What an original idea.
They should start doing that in US-Amerika too.
Germany updates: Berlin to end migrant rescue NGO funding – The German Foreign Ministry said it would no longer fund NGOs rescuing migrants in distress at sea. Meanwhile, police launched a nationwide operation targeting people suspected of inciting hate online.
First the army. Then you can have the nukes.
Most Germans want Europe to have its own nuclear umbrella, poll finds – Nearly two-thirds of Germans support a European nuclear deterrent independent of the United States, according to a new poll released Monday, marking a dramatic shift in public opinion amid growing concerns about American commitment.
The survey found 64% of Germans back the concept of a European nuclear umbrella that doesn’t rely on Washington, with support spanning age groups, regions, and political parties — an unusual consensus in German policy debates.
Something tells me it will be a negative too.
Majority of Germans now hold negative view of Israel : Survey – Israel’s military actions in Gaza and regional aggression have dramatically shifted public opinion: 57% now hold a negative view of the country, while 37% consider Israel a major threat to world peace.
On China.
“On this point, Donald is right — there is a serious problem,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, as she slammed Beijing for disrupting global trade with subsidies to boost its own companies – accusing the CCP of “weaponizing” its leading position in the production and refinement of raw materials used for cars, batteries and wind turbines.
She then encouraged Trump to join forces with US allies to address China’s trade imbalances, rather than punishing them with his own tariff scheme.
“When we focus our attention on tariffs between partners, it diverts our energy from the real challenge — one that threatens us all.”
Ah, because younger Germans aren’t?
Prepared to defend: Why older Germans are opting for military service – Thomas Hüser did not serve his country in uniform and with a weapon in the early 1990s, but instead opted to work for a year as a care assistant for the elderly – as was his right under Germany’s laws on alternative military service.
However, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the 54-year-old had a major rethink on his earlier moral stance on taking up arms.
“In the face of global threats, serving in the armed forces is a question of solidarity. Only a strong military can protect us,” said Hüser, a communications expert and manager who runs a zinc smelter in the northern German state of Lower Saxony.
At least.
Germany: One in four immigrants doesn’t want to stay – Why are immigrants leaving Germany? A new study shows that other countries are more attractive to economically successful foreigners. Discrimination also plays a major role.
“Twenty-six percent, or around 2.6 million people, say that they actually considered leaving Germany last year, i.e., they thought about leaving the country,” said Yuliya Kosyakova, head of the Migration, Integration, and International Labor Market Research Division at the IAB, as she summarized the figures at the presentation of the study in Berlin. “Around 3%, or 300,000 people, already have concrete plans to leave.”
“Debt and precarious stagnation in the EU and Germany” sounds like a good read too.
Europe faces mounting fiscal strain as Germany pivots toward debt-financed spending to maintain political support…
The public has now lost faith in traditional muddling through and demands drastic changes.
This report focuses on Europe, where the economic situation has worsened considerably in recent years. Several countries on the old continent have become more vulnerable to shocks, and imbalances have piled up. Moreover, leaders have demonstrated an inability or unwillingness to address structural problems, yet they are all too eager to haughtily break their electoral promises, swim with the tide and gather consensus through frantic lawmaking in the name of emergencies, fairness and social justice.
That means little green men.
Russia could send “little green men” to test NATO’s resolve, German intelligence boss warns – Russia is determined to test the resolve of the NATO alliance, including by extending its confrontation with the West beyond the borders of Ukraine, the Germany’s foreign intelligence chief told the Table Media news organization.
Bruno Kahl, head of the Federal Intelligence Service, said his agency had clear intelligence indications that Russian officials believed the collective defence obligations enshrined in the NATO treaty no longer had practical force…
Without detailing the nature of his intelligence sources, Kahl said Russian officials were envisaging confrontations that fell short of a full military engagement that would test whether the U.S. would really live up to its mutual aid obligations under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
“They don’t need to dispatch armies of tanks for that,” he said. “It’s enough to send little green men to Estonia to protect supposedly oppressed Russian minorities.”
But this time without the rap sheet.
Berlin pays tribute to Christo’s iconic ‘Wrapped Reichstag’ – Thirty years ago, Germany’s parliament building “disappeared” under silver fabric for two weeks. The work of art by Christo and Jeanne-Claude is now celebrated with a light installation.
Because starting around 2015, the money had to be used for other things.
‘Rust in peace’: why are Germany’s bridges and schools falling apart?
Problems caused by underinvestment are being seized on by the far right as evidence of ‘state failure.’
Observing Hermann 