A few days before Christmas, a convoy of security vehicles invaded a quiet corner of Weilheim, a quaint Bavarian town of pastel squares and fastidiously kept cobblestone streets. Their target seemed as unassuming as the setting: a local children’s soccer coach.
Before then, nothing had stood out about the man, fellow coaches recalled. He was not short, but not tall — friendly, yet never wanting to discuss anything but soccer. Grasping for words, most landed on the same choice: “unremarkable.”
That changed when they learned he had been arrested on charges of treason and spying for Russia in one of the gravest espionage scandals in recent German history.
The de-escalatory, anti-war position taken by the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party appears to have struck a chord with the German population. The latest opinion survey revealed that the party’s support has climbed to a record high, surpassing that of the hawkish Green party led by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
The number of criminal offenses, including violent knife attacks and sexual assaults, rose considerably on trains and at train stations in Germany over the past year. Official government figures reveal that incidents involving knife attacks more than doubled compared to the previous year.
While the federal police registered 398,848 criminal offenses on trains and at train stations in 2022, an uptick of roughly 12% compared to the previous year, 336 knife attacks—82 on trains and 254 at train stations—were recorded, representing an increase of 102% year over year, the Hamburg-based newspaper Der Spiegel reports.
According to the statistics collected by the federal police last year, 71 suspects were investigated for violent crimes involving the use of knives on trains, 36 of whom were classified as “non-Germans”—just over 50%. In the previous year, that figure was six of 25, or 24%.
At the height of the Cold War, it was Britain that appeared to be infested with Russian spies and moles. From the 1950s to the 1980s a series of security scandals, from the defections to Moscow of the Cambridge spies Burgess, Maclean and Philby, to the exposure of the Queen’s art advisor Anthony Blunt as a Soviet mole, made Britain in the eyes of her allies the weakest link in confronting Communist Russia.
New polls show that attitudes to the conflict may be shifting
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine approaches its first anniversary later this month, it remains unclear how this conflict is supposed to end. Nowhere is this more evident than in Germany’s foreign policy, where Olaf Scholz is proving to be something of an enigma. While it is true that Germany has not been Kyiv’s loudest cheerleader, the reality is that military equipment has been delivered continuously. Only the United Kingdom and the United States have provided more provisions to the Ukrainian armed forces.
Knife rampage on German train leaves two dead and seven others injured
At least two people have been killed and seven more injured in a stabbing rampage on a train in Germany today.
The attacker sparked chaos as he lunged at horrified passengers on board the train from Kiel to Hamburg shortly before 3pm, sending commuters screaming down the carriages as they tried to escape his onslaught.
The bloodbath came to an end when the suspect, reported by German newspaper Bild to be a Palestinian refugee aged between 20 and 30, was tackled by cops and arrested on a station platform in the town of Brokstedt.
More…
Note – Google Translate – In a knife attack in the RE 70 from Kiel to Hamburg on Wednesday in the small town of Brokstedt (Schleswig-Holstein), seven people were injured and two were killed. Another person is still in mortal danger.
The perpetrator had started his attack when the train was still in the station. According to eyewitnesses, panic broke out on the train.
According to BILD information, the 33-year-old alleged perpetrator was already noticed for violent and sexual offenses. The fact is: He was still in custody six days ago.
According to initial information, the 33-year-old was considered a Syrian. A spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry now speaks of a stateless Palestinian.
Terror Granny Elisabeth R – United Patriots Movement Germany
Members of a far-right group headed by a 75-year-old woman face charges of high treason for allegedly planning to kidnap the health minister and overthrow the government.
The plot, which sounds as outlandish as a separate, widely reported scheme uncovered in December allegedly headed by the aristocrat Heinrich XIII Prinz Reuss, has led to charges being brought by Germany’s federal prosecutor against a retired teacher, named only as Elisabeth R, and four men. All were arrested last year after obtaining two AK-47 assault rifles and four Glock handguns.
German news magazine Der Spiegel and others published stories on Tuesday evening saying that the government in Berlin had decided to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
This follows a long-running debate on the issue among NATO allies, and comes after Poland formally asked Berlin for permission to send some of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine earlier on Tuesday.
Spiegel magazine reported that the decision would involve sending at least one company of Leopard 2A6 tanks. The 2A6 version is the second-newest available and the most recent available in larger numbers.
Spiegel attributed its information to government sources but did not identify them. Broadcaster ntv issued a similar report, and the dpa news agency later said its “coalition sources” had said the same. But the government did not immediately comment publicly on the reports.
The Ukraine tank debacle is just the latest example of Berlin’s moral bankruptcy
ODESA, Ukraine — Germany has outraged its allies by refusing to send tanks to Ukraine and blocking other countries from sending their own German-made tanks as well. The incident is actually unsurprising. Over the past year, Berlin’s global image has been pulverized as the corruption and moral bankruptcy of the German elite have been repeatedly exposed.
This is a good article outlining the perfidy of the German Ruling class.
Germany has basically been the GDR in nicer clothes, up to it’s eyeballs in Russian gas at the expense of it’s neighbors.
To my view Germany’s antics virtually confirm that “Our Side” destroyed the NordStream pipelines to keep “our NATO ally” in line.
It also implies that the alleged post Nazi era anti-war culture is a conveniently elastic principle when it comes to arm sales.
Meanwhile Olaf the Tank Nazi is getting his way…
Poland requests German approval to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine
Poland has sent an official request to Germany asking for permission to send tanks to Ukraine, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said Tuesday.
The German economy ministry has received the request “for consent to transfer Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine,” Błaszczak wrote on Twitter.
A spokeswoman for the German economy ministry confirmed, saying: “The necessary coordination and procedures in the German government have been initiated; these are ongoing and are being conducted with due urgency.”
Treason charges have been brought against five people who allegedly planned to overthrow the German government, the federal prosecutor’s office said Monday.
The individuals, all of whom have ties to Germany’s far-right Reichsbürger scene, as well as other neo-Nazi gangs, aimed to trigger “civil war-like conditions in Germany by means of violence” in order to topple the government, the prosecutor said. The defendants are also accused of planning to kidnap German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.
As a new defense minister steps up, the Bundeswehr is no stronger than it was a year ago
Germany has a new defense minister. The funny thing is that nobody really knows who he is, what he stands for, and whether he’s capable of doing his job.
Boris Pistorius will take over the ministry from Christine Lambrecht, whose one-year tenure was about as embarrassing and gaffe-prone as the Bundeswehr itself. There are too many blemishes on her record to examine in a single post — we would be here all day. But one of the more notable misfires was her tone-deaf New Year’s Eve video, where she reminded viewers that a war was going on in Europe as a fireworks display went off behind her. For many in the German defense establishment, Lambrecht’s departure can be summed up in two words: good riddance.
The United States must send battle tanks to Ukraine first before Germany could approve donations of Leopard 2 tanks, Berlin’s economy minister said on Tuesday.
Robert Habeck blamed Germany’s history for a reluctance to sign off on its allies delivering the domestic-made tanks to Kyiv.
“I would argue that we will do that,” he told Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“If America will decide that they will bring battle tanks to Ukraine, that will make it easier for Germany.
