Myterious drones. They’re not just for New Jersey anymore.
Everybody’s doing it. It’s Drone-o-mania!
Germany: Drones spotted over US air base in Ramstein – Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine said drones were also seen over facilities belonging to the Rheinmetall arms maker. It comes after US authorities said there was no evidence of a threat over drone sightings in New Jersey.
It’s more than just getting rid of your pronouns.
German poll shows approval for more defense spending as NATO steels itself for Trump 2.0 – A majority of Germans support significant defense spending increases, an outlook that coincides with the imminent return of Donald Trump to the White House and an anticipated pressure campaign on allied militaries to step up, a new public opinion survey found.
In September, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius proposed pushing the amount of spending dedicated to the military from 2% of gross domestic product to between 3 and 3.5%.
In a new poll released Monday by the Koerber-Stiftung Institute, 50% of respondents supported Pistorius’ idea, while a further 15% said even more should be spent on German defense.
Silly me. I thought that was the only kind of law there was.
Germany has stopped approving war weapons exports to Israel, source says – Germany has put a hold on new exports of weapons of war to Israel while it deals with legal challenges, according to a Reuters analysis of data and a source close to the Economy Ministry.
A source close to the ministry cited a senior government official as saying it had stopped work on approving export licences for arms to Israel due to legal and political pressure from legal cases arguing that such exports from Germany breached humanitarian law.
Take your time, Lithuania.
You’ve got all the time in the world.
Lithuania begins construction of base for German troops near Russian border – Lithuania on Monday began construction of a military base, which will accommodate up to 4,000 combat-ready German troops once completed by the end of 2027, in the first permanent foreign deployment for the German military since World War Two.
Germany committed to deploy troops in the NATO and European Union member, which borders Russia, last year. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius compared the decision to the posting of allied forces in West Germany during the Cold War to defend Western Europe in case of a Soviet attack.
To “meet” their pledge of keeping defense spending at 2 percent of GDP?
Clever of the Germans. How refreshingly dishonest. And by that I mean openly dishonest.
Berlin wants to pump defense spending numbers by including military mobility – Germany wants to keep defense spending at 2 percent of GDP, but budget constraints make that difficult.
The cash-strapped German government is looking at how it can include the financing of transport infrastructure used by the military into its defense spending to meet NATO’s spending target.
She is all gone, señor.
Let’s see what Ukraine’s biggest, not second biggest military donor does next year.
Germany plans to halve military aid for Ukraine – Germany is planning to nearly halve military aid for Ukraine next year, from around €8bn (£6.7bn; $8.7bn) to around €4bn, according to a draft budget approved by the government.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner said Ukraine’s financing was “secure for the foreseeable future” due to a G7 group of rich nations scheme to raise $50bn from interest on frozen Russian assets.
Germany is Ukraine’s second biggest military donor, after the US. In 2024, Berlin’s budget for Kyiv is set at nearly €7.5bn.
Real fast. It’s just how they roll here.
German defence minister deplores meagre military spending – Boris Pistorius’s criticism comes on eve of Nato summit in Washington.
German defence minister Boris Pistorius has criticised his government for approving less than a fifth of the budget increase he said was needed by Germany’s military, in stark remarks on the eve of a Nato summit in Washington.
And Saudi Arabia.
Beautiful German weapons sales of the week.
Because somebody has to admire them.
German weapons exports on course to hit new record – Russia’s war in Ukraine and increased sales to Saudi Arabia helped German arms exports to reach €7.48 billion in the first half of the year.
This time it’s when it comes to avoiding military service in Germany.
Hey. Girls will be girls. I mean, women.
German national service plan ‘discriminates against men’ – All 18-year-olds to get questionnaire but women do not have to fill it out.
PS: This also applies to “trans-women,” of course. However, one aspect of Germany’s recent gender law is very interesting. If it ever came to war – and a draft – these “trans-women” would be treated as men and drafted. This law may be ridiculous, and it is, but at least it legally establishes that there are only two genders and that they are not equal.
But that ain’t gonna happen either.
Germany is thinking about bringing back conscription – But the chancellor is reluctant.
“Kriegstüchtig” does not trip easily off the English tongue. Nor does it fall easily on German ears. Translated roughly as “war-ready”, it is a word deployed by Boris Pistorius, the defence minister, to describe his favoured destination for the long under-resourced Bundeswehr, or armed forces. Money is now pouring in, and Mr Pistorius is overhauling the Bundeswehr’s structures. But like many of its nato allies, Germany is struggling to find enough willing recruits. The minister is among many who want Germany to consider restoring conscription, suspended since 2011, to get the numbers up.
Observing Hermann 