German blue-chips warn of ‘extremist’ threat before EU elections
Al Jazeera
Business alliance seeks to counter far-right populism and persuade 1.7 million staff to vote in upcoming election.
A roster of German blue chip companies has banded together to counter anti-immigration political parties in advance of the upcoming EU elections.
Thirty companies, including BMW, BASF, and Siemens, announced on Tuesday that they have formed a “business alliance” to battle populism and promote “diversity, openness and tolerance”. The initiative also calls on the 1.7 million employees of the firms to vote in June’s EU parliament elections, in which far-right parties are forecast to make significant gains.
“Exclusion, extremism, and populism pose threats to Germany as a business location and to our prosperity,” a statement issued by the “We stand for values” alliance read.
The companies said that they are “calling on their combined 1.7 million employees to take part in the upcoming European elections … to highlight the importance of European unity for prosperity, growth, and jobs,” it added.
The alliance suggested that with German companies already struggling with inadequate numbers of skilled workers, and the population ageing rapidly, populists could exasperate the situation by making the country unattractive to foreign labour.
Despite unpredictable, sometimes dangerous, skies, MEA and other airlines are still flying. Here’s how, and why.
Human rights group Viasna reports 1,275 political prisoners still jailed and face harsh conditions.
The Department of Justice said Google had ‘deprived rivals’ of opportunities to expand their search engine market share.
Matt Gaetz has faced allegations of sex trafficking a 17-year-old girl, drug use, and misappropriating campaign funds.
British luxury automaker’s advertising campaign features models of varying ages, genders and races – but no cars.
After Ukraine strikes Russian territory with US missiles, what’s next?
Al Jazeera looks back at the most devastating period in Laos’s history, when the US waged a years-long ‘Secret War’ in the Southeast Asian country.
These were the key developments on the 1,001st day of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump allies say they will ‘liberate individuals and businesses from illicit regulations never passed by Congress’.
