Czech authorities in March sanctioned the Prague-based Voice of Europe website over claims that European politicians had engaged with the outlet, using their influence to discourage support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. Two of the channel’s executives — including Viktor Medvedchuk, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin — were hit with sanctions. … Read more
While Germany started colonizing other countries comparatively late — at the end of the 19th century, hundreds of years after other European nations — its colonial empire in Africa and Asia was considered the third biggest by 1914. Germany was forced to give up its colonies after World War I, and to this day, it … Read more
Germany’s government, however, presents its public with quite different logic for not sending the weapons. Scholz has steadfastly refused to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine, saying in public statements that such a move could lead to an escalation of the war and could even draw Germany into direct conflict with Russia. The Ukrainians want Germany’s … Read more
The chancellor first hinted at his intention of joining the video platform during a citizens’ dialogue in Dresden on February 29. The social media move is linked to his political campaign ahead of the European election on June 9 and crucial regional elections in the eastern German states of Brandenburg, Thuringia and Saxony in September. … Read more
Von der Leyen’s campaign spokesperson will be Alexander Winterstein, currently a senior civil servant in the Commission’s communications directorate-general — a sharp transition into party politics that could raise some eyebrows. Winterstein was promoted to his present role in the EU executive from an earlier position at the directorate-general for competition policy when the center-right … Read more
But but but … let’s say the elephants did end up in Germany — which originally triggered Botswana’s ire by moving to bring in a ban on trophy-hunting imports, thereby nullifying a popular population-reduction method — where would be the ideal spot for them to live? We asked an expert, Nuremberg Zoo director Dag Encke, … Read more
Scholz said that after the outbreak of all-out war, Russia and Ukraine tried negotiating — but Moscow wasn’t serious. “The talks failed because Russia only used them as a pretext to move its troops to the east for a major offensive at the same time,” said Scholz. The German chancellor, who has often been criticized … Read more
In an interview on German public radio Wednesday, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, chair of the Bundestag’s defense committee and a member of the Free Democratic Party, a junior partner in Scholz’s coalition, hit back at Mützenich, calling the comment “social democratic appeasement policy that has never gotten us anywhere.” Amid the feuding, Scholz used his speech in … Read more
Putin himself has not commented on the audio leak yet, but his spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned Monday that, “The [military conversation] itself suggests that in the bowels of the Bundeswehr, plans for strikes on Russian territory are being discussed in a substantive and concrete manner.” Russia’s state-owned news agency TASS reported that Monday’s meeting between … Read more
Her comments follow an op-ed published the same day by Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who wrote that Europe must stick to nuclear deterrence given Trump’s comments. According to Strack-Zimmermann, Lindner was referring to France, but she stressed it’s clear that Europe as a whole must work more closely. Ramping up nuclear defense would mean getting … Read more
