“If Putin attacks, we must be fit to wage war,” Pistorius said in the interview published on Saturday. The minister’s comments come amid a push for NATO members to increase their defense spending, with new NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte saying alliance members need to spend “much more” on defense than the current target of 2 … Read more
Denmark’s navy said it was shadowing the ship, which is currently anchored in international waters between Denmark and Sweden. “From the Swedish side, we have had contact with the ship and China and stated that we want the ship to move towards Swedish waters,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Tuesday, while stressing that he was … Read more
Pistorius was hosting his counterparts in a new format that U.K. Defence Secretary John Healy dubbed “E5.” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine plus years of badgering by the U.S. is having an impact. France and Germany reached NATO’s spending target of at least 2 percent GDP this year, although Italy still falls short. The U.K. is over … Read more
Opinion polls suggest otherwise, however, with the SPD polling in the mid-teens following the collapse of Scholz’s center-left coalition earlier this month. Friedrich Merz’s opposition Christian Democrats lead on 33 percent, followed by the far-right opposition Alternative for Germany at 18 percent. At home, Scholz has been panned for weak leadership of his fractious “traffic … Read more
This marks the second time in a year that Baltic Sea infrastructure — which includes communications cables and energy pipelines such as Nord Stream — has been damaged, raising concerns over security and sabotage. Another telecom cable in the Baltic Sea between Lithuania and Sweden’s Gotland Island was damaged Sunday morning, telecom company Telia Lietuva, … Read more
Scholz’s SPD, on the other hand, is polling third with 16 percent, just behind the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and down 10 percentage points since the 2021 election. According to Spiegel, SPD members of the Bundestag in a recent meeting joined local and regional politicians in voicing doubts over Scholz’s chances to succeed … Read more
Der öffentlich-rechtliche Rundfunk soll weniger kosten, die Gebühren dürfen nicht weiter steigen. Darin sind sich die meisten Länderchefs einig, die sich ab heute zur Ministerpräsidentenkonferenz in Leipzig treffen. Über den Weg zu den Einsparungen dagegen herrscht noch keine endgültige Einigkeit. Wie die Anstalten geschrumpft werden könnten – organisatorisch, aber auch inhaltlich – analysiert Gordon Repinski. … Read more
Beijing claims the democratically governed Taiwan as its own and says the strait is within Chinese jurisdiction. Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius defended the transit on Friday. “International waters are international waters,” Pistorius said during a press conference with Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas. “It’s the shortest route and, given the weather conditions, the safest, … Read more
The Russian leader delivered an explicit message Thursday night to Ukraine’s Western partners, warning them against letting Kyiv use donated long-range missiles to strike deep into Russia. “This will mean that NATO countries, the United States, and European countries are fighting Russia,” he said, ahead of a key meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and U.K. … Read more
“The federal government is committed to NATO’s 2 percent target,” said a Defense Ministry spokesperson. In addition to the annual defense budget, Berlin also includes in its defense spending total sent to NATO some expenditures from other departments. That includes the Foreign Office, Chancellery and the Ministry of Finance, the spokesperson said, but the total … Read more
