Ethnic Crime Families Provoke German Crackdown:
Criminal clans of Arab and Kurdish origin clash violently in Berlin and broaden their sway in #Germany. My report via @WSJ

On a rainy morning in a cemetery last month, Berlin’s hidden underworld briefly emerged from the shadows. It was the funeral of a gang enforcer who got shot eight times as he took his wife and children for a stroll in a popular park. @WSJ

His funeral drew nearly 2,000 mourners from across the country. Scores of police officers watched as bearded, beefy men in tracksuits and crew cuts filed by. Older men were ferried to the graveside in luxury cars with dark-tinted windows. @WSJ

Security officials, politicians and researchers say Germany's burgeoning ethnic crime clans represent an immediate security concern as well as a warning about what can happen when migrants fail to integrate into their host societies. @WSJ

Some of the families stuck by tribal and Islamic codes of justice, spurning the state & its laws, a government study found. Insulated from society, governed by their own rules and hierarchies, several such families turned into criminal enterprises @wsj

#Merkel’s Allies Hit With Worst Election Showing Since 1950 in Bavaria:
Poor showing for the Christian Social Union and Social Democratic Party raises questions about the German chancellor’s shaky coalition. My report via @WSJ

A twin blow to Merkel’s rule: CSU battered & junior coalition partner SPD dropped into single-digit territory in #Bavaria for the first time since WWII. SPD now under grassroots pressure to end coalition as some members say it's eroding popular support:

This month’s elections in Bavaria and Hessen will certainly have an impact on national politics and on the reputation of the chancellor, Wolfgang Schäuble, the CDU speaker of parliament, said this week. “They could bring big changes.”

The election showed that the CSU’s strategy of confronting #Merkel because of her immigration policy had failed to stop the ascent of the AfD, even though the party scored below its national average in opinion polls. AfD now in 15 of 16 state parliaments.

The CSU's harsher anti-immigration rhetoric and internal quarrels pushed many voters to the Greens. This could embolden Merkel allies who say Green surge is evidence that the CDUCSU future lies in her centrist brand of conservatism.