BERLIN: Germany vowed Wednesday to “defend itself” against radicalized anti-vaccination groups after police launched raids in response to death threats against a top politician backing decisive measures to fight the pandemic.
Police and special forces staged an operation in Saxony after an anti-vaccine group targeted the region’s state premier, who has vocally supported national measures against the unvaccinated in one of the areas of the country with the lowest inoculation rates.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who took office last week, said Germany would “not allow a tiny minority of uninhibited extremists to try to impose its will on the whole of society.”
The security forces earlier launched the operation in the eastern city of Dresden following threats from an anti-vaccine group against state premier Michael Kretschmer.
“Statements from certain members of the group suggested they might have real weapons and crossbows,” police said, without indicating if any arrests had been made.
Audio messages called for opposing “if necessary with weapons” the measures in place, targeting politicians and in particular, Kretschmer.
Authorities suspected “the preparation of a violent crime that threatens the state,” police later said on Twitter.
The investigation was opened after journalists from public broadcaster ZDF infiltrated an encrypted Telegram chat and reported on the death threats last week.
ZDF revealed the contents of messages allegedly involving a hundred members of the chat group “linked by their opposition to vaccines, to the state and the current health policies,” police said.
In his first speech to parliament as chancellor, Scholz vowed a zero-tolerance policy against such extremist groups.
Germany will “use all the means of its democratic rule of law to defend itself against this tiny minority of the hateful attacking the rest of us,” he said.
A large, partly radicalized movement has emerged in Germany against health restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is particularly strong in Saxony, in former communist East Germany, one of the regions worst hit by the resurgent coronavirus and where the vaccination rate is lower than the national average.
At the beginning of December, protesters gathered outside the house of the Saxony state minister of health with torches and whistles, a demonstration which was condemned by politicians.
In the midst of a strong fourth wave of the virus, the national government decided to strengthen restrictions on unvaccinated people, banning them from public venues, restaurants and non-essential commerce.
Scholz has said compulsory vaccination could be voted on by parliament in the coming weeks, with the obligation to get the jab coming into force in February or March.
The number of individuals opposed to the health restrictions and prepared to use violence was between 15,000 and 20,000, security expert Sebastian Fiedler of Scholz’s Social Democrats told the daily Bild on Tuesday.
The former East German states, including Saxony, are particularly fertile territory for the new fringe movement.
Public protests against the restrictions are almost daily and sometimes result in violence.
The president of Germany’s conference of interior ministers, Thomas Strobl, has called for a strong response from the federal government.
Individuals who threatened the constitution “leave the common ground of our democracy and will be held to account using all the power’s available under the rule of law,” Strobl, the interior minister in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, told the Funke media group.
The Telegram messaging app at the center of the police investigation has itself come under fire from the government.
“We have to act more resolutely against incitements to violence and hatred on the Internet,” the new federal interior minister Nancy Faeser said on Monday, noting that the messaging services were “subject to the same rules as Twitter or Facebook” to counter illegal content.
![]()
Germany vows to ‘defend itself’ as police raid anti-vaxxers
Short Url
https://arab.news/53zjq
Germany vows to ‘defend itself’ as police raid anti-vaxxers
- Police and special forces staged an operation in Saxony after an anti-vaccine group targeted the region’s state premier
Olympic town warms up as climate change puts Winter Games on thin ice
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO: Olympic fans came to Cortina with heavy winter coats and gloves. Those coats were unzipped Sunday and gloves pocketed as snow melted from rooftops — signs of a warming world.
“I definitely thought we’d be wearing all the layers,” said Jay Tucker, who came from Virginia to cheer on Team USA and bought hand warmers and heated socks in preparation. “I don’t even have gloves on.”
The timing of winter, the amount of snowfall and temperatures are all less reliable and less predictable because Earth is warming at a record rate, said Shel Winkley, a Climate Central meteorologist. This poses a growing and significant challenge for organizers of winter sports; The International Olympic Committee said last week it could move up the start date for future Winter Games to January from February because of rising temperatures.
While the beginning of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Cortina truly had a wintry feel, as the town was blanketed in heavy snow. The temperature reached about 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.5 degrees Celsius) Sunday afternoon. It felt hotter in the sun.
This type of February “warmth” for Cortina is made at least three times more likely due to climate change, Winkley said. In the 70 years since Cortina first held the Winter Games, February temperatures there have climbed 6.4 degrees Fahrenheit (3.6 degrees Celsius), he added.
Coping with varying climates across host cities
For the Milan Cortina Games, there’s an added layer of complexity. It’s the most spread-out Winter Games in history, so Olympic venues are in localities with very different weather conditions. Bormio and Livigno, for example, are less than an hour apart by car, but they are separated by a high mountain pass that can divide the two places climatically.
The organizing committee is working closely with four regional and provincial public weather agencies. It has positioned weather sensors at strategic points for the competitions, including close to the ski jumping ramps, along the Alpine skiing tracks and at the biathlon shooting range.
Where automatic stations cannot collect everything of interest, the committee has observers — “scientists of the snow”— from the agencies ready to collect data, according to Matteo Pasotti, a weather specialist for the organizing committee.
The hope? Clear skies, light winds and low temperatures on race days to ensure good visibility and preserve the snow layer.
The reality: “It’s actually pretty warm out. We expected it to be a lot colder,” said Karli Poliziani, an American who lives in Milan. Poliziani was in Cortina with her father, who considered going out Sunday in just a sweatshirt.
And forecasts indicate that more days with above-average temperatures lie ahead for the Olympic competitions, Pasotti said.
Weather can affect competition
Weather plays a critical role in the smooth running and safety of winter sports competitions, according to Filippo Bazzanella, head of sport services and planning for the organizing committee. High temperatures can impact the snow layer on Alpine skiing courses and visibility is essential. Humidity and high temperatures can affect the quality of the ice at indoor arenas and sliding centers, too.
Visibility and wind are the two factors most likely to cause changes to the competition schedule, Bazzanella added. Wind can be a safety issue or a fairness one, such as in the biathlon where slight variations can disrupt the athletes’ precise shooting.
American alpine skier Jackie Wiles said many races this year have been challenging because of the weather.
“I feel like we’re pretty good about keeping our heads in the game because a lot of people are going to get taken out by that immediately,” she said at a team press conference last week. “Having that mindset of: it’s going to be what it’s going to be, and we still have to go out there and fight like hell regardless.”
“I definitely thought we’d be wearing all the layers,” said Jay Tucker, who came from Virginia to cheer on Team USA and bought hand warmers and heated socks in preparation. “I don’t even have gloves on.”
The timing of winter, the amount of snowfall and temperatures are all less reliable and less predictable because Earth is warming at a record rate, said Shel Winkley, a Climate Central meteorologist. This poses a growing and significant challenge for organizers of winter sports; The International Olympic Committee said last week it could move up the start date for future Winter Games to January from February because of rising temperatures.
While the beginning of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Cortina truly had a wintry feel, as the town was blanketed in heavy snow. The temperature reached about 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.5 degrees Celsius) Sunday afternoon. It felt hotter in the sun.
This type of February “warmth” for Cortina is made at least three times more likely due to climate change, Winkley said. In the 70 years since Cortina first held the Winter Games, February temperatures there have climbed 6.4 degrees Fahrenheit (3.6 degrees Celsius), he added.
Coping with varying climates across host cities
For the Milan Cortina Games, there’s an added layer of complexity. It’s the most spread-out Winter Games in history, so Olympic venues are in localities with very different weather conditions. Bormio and Livigno, for example, are less than an hour apart by car, but they are separated by a high mountain pass that can divide the two places climatically.
The organizing committee is working closely with four regional and provincial public weather agencies. It has positioned weather sensors at strategic points for the competitions, including close to the ski jumping ramps, along the Alpine skiing tracks and at the biathlon shooting range.
Where automatic stations cannot collect everything of interest, the committee has observers — “scientists of the snow”— from the agencies ready to collect data, according to Matteo Pasotti, a weather specialist for the organizing committee.
The hope? Clear skies, light winds and low temperatures on race days to ensure good visibility and preserve the snow layer.
The reality: “It’s actually pretty warm out. We expected it to be a lot colder,” said Karli Poliziani, an American who lives in Milan. Poliziani was in Cortina with her father, who considered going out Sunday in just a sweatshirt.
And forecasts indicate that more days with above-average temperatures lie ahead for the Olympic competitions, Pasotti said.
Weather can affect competition
Weather plays a critical role in the smooth running and safety of winter sports competitions, according to Filippo Bazzanella, head of sport services and planning for the organizing committee. High temperatures can impact the snow layer on Alpine skiing courses and visibility is essential. Humidity and high temperatures can affect the quality of the ice at indoor arenas and sliding centers, too.
Visibility and wind are the two factors most likely to cause changes to the competition schedule, Bazzanella added. Wind can be a safety issue or a fairness one, such as in the biathlon where slight variations can disrupt the athletes’ precise shooting.
American alpine skier Jackie Wiles said many races this year have been challenging because of the weather.
“I feel like we’re pretty good about keeping our heads in the game because a lot of people are going to get taken out by that immediately,” she said at a team press conference last week. “Having that mindset of: it’s going to be what it’s going to be, and we still have to go out there and fight like hell regardless.”
Latest updates
Recommended
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.