Germany is heading to elect its first female president

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz paved the way for the election of the first female president of Germany by announcing his party's support for the nomination of the Speaker of the Bavarian State Parliament, Ilse Aigner.

Meretz announced his support for Aigner in a press conference held at the headquarters of his Christian Democratic Party in Berlin, and she stood by his side.

Mertz praised Aigner, saying that she has the “best qualities” for a president, adding that Germany will gain a president who has “dignity and a sincere heart, who unites, provides guidance, and encourages debate.” He added that it is time for a woman to take office.

Aigner confirmed that she would be a “centrist candidate” and that she would work to unite Germans, adding that she entered politics with the aim of bridging the gap between Germans. Aigner criticized extremist ideologies, saying that “our country and our democracy are under attack from within and without,” pledging to stand up to extremism.

Aigner (61 years old) belongs to the Bavarian Christian Social Party, which is the sister party of the Meretz party, and does not have a presence outside the state of Bavaria, but it participates in federal governments alongside the Christian Democratic Party.

Although the German President does not have the executive duties given to the Chancellor; Rather, its role is limited to protocol and is a symbol of the country’s unity. Choosing a woman for the first time in the Federal Republic of Germany, after 12 men have alternated for the presidency in the past 77 years, is a step that reflects the image of modern Germany.

The term of the current president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, will end at the end of next March, after serving two terms, the first of which began 10 years ago under the government of former Chancellor Angela Merkel. The president is not entitled to run for more than two terms in Germany, each of which has a term of 5 years. Steinmeier belongs to the Social Democratic Party, a partner in the coalition government. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs and is considered a veteran politician. As for Aigner, she served as Minister of Agriculture in Merkel's first government, and held multiple ministerial positions in the state of Bavaria, such as Minister of Economy and Deputy Prime Minister of the state government.

The Federal Assembly is supposed to vote to choose the president at the end of next January. The President's Electoral College consists of 630 members of the Bundestag (Federal Parliament), in addition to a similar number of representatives from the 16 German states who are elected by local state parliaments and are not necessarily political representatives. This body meets once every 5 years specifically to elect a president. Since the Christian Union and its partner, the Socialist Party, control the Bundestag and the majority of local parliaments, there will be no obstacles to Aigner’s election.

The Bavarian politician is close to the German Chancellor, who owns a house in her state and spends his holidays there with his family. Despite this, Meretz hesitated for months to announce his candidacy for Aigner, and initially wanted to nominate a woman from his party and his inner circle. However, he was subjected to pressure from the sister Bavarian party, especially after the party's leader and the president of the state of Bavaria, Markus Soder, announced his support for Aigner to assume the presidency months ago.

Aigner is a politician close to voters and spends a lot of her time communicating with them, and periodically participates in traditional festivals in Bavaria. It is noteworthy that Aigner does not have a university degree; Rather, she completed vocational education to become a technician in the radio and television sector, then graduated as a technician in mechanical engineering from a specialized school.

These qualities played a role in the Chancellor's decision to support her for the position of president, especially since the role of the president in Germany is considered to bring together and unify the people. It also plays a role in bridging political rifts between parties. This role was played by the current German President Steinmeier when Germany faced political complexities in the past that made it difficult to form governments, especially in the fourth government of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, and with the government of former Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Hungarian police arrested the brother of former nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Monday, Prime Minister Peter Madiar said based on a press report.

Madiar, a pro-European Union conservative, won a landslide election victory in April, bringing an end to 16 years of Orban's rule, and vowed to investigate accusations of corruption and abuse of power during his predecessor's rule.

Madiar wrote on Facebook: “According to press reports, Aron Orban, Viktor Orban’s brother, has been detained on suspicion of involvement in human trafficking,” according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.

The original report appeared on the “Control” news website, which is owned by Marton Madyar, Peter Madyar’s brother.

The former prime minister described his brother's arrest procedures as a "dirty game," accusing the government of trying to get rid of its political opponents. He wrote on Facebook: “I am the target, but my brother is nothing but a tool.”

Like other members of the Orban family, Aaron Orban established several successful business ventures during his brother's time in power.

Last year, investigative journalists linked one of his companies to a supposed visa facilitation scheme under which foreigners were given preferential access to Hungarian work visas.

Police reported that “several people were detained” in Budapest and two towns in the surrounding Pest district, as part of a human trafficking operation.

The statement added: “Inspections are currently being conducted in the homes of people under investigation.” The statement continued: “We expect to provide more details in the afternoon about the nature of the violations and the investigative procedures carried out today.”

This joint operation was carried out by the National Bureau of Investigation and the National Asset Recovery and Protection Agency; It is an anti-corruption body with broad powers, established as part of Madiar's efforts to enhance accountability.

In September, the Asset Recovery Agency took over 4 investigative cases, one of which was related to influence peddling, in which Aaron Orban may be involved, according to local media.

This case revolves around an illegal network that is believed to have promised to bypass administrative procedures to grant visas to foreign citizens in exchange for sums of money. Several investigations have gained significant momentum since Orban left power.

There are three former ministers in detention, including former central bank governor Gheorghe Matolczi, whom Orban once described as his “right-hand man.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Monday that he held talks with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to coordinate positions with the European Union, ahead of US-brokered talks with Russia scheduled for this week in Abu Dhabi, according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.

European powers are intensifying their diplomatic efforts to ensure that any settlement of the Russian war on Ukraine is fair to Kiev, and to avoid Washington providing new security guarantees to Moscow without consulting the Europeans.

Zelensky said on the “X” platform: “Ursula (von der Leyen) and I also coordinated our positions regarding the meeting in Abu Dhabi. We are doing everything in our power to ensure that the tripartite talks lead to results.”

In turn, the President of the European Commission confirmed via social media following the conversation that “the European Union will be present alongside our partners” in the Abu Dhabi talks scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, echoing statements made by the French Foreign Minister over the weekend.

A European Union official told Agence France-Presse that national security officials from the European Union, NATO, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom will be present in Abu Dhabi, although the nature of their participation is not yet clear. He added: “We will know the exact formulas when we get there.”

US envoy Jared Kushner said on Monday that Russia and Europe should hold direct talks on “broader security arrangements” within the framework of any peace agreement in Ukraine, ahead of the tripartite meetings in Abu Dhabi.

Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, added ahead of this week’s talks between Moscow, Kiev and Washington: “We realize that difficult decisions await us.”

Kushner's statements come as Ukraine and member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) fear that they will be exposed to pressure that will push them to make concessions to Russia, which has so far ruled out direct talks with European countries.

In Moscow, Russian Presidency (Kremlin) spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced today (Monday) that the upcoming talks in the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi, regarding the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, will be held with the participation of the delegations of Russia and Ukraine and with American mediation, without the participation of representatives of European countries, according to the German News Agency.

Peskov told reporters: “What will happen in Abu Dhabi in the coming days are tripartite talks between Russia and Ukraine, mediated by the United States. As for the presence of the Europeans, you know that the Americans have their own channels of communication with the Europeans, and the Ukrainians with the Europeans, and it seems that they are already building their own coordination mechanism, but I repeat again: we are talking about tripartite talks,” according to what the Russian “Sputnik” news agency reported.

He explained that Moscow would not publicly discuss models for future security negotiations.

“With regard to the shape of Ukraine, it is a different country geographically,” Peskov noted. “The facts on the ground are clear, and no one is likely to deny them.”

Regarding the APEC summit (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum) on November 18 and 19 in China, Peskov indicated that the countries are exchanging views on the agenda of a possible meeting of the presidents: Russian Vladimir Putin, Chinese Xi Jinping, and American Donald Trump, at the summit.

“There could be a variety of questions,” Peskov said. Anyway, the meeting will be really interesting. "And of course, it will attract everyone's attention in the world."

Peskov continued: “There is an exchange of proposals on a possible agenda for the meeting. The parties exchange views on this issue.”

Trump raised fears of an American rapprochement with the Kremlin, after he expected to reach a “very large” agreement with Russia, which does not only include Ukraine. Rather, “all of Europe.”

Kushner's statements increased European concern, after he said that Washington was working on a “broader European security architecture that could help create the conditions for achieving lasting peace” in Ukraine.

Kushner participated via video last week in a meeting in Brussels, which included European, Ukrainian and NATO officials, and said that Washington would consult with its European partners “on the sidelines” of the Abu Dhabi talks.

European allies have long rejected Moscow's efforts to reshape the European security architecture.

Before launching war on Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin issued an ultimatum to NATO, which included a demand to withdraw NATO forces from Eastern Europe.