“In the near future”

Is still pretty far away.

If at all. At least in Germany it always is.

Friedrich Merz says Syrians no longer have reason for asylum in Germany – Chancellor suggests deportations could begin ‘in the near future’ as government seeks to counter rise of AfD…

Merz said late on Tuesday that he expected many of the more than 1 million Syrians living in Germany would voluntarily return home.

“There are now no longer any grounds for asylum in Germany, and therefore we can also begin with repatriations,” he said. Those who refused to return could face deportation “in the near future.”

German of the day: Russische Wegwerf-Agenten

That means disposable Russian agents.

You know, low-level agents who are not not professional spies but hired for small sums to carry out minor acts of sabotage, then “discarded?”

Things like photographing military sites, setting vehicles and facilities on fire, spray-painting political slogans, spreading pro-Russian content and conspiracy theories, etc. They would normally also sabotage rail lines and other forms of strategic infrastructure but the Germans have already beat them to it.

Putin’s secret terror in Germany – Russia’s “disposable agents” pose a threat to internal and external security. It is difficult to expose them. That is why German politicians are puzzling over how to defend the country against them. Now, for the first time, a strategy is taking shape.

German of the day: Bunker

That means bunker.

Germany plans to revamp shelter system in case of Russian attack as fears of a major war rise – Fearing Russia could attack another European country within the next four years, Germany is planning to expand its network of bomb-proof bunkers and shelters, according to reports.

“For a long time, there was a widespread belief in Germany that war was not a scenario for which we needed to prepare,” Ralph Tiesler, the head of the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance, said in a recent interview as reported by The Guardian.

“That has changed,” Tiesler said. “We are concerned about the risk of a major war of aggression in Europe.”

“I love my scars.”

“It reminds me where I came from.”

Berlin still bears scars 80 years after pivotal battle that sealed the defeat of Nazi Germany – Central Berlin was in ruins after the Red Army completed the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in an intense fight for the capital in May 1945.

After decades of division and its revival as the capital of a reunited, democratic Germany, the city is now transformed, blending painstakingly restored buildings with modern architecture. But the scars of the past remain visible in many places: facades riddled with holes from bullets and shrapnel, or gaps in rows of houses sometimes plugged by new buildings.

Keep on fighting with what?

And with whom?

Ukraine will be able to keep fighting, say Britain and Germany – Germany and Britain sent a message to Russia on Friday that Ukraine will be able to keep up its fight thanks to Western support, even as the U.S. pushed ahead with talks with Moscow.

The European powers for the first time co-led a meeting of the so-called Ramstein group of some 50 countries that give military support to Ukraine after Washington gave up the chair, and said they could not detect any signs that Vladimir Putin was ready for peace.

As they met, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff flew into Russia for what looked likely to be talks with the Russian president.

German war machine now ready for war

Or for wear.

Or at least the German navy is.

Wow. That didn’t take very long.

German Navy sailors receive brand new uniform – With the new development of the shipboard combat suit, which began in 2023, the German Navy (Deutsche Marine) is presenting a new uniform for its seafaring personnel for the first time. The sailors will be equipped with it from the end of the year.

German of the day: Begrenzte Waffenruhe

That means limited ceasefire.

Trump and Putin agree on limited ceasefire – further negotiations from Sunday in Jeddah.

Russia has agreed to cease attacks on energy facilities in Ukraine for 30 days. This was announced by the Kremlin following a telephone conversation between Russian head of state Putin and US President Trump. According to the US, negotiations on an end to the Russian war of aggression are to continue in Saudi Arabia at the end of the week.