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Tag: Germany

  • Germany’s nurse shortage opens pathway for qualified Pakistani nurses

    Germany’s nurse shortage opens pathway for qualified Pakistani nurses

    Germany is facing a nationwide shortage of trained nurses, opening pathways for Pakistani nurses who hold recognised degrees or diplomas and meet the required criteria to apply for employment in the country.

    The shortage has been reported across Germany’s healthcare system, increasing demand for nursing professionals. 

    Pakistani nurses with formal education and relevant training are eligible to apply, but the process involves multiple regulatory steps before employment can be approved.

    The first and most critical stage is the official recognition of educational qualifications by German authorities. Every application is assessed individually, with officials reviewing academic records, professional training, and practical experience.

    The evaluation process focuses on whether the applicant’s nursing education aligns with German standards.

    Nursing qualifications must be accredited, and applicants are required to demonstrate proficiency in the German language. In most cases, language skills at the B2 level are required before professional approval is granted.

    If German authorities determine that there are substantial differences between nursing education in Pakistan and the standards followed in Germany, applicants may be asked to complete additional requirements. 

    Prospective applicants have been advised to rely only on official sources for guidance throughout the process. The German government’s official portal provides information on whether nursing is regulated in a specific region, identifies the competent provincial authorities, and explains each step involved in qualification recognition and professional approval.

    The guidance issued by German authorities is intended to help international nursing professionals understand the legal and procedural requirements before applying.

  • Conservatives win German vote as far-right makes record gains

    Conservatives win German vote as far-right makes record gains

    Germany’s conservatives swept to victory in Sunday’s elections, with their leader Friedrich Merz set to become the next chancellor, followed by the far-right AfD in second place after record gains.

    Merz urged the speedy formation of a new coalition government, warning that as US President Donald Trump is driving rapid and disruptive changes, “the world isn’t waiting for us”.

    He stressed that — after Trump reached out to Russia and made comments fuelling doubts about the future strength of NATO — Europe must boost its defence capabilities and said that he has “no illusions at all about what is coming out of America”.

    The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) almost doubled its score to over 20 percent, boosted by fears over immigration and security after a spate of deadly attacks blamed on asylum seekers.

    Merz’s CDU/CSU alliance won more than 28 percent, according to projections at 2000 GMT, crushing the Social Democrats (SPD) of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, which were looking at a historic low of 16 percent.

    Merz — a long-time party rival of ex-chancellor Angela Merkel — has vowed a crackdown on irregular immigration. He hopes to win back votes from the AfD whose rise has stunned many in a country still seeking to atone for its dark Nazi history.

    For now, the AfD, basking in the vocal support of key Trump allies, is set to stay in opposition. All other parties have vowed to keep it out of power and behind a “firewall” of non-cooperation.

    But its jubilant leader Alice Weidel hailed the “historic” result and again said her party was ready to govern with the CDU/CSU.

    “I am very afraid of this shift to the right,” said retired teacher Hilke Reichersdorfer, 71, wearing a red scarf outside SPD headquarters. She voiced fears of a situation “like in other European countries or in America”.

    ‘Fate of Europe’

    Before Merz, 69, takes over, he will have to forge a new coalition government in Europe’s top economy, an often drawn-out process he has vowed to complete by Easter.

    This threatens to leave Berlin paralysed for weeks to come as Trump has forced head-spinning change and rattled European allies, especially over the Ukraine war.

    The German election came amid tectonic upheaval in US-Europe ties sparked by Trump going over the heads of European leaders to make a direct outreach to Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the three-year-old Ukraine war.

    “After Donald Trump’s statements in the last week it is clear that the Americans are largely indifferent to the fate of Europe,” Merz said in a post-election TV debate.

    He said his “absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA” in defence matters.

    To build a majority, Merz may first reach out to the SPD, though without Scholz, who apologised for his party’s “bitter” defeat.

    Merz could also approach the Greens, who scored 12 percent, although the CDU’s Bavarian sister party the CSU has so far rejected this.

    Another potential partner, the small FDP — which sparked the November breakup of Scholz’s government — stared down the barrel of narrowly missing the five-percent hurdle to return to parliament.

    This would impact the complex parliamentary arithmetic, as would the fate of the far-left BSW, which was just below the threshold late Sunday, at 4.9 percent.

    If the BSW eventually scrapes in, this will mean Merz needs two coalition allies — raising the spectre of yet another ideologically diverse alliance, like the failed alliance that was led by Scholz.

    ‘Last chance’

    In a strange twist to the polarised campaign, the AfD has basked in the support of Team Trump, which saw billionaire Elon Musk praising it as the only party that can “save Germany”.

    Merz said “the interventions from Washington were no less dramatic and impertinent than the interventions we have seen from Moscow, so we are under massive pressure from two sides”.

    The AfD, strongest in the ex-communist east, also made gains in western states for its best-ever result after Germany was shocked by a series of deadly attacks blamed on migrants.

    In December a car-ramming through a Christmas market crowd killed six people and wounded hundreds.

    A stabbing spree targeting kindergarten children followed, then another car-ramming attack, in Munich, and a knife attack at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial.

    Merz has argued that the next government must boldly address the AfD’s concerns on migration and also fix the ailing economy, warning that otherwise the far right might win next time around.

    “The stakes could not be higher”, argued political analyst and author Michael Broening.

    “Germany’s mainstream parties have consistently failed to convince voters to reject the far right, and this election could be their last chance to turn the tide.”

    Democratic forces must find solutions to the country’s problems, he added. “If Germany’s ‘establishment’ parties fail to deliver this time, they may not be the establishment for much longer”.

  • Germany: Five killed, over 200 wounded in Christmas market attack

    Germany: Five killed, over 200 wounded in Christmas market attack

    Germany reeled Saturday from the shock of a new deadly attack on a crowded Christmas market where Chancellor Olaf Scholz was to visit the scene of the carnage.

    Police arrested a 50-year-old Saudi doctor at the scene after five people were killed and more than 200 injured when an SUV ploughed through the festive crowd in Magdeburg on Friday night.

    Residents went to the Johanneskirche church, just opposite the market, on Saturday to lay candles in tribute to the victims.

    Police said it was not possible to immediately say whether the attack was inspired by radical religious or political beliefs, or linked to psychological problems. The detained suspect has voiced anti-Islam views on social media.

    The Saudi man, named by German media as Taleb A., was a psychiatric doctor who had lived in Germany since 2006 and held a permanent residence permit.

    Media pointed to his social media posts in which he expressed views critical of Islam, sympathetic to the far right and even warned of the “dangers” of an Islamisation of Germany.

    “The motives remain mysterious,” wrote Der Spiegel weekly about the latest vehicle-ramming attack to target a traditional German festival market.

    The black BMW tore through the traditional market in the centre of Magdeburg, southwest of Berlin on Friday night.

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    Police said the vehicle drove “at least 400 metres across the Christmas market” leaving behind destruction, debris and broken glass on the city’s central town hall square.

    The attack came almost eight years to the day after a Tunisian man drove a truck through a Berlin Christmas market, killing 13 people. It was the country’s most deadly Jihadist attack.

    The sorrow and anger sparked by the latest attack, where one of those killed was a child, seemed set to inflame a heated debate on immigration and security as Germany heads for February 23 elections.

    One woman told Die Welt daily: “I don’t know what world we’re living in, where someone would use such a peaceful event to spread terror.”

    The leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel, which has focused on jihadist attacks in its campaign against immigrants, wrote on X: “When will this madness stop?”

    President Frank-Walter Steinmeier wrote that “the anticipation of a peaceful Christmas was suddenly interrupted” but cautioned that “the background to the terrible deed has yet been clarified”.

    “What happened today affects a lot of people. It affects us a lot,” Fael Kelion, a 27-year-old Cameroonian living in the city, told AFP.

    “I think that since (the suspect) is a foreigner, the population will be unhappy, less welcoming,” he said.

    Michael Raarig, 67, an engineer, expressed his sorrow at the site, telling AFP “I am sad, I am shocked. I never would have believed this could happen here in an East German provincial town.”

    He added that he believed the attack “will play into the hands of the AfD” which has had its strongest support in the formerly communist eastern Germany.

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    Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser will on Saturday visit the market, where well-wishers had already left flowers of condolences.

    Several European governments expressed shock over the attack. The Saudi government highlighted its “solidarity with the German people and the families of the victims”, in a statement on social media platform X, and “affirmed its rejection of violence”.

    Faeser had recently called for vigilance at Christmas markets, although she said that authorities had not received any specific threats.

    Domestic security service the Office for the Protection of the Constitution had warned it considers Christmas markets an “ideologically suitable target for Islamist-motivated people”.

    Germany has in recent tim seen a series of suspected Islamist knife and other violent attacks which have inflamed public opinion.

    Three people were killed and eight wounded in a stabbing spree at a street festival in the western city of Solingen in August.

    Police arrested a Syrian suspect over the attack that was claimed by IS.

    In June, a policeman was killed in a knife attack in Mannheim. An Afghan national was detained.

    The government this year imposed new border controls with European neighbours and pledged to step up deportations of rejected asylum-seekers.

    Germany’s conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz, who is ahead in pre-election opinion polls, has pledged in his campaign to show “zero tolerance” on crime and “stop illegal migration”.

  • Western ambassadors to skip Nagasaki memorial after Japan exclude Israel

    Western ambassadors to skip Nagasaki memorial after Japan exclude Israel

    Ambassadors from Western countries including the United States will skip a ceremony marking the 79th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki after Israel was snubbed, officials said Wednesday.

    Nagasaki’s mayor last week said that Israel’s ambassador Gilad Cohen was not invited to Friday’s event in the southern Japanese city because of the risk of possible protests over the Gaza conflict.

    The US and British embassies said on Tuesday that their ambassadors would not take part as a result, and that their countries would be represented by lower-ranking diplomats.

    Media reports said that Australia, Italy, Canada and the European Union, who together with the US, Britain and Germany signed a strongly worded joint letter to Nagasaki’s mayor last month, would follow suit.

    US ambassador Rahm Emanuel will not attend “after the mayor of Nagasaki politicised the event by not inviting the Israeli ambassador”, an embassy spokesperson told AFP.

    Instead Emanuel, 64, who was ex-president Barack Obama’s chief of staff, will go to a separate event at a temple in Tokyo, the spokesperson said.

    The British embassy said that ambassador Julia Longbottom would also not be in Nagasaki, saying that not inviting Israel “creates an unfortunate and misleading equivalency with Russia and Belarus — the only other countries not invited to this year’s ceremony.”

    A spokesperson for the French embassy said that its number two would attend, telling AFP that the “decision not to invite the representative of Israel is regrettable and questionable”.

    Nagasaki mayor Shiro Suzuki had said last week that the decision not to invite Cohen was “not politically motivated” but based on a desire to “hold the ceremony in a peaceful and sombre atmosphere”.

    In June Suzuki said Nagasaki had sent a letter to the Israeli embassy calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza.

    Cohen, who was invited to and attended a memorial ceremony on Tuesday in Hiroshima, last week had said the Nagasaki decision “sends a wrong message to the world”.

    “As a close friend and like-minded nation of Japan, Israel has attended this ceremony for many years to honor the victims and their families,” he wrote on social media platform X.

    On Monday Cohen told US broadcaster CNN that the security concerns were “invented” and that he was “really surprised by (Suzuki) hijacking this ceremony for his political motivations.”

    In their letter to Suzuki seen by AFP, the six Western envoys had warned that if Israel was excluded “it would become difficult for us to have high-level participation at this event.”

    Government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi on Wednesday declined to comment, saying invitations were “a decision for the organiser, Nagasaki City.”

    A Nagasaki official in charge of the ceremony said it was “obviously better to have high-level individuals, like ambassadors themselves, taking part”.

    “What is important is that representatives of the countries will attend the ceremony,” he told AFP.

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    © Agence France-Presse

  • Afghan miscreants vandalise Pakistan consulate in Germany; Foreign Office demands action

    Afghan miscreants vandalise Pakistan consulate in Germany; Foreign Office demands action

    After videos emerged of several individuals, allegedly Afghan nationals, vandalising the Pakistani consulate in Frankfurt, Islamabad urged Germany to take immediate measures to investigate the security lapse and hold those responsible for it accountable to the law.

    The incident happened on July 20, when a “gang of extremists” atta­cked the consulate and “endangered” the lives of the consular staff on the premises, says the statement from the Pakistani mission.


    In one of the viral videos, it can be seen that protesters carrying placards gathered outside the consulate.


    The videos show three men — one of whom is seen clutching an Afghan flag — climbing a flagpole to remove the Pakistani flag.


    However, some reports also indicated the protesters pelted the consulate building with stones.

    Protest outside consulate

    German media outlet DW reported that Saturday’s demonstration was arranged to “highlight complaints against Pakistan’s military and intelligence services, which organisers accused of killing critics and political opponents”.


    DW quoted police as saying that about 400 people carrying Afghanistan flags took part in the demonstration outside the consulate.


    Netizens on X also speculated that the people who vandalised the Pakistani consulate in Frankfurt belonged to the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement headed by Manzoor Pashteen.


    However, Manzoor posted an official denial on X condemning the violence in Frankfurt. “Local authorities should take action against the perpetrator. Trained people are doing such acts on planning to create negative propaganda against people’s protests,” he asserted.

    Pakistan’s reaction

    The Foreign Office in Pakistan called out the German authorities for failing to protect the “sanctity and security of the premises of its consular mission” under the Vienna Con­ven­tions on Consular Rela­tions, 1963.


    “We are in contact with the German authorities to ensure such a situation doesn’t arise again and the miscreants face legal consequences,” the Pakistani embassy in Germany posted on its official X handle.


    Information Minister Atta Tarar, in a press conference, revealed that NADRA is asked to analyse the footage of the incident in Frankfurt to ascertain whether any Pakistanis were involved.


    Though the Foreign Office did not point to the nationality of the miscreants, some of them were draped in the tri-colour Afghanistan flag. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, however, lashed out at the Afghan nationals, saying Islamabad needed to rethink its hospitality towards Afghan citizens in the wake of this incident.


    “There’s a limit to hospitality. They swore at us; they swore at Pakistan. They talk against the integrity of Pakistan. They carry out proper rallies [against Pakistan]. They burn our flags,” he told Geo News, claiming that Pakistan fought wars for Kabul. “I think Pakistan needs to rethink their hospitality,” he said.


    Pakistan hosts over three million Afghan refugees and recently launched a deportation drive to expel those who were residing in the country without documents.


    Earlier this month, the government extended the stay of registered Afghan refugees by one year.

  • 10 easiest European citizenships

    10 easiest European citizenships

    Many people from developing countries aspire to acquire citizenship in European states. Some countries offer relatively straightforward paths to citizenship, while others present significant challenges. Sweden stands out as the easiest country in Europe for obtaining citizenship, whereas Estonia and Latvia are the most challenging.

    A recent study by CIS analysed Eurostat immigration data from 2009 to 2021 to identify which countries have the highest and lowest rates of non-EU residents acquiring citizenship.

    The analysis revealed that the nine most challenging countries to obtain citizenship are located in Central Europe. Estonia ranks as the most difficult country for non-EU citizens to naturalise, with the lowest average acquisition rate—approximately one in 200 residents. Additionally, the acquisition rate for men in Estonia is lower at 0.58 percent compared to 0.69 percent for women.

    Latvia, the Czech Republic, and Lithuania also have acquisition rates of less than 1 percent for non-Europeans, contrasting sharply with the average of 3.56 percent across European countries. Austria, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Germany follow, granting citizenship to about one in fifty non-EU residents. Denmark, outside Central Europe, presents the next highest hurdle with an acquisition rate of 2 percent.

    Over the past decade, six of the ten most challenging countries have seen an increase in citizenship grants year-on-year, particularly Denmark, which experienced a notable rise. Germany’s acquisition rate remained stable, while Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovenia saw declines.

    Many countries implement various programs aimed at attracting foreigners, including opportunities for investment, as well as citizenship and tax benefits.

    Individuals seeking migration often favour Golden Visa and Golden Passport routes, terms that are sometimes used interchangeably despite minor distinctions.

    10 Easiest European Countries to Get Citizenship

    According to the report, Sweden ranks as the easiest country, with nearly one in ten (9.3 Perce) non-EU residents obtaining citizenship—more than double the EU average.

    Sweden boasts the highest acceptance rates for both genders, with women experiencing a slightly higher acceptance rate of 10.02 percent compared to 8.66 percent for men.

    Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Iceland follow as the second to fifth easiest countries to acquire citizenship, with an acquisition rate of one in 25 (4 percent).

    Data shows that northern European countries generally have the highest citizenship acquisition rates, with Sweden, Norway, Iceland, and Finland leading the pack.

    In southern Europe, Portugal emerges as the easiest, while the Netherlands, Ireland, and the United Kingdom are the most accessible Western European states for citizenship. The UK ranks eighth, with nearly three in 50 (3.2 percent) residents granted citizenship.

    Poland and Croatia are the easiest countries in Central Europe for changing nationality, with acquisition rates of 4 percent and 3.9 percent respectively. Northern and Western Europe present the most accessible regions for nationality changes, with an acquisition rate of 5.9 percent compared to 1.9 percent in Central Europe and 3.6 percent in the South.

  • German Embassy issues student visa application schedule

    German Embassy issues student visa application schedule

    The schedule of applications for student visas has been announced by the German Embassy in Pakistan.

    Student visa registration for the winter semester 2024-25 starts from May 21.

    According to the embassy, appointments for students with an admission letter for the 2024 summer semester will not be offered by the end of MA, while any admission letter for the 2024 summer semester after May 15 will automatically be cancelled.

    Affected students will be notified via email.

    The move is being taken to streamline the visa process and address the high volume of applications received by the embassy.

    Preference will be given to applicants and PhD students with scholarships from German institutions, while there is a special online registration category for students who have achieved a CGPA of 3.7 or above.

    Applicants must prepare a comprehensive set of documents for their visa application, including various forms, copies of passports and IDs, educational records, proof of financial means and health insurance.

  • Pakistani researcher killed in Portugal

    Pakistani researcher killed in Portugal

     A young researcher from Lahore has been killed in Porto, Portugal, when he resisted a robbery attempt, Geo reported on Friday.

    Family members of the victim, Anthony Shoukat, said he went to Portugal for a research project of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital.

    They appealed the government to help them bring the victim’s body at the earliest and bring the culprits to justice.

    The victim’s family said Anthony had done his masters from Sweden and his PhD from Germany.

    In March, Fahimuddin, a Pakistani-German, was murdered and his family attacked with a knife in Germany. Fahimuddin had moved from Karachi’s Azizabad neighbourhood to Germany and made it his permanent home.

  • Indian politician Prajwal Revanna accused of assaulting 400 women, escapes to Germany

    Indian politician Prajwal Revanna accused of assaulting 400 women, escapes to Germany

    An Indian politician, who sexually assaulted 400 women and made videos of them, has escaped to Germany. He’s accused of exploiting and making videos of women over many years.

    Parjwal Revana is a member of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s coalition party and the grandson of former Indian Prime Minister HD Devarajegowda, according to Indian media.

    According to media reports, Parjwal allegedly filmed 2,800 videos, of 400 women being raped, 2,000 USB sticks of rape videos were found in parks, buses and trains across the state of Karnataka and the rape videos were leaked by the former driver of Prajwal Revanna. These videos were used by the member of the parliament to blackmail women and gain sexual favours from them.

    While Prajwal has escaped, his father has been arrested on the charge of sexual violence against a maid. The girl who worked at Parjwal’s house complained to the police about the rape and she also accused Prajwal’s father of sexual assault.

    A former Bangalore councilor has also accused Prajwal of raping her several times.

    Indian politician and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that this is not a sex scandal but a serious case of mass rape.

    Modi has campaigned for Prajwal in the elections but in his statement has said, “It is a law and order issue. If such an incident took place in Bengal, then the Bengal government of would be responsible. If it happened in Gujarat, then the Gujarat government is responsible…if it happened in Karnataka, then the Karnataka government is responsible to take action.”

  • Foreign Office laments German envoy incident at AJ Conference

    Foreign Office laments German envoy incident at AJ Conference

    Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch on Thursday expressed regret over the incident faced by German Ambassador Alfred Grannas during an event in Lahore.

    Last week, the German envoy was heckled and booed by pro-Palestine protestors over Germany’s complicity in Israel’s genocide against the people of Gaza.

    In the footage, it could be seen that the activist shouted, “Why your country is brutally abusing the people speaking for the rights of Palestinians,” addressing the German envoy.

    However, Ambassador Grannas, who was visibly taken aback, began shouting while asking the protesters not to shout. He also gestured at the students while waving his left hand in the air, asking them to “go out”.

    Mumtaz also rejected allegations of former advisor to Prime Minister Shehzad Akbar’s claims that he was attacked by the state of Pakistan.

    “We categorically reject the allegations made by Shahzad Akbar against the state of Pakistan, its institutions and agencies. These claims are baseless and politically motivated. As we have said in the past safety and security of Pakistani nationals, wherever they are, are a matter of priority for Pakistan,” said the FO spokesperson during her weekly press briefing.

    She reiterated that Pakistan does not have a policy of targeting citizens abroad. Baloch said several dissidents are living in foreign countries but Pakistan has never engaged against them.

    Even though, “Some of them have (even) maintained links with terrorist entities inside Pakistan,” the spokesperson said.

    On April 29, Akbar served a copy of his legal action to the Pakistan High Commission in London. It names several Pakistan government officials as responsible for the attack.

    Akbar had initiated legal action against the Pakistani government over an acid attack in 2023 that left him “scarred for life”.