Gift being German for poison.
German police said they are investigating the possible poisoning of two Russian exiles who attended a conference in Berlin at the end of April, organised by Russian Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Berlin police told Reuters “a file had been opened” after German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, citing Russian investigative media group Agentstvo, said two women reported symptoms that suggested possible poisoning.
That means self-sufficiency.
The Big Dig: Germany reopens its mines in quest for mineral self-sufficiency – Berlin wants to reduce its dependence on China by extracting more critical raw materials, such as fluorspar, at home.
“If we really want a revolution in transport and the resources needed for that, there’s no way around this project.”
And 20 German diplomats in Moscow?
Why so many, anyway? One in each city should be more than enough. Maybe these diplomats have more specialized functions.
Berlin decides to expel Russian diplomats en masse, Russia sends huge plane for them – Moscow calls Berlin’s actions “hostile.”
Russia will expel at least 20 German diplomats in a tit-for-tat response.
I miss the Cold War too. Good times. MAD times (Mutually Assured Destruction).
How I do wish we could turn back the clock.
After the wall came down – with the more benign cousin of today’s callous capitalism the victor – we took a summer trip to Berlin in the ever-dependable family BMW (it looked like an East German Trabbi compared to modern cars today). I remember sitting in the back listening to Madonna’s latest album on my Walkman as the bright energetic Berlin streets slipped by the car window. Besides the Brandenburg Gate, we bought giant furry Russian winter hats and military cap badges and chunks of the wall being sold on lines of tables.
Happy days. The global standoff was over, with us coming out on top. How did we let that slip through our fingers?
You didn’t really believe that Germany was going to spend that 100 billion euro special fund for the military for the military, did you?
German military in worse shape than before Russia’s invasion – The German military is suffering from a greater shortage of weapons and equipment than before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces said in her annual report on Tuesday.
“The Bundeswehr has too little of everything, and it has even less since (Russia’s invasion on) Feb. 24, 2022,” Eva Hoegl, who acts as an advocate defending the rights of the troops, told reporters in Berlin.
That means turning point.
Germans love announcing turning points. It makes things sound so, I dunno, official or something. And it’s official here too: Their latest military turning point is working almost as well as their energy turning point (Energiewende) did. Namely, not at all.
Germany’s military ‘Zeitenwende’ is off to a slow start.
Three days after Russia invaded Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz delivered a rousing speech to the Bundestag. He had a clear message: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression has ushered in a new era of war in Europe, and wealthy countries like Germany, having pared down their defense spending for decades, needed to rearm. A year after German lawmakers applauded Scholz’s call to action, and as Scholz visits the White House on March 3, 2023, one must ask what has become of Germany’s much-heralded Zeitenwende, or “turning point.”
That means to have second thoughts.
When Russia Invaded Ukraine, Germany Promised to Rearm. One Year Later, It Is Having Second Thoughts.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has delivered on energy security and aid to Ukraine, but has yet to start rebuilding Germany’s armed forces.
Ukraine updates: Germans see arming Ukraine as involvement.
A poll conducted by Germany’s DPA news agency suggests many Germans disapprove of arming Ukraine in its war against Russia. Meanwhile, Russia’s Medvedev denied the country was running out of missiles.
Fifty-one percent of the respondents thought arming Ukraine meant being part of the war, an argument that Russia has been pushing. Meanwhile, 37% disagreed with the statement.
Germany has approved some €2.6 billion ($2.75 billion) worth of weapons and armaments since the start of the war.
Forty percent of those polled considered the amount of weapons support from Germany to be too much, 22% thought it was too little, and 23% thought it was just the right amount.
That means Sunday sermons. As in political sermons that sound nice to those giving them but never lead to anything other than nonbinding resolutions.
Like the one German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock gave yesterday at the United Nations – the world’s most popular venue for Sonntagsreden.
Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock addressed the United Nations General Assembly before a vote for a U.N. resolution upholding Ukraine’s territorial integrity and calling for a cessation of hostilities after Russia’s invasion. Every country, she argued, had a duty to send a clear signal that the war was coming to an end. Addressing the 30 to 40 countries likely to abstain from the resolution, including China, India and South Africa, she noted: “Today each of us has to make a decision to stand in isolation with the oppressor or stand together for peace.”
The U.N. General Assembly then approved a nonbinding resolution Thursday that calls for Russia to end hostilities in Ukraine and withdraw its forces, sending a strong message on the eve of the first anniversary of the invasion that Moscow’s aggression must stop.
The resolution, drafted by Ukraine in consultation with its allies, passed 141-7, with 32 abstentions.
German of the day: Ein Esel schimpft den anderen Langohr. That means “a donkey scolds the other long-eared.”
In other words, the pot is calling the kettle black.
Germany chides allies for delays in delivering tanks to Ukraine – Defence minister expresses disbelief at slow progress by countries that pressed Berlin for Leopard decision.
Germany’s defence minister has voiced his frustration with European partners who spent months pressuring Berlin to supply tanks to Ukraine but have so far failed to deliver any of the heavy armour themselves.
Observing Hermann 