The Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson says the confessions of the German ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel on the Minsk agreements are grounds for a tribunal. On Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that a confession made by German ex-chancellor Angela Merkel concerning the Minsk agreements might be used as evidence in a …
Read More »Merkel Departs, Opening a New Chapter for Germany and Europe
After 16 years, Angela Merkel handed over the German chancellery to Olaf Scholz, leaving behind a changed country and a polarizing legacy. It was vintage Angela Merkel: The woman who has dominated European politics for the better part of two decades handed over her office to the next German chancellor …
Read More »Scholz set to be elected German chancellor as Greens approve coalition deal
A three-party deal to form a new German government under center-left leader Olaf Scholz cleared its final hurdle on Monday, setting the scene for Scholz to succeed longtime Chancellor Angela Merkel this week. Germany’s environmentalist Greens said their rank-and-file members approved the agreement reached last month, with 86% voting for …
Read More »Merkel urges Germans to get vaccinated in final podcast
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday urged Germans to get vaccinated against COVID-19, speaking days ahead of leaving office in the final episode of more than 600 weekly video podcasts. “I once again emphatically ask you to take this tricky virus seriously,” Merkel said, calling the fourth coronavirus wave to …
Read More »Three German parties reach coalition deal to end the Merkel era
German Social Democrat Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday he had reached a coalition deal to form a new government that will try to modernise Europe’s largest economy and bring the curtain down on the Angela Merkel era. Scholz’s centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), the ecologist Greens, and the libertarian Free Democrats …
Read More »‘A great European’: warm send-off for Merkel after 107 EU summits
European leaders paid warm tributes to Angela Merkel on Friday as they wound up an EU summit, her 107th as Germany’s chancellor over nearly 16 years and probably her last, with one hailing her as a “haven of calm” in the maelstrom of EU diplomacy. Before the leaders of the …
Read More »Turkey’s Erdogan bids farewell to Merkel after 16 years of ties built on pragmatism
Angela Merkel’s final visit to Turkey as German chancellor on Saturday saw two of Europe’s longest-serving leaders pay tribute to one another as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted her for farewell talks overlooking the Bosporus. Erdogan had been in office for more than two years when Merkel came to …
Read More »Germans vote in close election to decide Merkel successor (Pictures)
Germans went to the polls on Sunday in a national election too close to call, with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) mounting a strong challenge to retiring Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives. Merkel has been in power since 2005 but plans to step down after the election, making the vote an …
Read More »German election too close to call as many voters still undecided
Germany’s federal election is too close to call as the number of still undecided voters hit a record high less than two weeks before the poll, in which center-right Chancellor Angela Merkel is not seeking a fifth term, a survey showed on Tuesday. The survey by the Allensbach research institute …
Read More »Merkel sees long road for Western Balkan states to EU membership
Western Balkan states have a long way to go to achieve membership in the European Union but it is Germany’s goal that they do, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday. At a joint news conference in Belgrade with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Merkel said it was in the geostrategic interest …
Read More »Merkel says ‘unacceptable’ to use refugees to apply pressure on Poland, EU members
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday that she found it unacceptable that refugees were being used to apply pressure to Poland and other European Union members on the border with Belarus. Speaking at a news conference during what she said she expected to be her last official visit to Poland …
Read More »Merkel implores Germans to back conservative Laschet to succeed her in election
Chancellor Angela Merkel made an impassioned plea to German voters on Tuesday to back a government led by conservative Armin Laschet in this month’s national election, saying their other option was a left-wing ruling coalition. After losing their lead in opinion polls to the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) last month, …
Read More »Germany wants to talk with Taliban about more evacuations from Afghanistan: Merkel
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday called for a dialogue with the Taliban as the group finalizes a new government that will set the tone for their rule in Afghanistan. “We simply have to talk to the Taliban about how we can get people who have worked for Germany out …
Read More »Pope Francis condemns two-decade US war in Afghanistan
Pope Francis has denounced the United States over its two-decade-long war in Afghanistan as an outsider’s attempt to impose democracy on the country ignoring the traditions of the local people. Asked during a recent interview about the new political map forming in Afghanistan in the wake of the US withdrawal, …
Read More »You can be German even if your name is not ‘Klaus’ or ‘Erika’: Angela Merkel
Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday migrants who settle in Germany are German even if they have foreign-sounding names, making a subtle dig at a widespread habit among white Germans of asking Turks born on German soil where they come from. “Integration cannot be a seven-generation endeavor that never ends …
Read More »German election campaign heats up as Merkel’s conservatives slide
The campaign over who will replace German Chancellor Angela Merkel heated up on Sunday after an opinion poll showed the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) opening up a bigger lead over Merkel’s conservatives. Support for the SPD rose two points from last week to 24%, their highest result in four years …
Read More »Police, protesters clash as thousands march against COVID curbs in Berlin (Videos)
Police tussled with protesters as thousands of people marched through Berlin on Saturday chanting slogans and waving banners against COVID-19 restrictions. Some demonstrators tried to get past barricades to the government district around the Reichstag parliament building and clashed with officers, police said. Four officers were injured, the Berliner Zeitung …
Read More »The race to succeed Merkel is heating up: What you need to know
With weeks until Germany’s vote, none of the hopeful candidates are proving as popular as the outgoing chancellor. With just a month to go until Germans head to the ballot box to vote in federal elections, the race to succeed Angela Merkel and form the next government is headed for …
Read More »Merkel and Putin, at odds over Navalny, to hold talks in Moscow
German chancellor also expected to discuss Taliban resurgence during a meeting with the Russian president. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has flown to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin, her final official trip to Russia as she prepares to step down next month after nearly 16 years. Afghanistan is anticipated …
Read More »Merkel spoke to Pakistan’s Khan, Emir of Qatar on Afghanistan
German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Kahn, the Emir of Qatar and the head of the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Tuesday evening, her spokesman said on Wednesday. “The chancellor spoke yesterday, in the early evening, with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Kahn as well as with …
Read More »