Tag Archives: NATO

The Trump Effect

November 15, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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.

What German troops?

August 20, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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.

Booking “financing of transport infrastructure” as defense spending?

August 8, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hustle (Hoax), Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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.

The money…

July 18, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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.

German of the day: Aufrüstung

July 11, 2024 By in Hard Facts Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means rearmament.

US to send Tomahawks, hypersonics, other long-range fires to Germany – The U.S. will start deploying long-range fires units to Germany in 2026, according to a joint statement from both the U.S. and German governments released today amid the NATO Summit in Washington, D.C.

The new capabilities will “have significantly longer range than current land-based fires in Europe. Exercising these advanced capabilities will demonstrate the United States’ commitment to NATO and its contributions to European integrated deterrence,” the joint statement reads.

But he’ll get over it

July 9, 2024 By in Habitudes, Hard Facts, Helplessness, Home Cooking, Hypocrisy Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

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.

We’ll be ready for war by 2129

June 6, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

I mean 2029, of course.

But only if nothing unforeseen happens. Like war, or something.

German defense minister calls for war readiness by 2029 – Germany’s Boris Pistorius has said the country needs to prepare for a worst-case scenario regarding the specter of war in Europe. He also said a return to some form of military conscription would likely be necessary.

Having a “war-capable” army?

April 4, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

What will these crazy Germans dream up next?

Germany’s defense minister overhauls the military command as he seeks ‘war-capable’ armed forces – Germany’s defense minister has announced a plan to streamline and reorganize the country’s military command as part of efforts to make the armed forces of NATO’s most populous European member “war-capable.”

Half of Germans support reintroducing military service

March 13, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

For the other half.

And for some odd reason the younger Germans are much less enthusiastic about the idea than older Germans.

Around half of German citizens are in favour of reintroducing compulsory military service, according to a survey by opinion research institute Forsa.

In the poll commissioned by German news magazine Stern, 52% of respondents were in favour of compulsory military service, the magazine said on Tuesday.

Some 43% were against it and 5% expressed no opinion. According to the data, the strongest supporters of compulsory military service were found in the over-60 age group, with 59% in favour. In contrast, 59% of 18 to 29-year-olds were against compulsory military service.

German of the day: Na also, es geht doch

February 15, 2024 By in Hard Facts, Helplessness, Hideology, Home Cooking, Hurt Feelings Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

That means, more or less: “Well, what do you know? It’s possible after all.”

Germany hits 2% NATO spending target for first time since end of Cold War – Germany has met a NATO alliance target to spend 2% of its gross domestic product on defence for the first time since the early 1990s, a defence ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday, as spending ramped up after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The German government is allocating the equivalent of 71.8 billion euros ($76.8 billion) for defence spending in the current year through regular and special budget outlays. However, the sum of its total defence spending is classified.