive council. At the end of a hotly-contested vote in Rome on Saturday (15 July), Dr Akuwudike Lawrence Ibekwe emerged Chairman and Mr Godwin Obaseki, Vice Chairman. Other officials elected at the annual general meeting of NIDO Italy are Mr Fidel O’Neil Wilson (General Secretary), …

Almost one third of the respondents in Bavaria, one of the country’s 16 federal states, say they want independence from Germany, according to a new poll published on Sunday (16 July). Thirty-two per cent of Bavarians agreed with the statement that their “state should be independent from Germany,” a survey conducted by the YouGov market research company for the popular …

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has upheld Belgium’s ban on the Islamic full-face veil, rejecting a legal challenge by two Muslim women wearing the niqab. The court sitting in Strasbourg, France, ruled on Tuesday (11 July) that the 2011 Belgian law banning clothing that partly or totally covers the face was not discriminatory and did not violate the …

A shocking video of a Black woman falling headfirst down a narrow flight of stairs in Amsterdam is making the rounds on social media. A Dutchman had pushed an Airbnb renter, a Germany-based South African student, down a staircase in Amsterdam during an argument over check-out time on Sunday (9 July). Sibahle Nkumbi was travelling with two other women and …

German Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Bernhard Schlagheck, has revealed that 13,000 Nigerians are currently seeking asylum in Germany. The reasons they gave for their applications, according to the ambassador, range from insecurity arising from Boko Haram insurgency to political persecution in Nigeria. Ambassador Schlagheck however hinted that his country was not convinced that there is political persecution in Nigeria at …

World leaders on Saturday (1 July) paid final tributes to Helmut Kohl, the former Chancellor who reunited Germany and helped shape Europe as we know it. Kohl, who died on 16 June at 87, was lauded at a ceremony at the European Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg as a dedicated European pacifist by former US President Bill Clinton, …

Spain is one of the countries in Europe with the lowest rate of acceptance for persons seeking refugee protection while Nigerian nationals have the highest rejection rate of asylum applications made by Africans in Europe, reports show. According to the annual report by Spanish NGO National Commission for Aid to Refugees (CEAR), Spain is among the European countries with the lowest …

The big Brexit talks have kicked off in Brussels, with both sides sitting down for their first official discussions over the UK leaving the EU. At stake is how to untangle over 44 years of a complex relationship that is enshrined in thousands of pages of legal texts. It will need to be resolved in less than two years, with …

Getting an apartment which they desire and can afford could be a big problem for Africans living in Germany because of discrimination. A study has now confirmed that indeed you may not even be called for viewing, the first step in the apartment-seeking process, if your name sounds non-German. People with foreign sounding names are discriminated against when they are …

Many migrants who arrive in Germany find it difficult to navigate the country’s bureaucracy and start living a normal life. But a new organization is helping migrants find a friend who can help them settle in the country, reports Manasi Gopalakrishnan. Bassel Wali (above right) first heard about ‘Start with a Friend’ from another refugee. The 23-year-old, who withstood the …

Muslims held a peace march in Cologne on Saturday in protest at the number of deadly Islamic extremist attacks that have hit Europe in recent years. The protesters marched under the slogan “Not with us.” “I am from a Muslim family and I don’t want people to say in our name who is a believer and who is not. And …