Two American warships and a French Navy vessel joined a German frigate in Helsinki on Friday. Finland has applied to join NATO and is holding a number of exercises with other nations. Sweden, a fellow aspirant, will host a major NATO drill next month. The USS Gravely, an Arleigh Burke-class …
Read More »German cars can’t run without Russian gas – BMW production chief
German auto-making giant BMW is seeking to invest in solar, geothermal, and hydrogen energy to reduce its reliance on deliveries of natural gas coming from foreign exporters, including Russia, according to BMW production chief Milan Nedeljkovic, as quoted by Reuters. Nedeljkovic said the carmaker, which relied on natural gas for …
Read More »US flies in military planeload of German baby formula
The US military has flown a C-17 aircraft loaded with 70,000lb (31,751kg) of Swiss Nestle baby formula to Indianapolis from Ramstein Air Base in Germany, US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack told reporters on Sunday. The shipment is part of Operation Fly Formula, the Biden administration’s new program aimed at …
Read More »West ignored Russia’s security interests – German politician
Veteran German politician Oskar Lafontaine has said the West’s refusal to hear Moscow’s concerns is one of the main causes of the conflict in Ukraine. Oskar Lafontaine, who from 1995 until 1999 served as chair the Social Democrats, accused the West of ignoring Russia’s security interests for years. In an …
Read More »Brussels and Berlin’s witch-hunt against ex-German chancellor who defended Germany and the EU against US pressure
Gerhard Schroeder has spent his private-sector career since leaving office in 2005 effectively furthering the cause of European economic strength by developing sources of cheap Russian energy to serve the EU’s industrial and consumer needs. If Germany and the bloc still have the ability to say no to Washington without …
Read More »Ex-German chancellor quits Russian oil giant
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Matthias Warnig, the executive director of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, are stepping down from their positions on the board of Russian oil giant Rosneft, the company reported on Friday. The two directors said they cannot keep their positions, a statement from the company …
Read More »German chancellor’s party loses key vote
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party suffered a setback in an important regional election on Sunday as the Social Democrats claimed an historic low percentage of the vote. The Greens, their partners in the national government, almost tripled their support in the North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and are now poised to play …
Read More »German chancellor responds to Ukrainian insult
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said there is no need to “overreact” to an insulting statement made by the Ukrainian ambassador to Berlin. Andrey Melnik had earlier compared Scholz to an “offended liverwurst.” The chancellor told t-online news outlet on Sunday that it was not necessary to be overly “sensitive” to every …
Read More »German industry issues warning over impact of cutting Russian gas deliveries
The cessation of Russian gas deliveries would have a catastrophic effect on the German economy, according to Siegfried Russwurm, president of the country’s biggest industry association BDI. “The consequences of cutting off Russian gas supplies would be catastrophic,” he told tabloid Bild am Sonntag in an interview published on Saturday …
Read More »German firm meets key demand on Russian gas payment
Germany’s third-largest gas importer, VNG, has agreed to Moscow’s new ruble-based gas payment scheme and opened the necessary accounts with Russia’s Gazprombank to transfer payments, the company said in an emailed statement to Reuters on Monday. “We will pay the invoice amount, which will continue to be denominated in euros, …
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