On January 8, 2025, Friedrich Merz, the Federal Chancellor of Germany, stated in an interview with the newspaper Welt that “Dual citizenship will thus become the rule in our citizenship law” and that “it will bring additional problems into the country.” To assess this statement, we first examine whether dual citizenship has indeed become the…
On January 11, 2024, the German extreme-right party „Alternative for Germany“ published an article in its digital member magazine afdkompakt.de claiming that immigration costs Germany €6 trillion, which is seen as evidence for the need of remigration. The source for this statement is a study published in January by economist Bernd Raffelhüschen. The AfD’s interpretation…
On 20 July 2024, the former Federal Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Sigmar Gabriel, stated on X that many young people being a part of GenZ and the Millennials are not willing to work. He said: “At the top and at the bottom:…
In an article by “Welt.de” from May 2025 a squirrel aid-worker (in Berlin, Germany) is being quoted saying: “Es ist dramatisch – bei den Eichhörnchen ist der Beginn des Aussterbens da” (English: “It’s dramatic – the squirrels are on the verge of extinction”). This claim turns out to be mostly false. In order to verify…
During an appearance on the German political talkshow „Farbe bekennen“, AfD-chairwoman Alice Weidel states that nuclear energy is CO₂-neutral (08:33). This claim relies on the fact that the actual process of nuclear energy production does not cause any carbon emissions. However, regarding the entire lifespan of a nuclear energy plant and the carbon emissions that are…
On 13 May 2025, Friedrich Merz, the German Chancellor, stated in a speech at the Economic Council, an economic policy federal association that is close to his party, the CDU, that “We need to work more and above all, more efficiently in this country again. With a four-day work week and a focus on work-life…
“Only around 3% of all CO₂ emissions are man-made, i.e. they come from the economy, heating and transportation. Around 97% of CO₂ emissions are of natural origin.” This is a claim made by Karsten Hilse, a climate spokesperson for Germany’s far-right party AfD, on his website. It’s a claim regularly used to downplay human responsibility…
In January 2025, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) published an election manifesto on their official website where they had this claim on page 77: “[…] CO₂ has proven to be a driver of increased plant growth, thereby supporting global nutrition”. This claim is mostly false.
In its 2025 federal election program, the German right wing party AfD claims, “Battery production also pollutes the environment more than a combustion engine,” citing a 2019 ifo-study. However, this claim, used in 2021 as well, relies on unrealistic assumptions and outdated data, making it mostly false. Battery capacity and CO2 balance Greenhouse gas emissions…
On the 22nd of February 2025, Flemish right-wing satirical news outlet ‘tScheldt published an article in which they claimed that the Flemish weekly magazine Knack had been receiving US taxpayer money for years. ‘tScheldt claimed this money was being used to spread woke ideologies abroad. The claim turns out to be mostly false. ‘tScheldt is a…