Tag Archives: Germany

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 …

German prosecutors said on Thursday they had seized documents at the finance and justice ministries as part of an investigation into possible obstruction of justice by a government agency that is responsible for investigating money laundering. Prosecutors said in a statement they had been investigating the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) …

Germany’s foreign minister has responded skeptically to the Taliban’s announcement of an interim government line-up for Afghanistan. Heiko Maas released a statement on Wednesday, a day after the Taliban announced an all-male interim government. The Cabinet is stacked with veterans of their hard-line rule from the 1990s and the 20-year …

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, …

Years of economic sanctions and political efforts from Washington have come to nothing, and work on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is now nearing the final stages of completion, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. Speaking at a meeting in St. Petersburg on Monday, the veteran diplomat announced …

Germany’s ambassador to China Jan Hecker died suddenly, less than two weeks after taking up his post, the European nation’s foreign office said on Monday. Hecker, 54, a foreign policy adviser to Chancellor Angela Merkel, had presented his credentials at China’s foreign ministry on August 24, the embassy in the …

A week after declaring America’s “new chapter” of engagement with Afghanistan, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will aim to form a united front with allies this week on how to tackle the Taliban and ensure continued support for the U.S. bid to help evacuate Americans and at-risk Afghans who …

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 …

Germany’s health minister has warned that Covid-19 is becoming the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” as 90% of the country’s intensive care patients are those who refused a potentially life-saving shot. Speaking on Friday, Health Minister Jens Spahn said people who have not been vaccinated against the virus have a responsibility …

The United States is promising up to $60 million in military aid to Ukraine in advance of a White House meeting on Wednesday between President Joe Biden and his counterpart in Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Biden administration said in a notification to Congress that the aid package for Ukraine was …

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 …

Afghanistan will form a government within days, Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Tuesday, after weeks of uncertainty following the Taliban’s conquest of the country. “We expect that a consensus government will be formed in the coming days in Afghanistan,” Shah Mehmood Qureshi told a news conference in Islamabad. Foreign Minister …

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 …

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 …

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 …

The Taliban have told Germany that Afghans with legal documents will be able to travel on commercial flights beyond the Aug. 31 cut-off date after which evacuations from Kabul airport will no longer be allowed, a senior German diplomat said on Wednesday. “Director Stanekzai assured me that Afghans with legal …

Earlier reports suggested that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will personally ask US President Joe Biden to prolong the withdrawal deadline past August 31 France and Germany intend to fight to prolong the deadline for the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan during the G7 online meeting, CNN reported Monday …

A strike on German passenger rail has started, creating headaches for thousands of travelers and commuters, after the train drivers’ union rejected a new offer to keep services going. According to Press TV, in a statement on Sunday, rail operator Deutsche Bahn offered to negotiate a coronavirus-related bonus for drivers …

Ukraine sees the soon-to-be-completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline carrying Russian gas to Europe as “a dangerous geopolitical weapon”, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday. “We view this project exclusively through the prism of security and consider it a dangerous geopolitical weapon of the Kremlin,” Zelensky said during a joint press conference …

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday he hoped German Chancellor Angela Merkel would bring Kiev news of Russian “guarantees” of gas transit fees for his country. Merkel will travel to Kiev on Sunday, two days after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Among the issues discussed by the two …