Germany – Page 47 – Blazingcatfur

Germany to disarm far-right extremists, restricts gun access

In der Mitte oben das Plakat “Internationaler Frauentag”

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s top security officials announced a 10-point plan Tuesday to combat far-right extremism in the country that includes disarming about 1,500 suspected extremists and tightening background checks for those wanting to acquire guns.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the far right poses the biggest extremist threat to democracy in Germany and said authorities would seek to tackle the issue through prevention and tough measures.

“We want to destroy far-right extremist networks,” Faeser told reporters in Berlin, saying this included targeting financial flows that benefit such groups, including merchandising businesses, music festivals and martial arts events.

by Blazingcatfur•March 16, 2022March 16, 2022•0•"far right", Germany

German court authorizes surveillance of “far-right” AfD party

Rejecting legal challenge, ruling finds that anti-Islam, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany can be classified as a suspected threat to democracy

FRANKFURT, Germany — A German court ruled Tuesday that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) can be classified as a suspected threat to democracy, paving the way for the domestic intelligence agency to spy on the opposition party.

The court said it had dismissed a legal challenge brought by the AfD last March that delayed plans by Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) to put the party under surveillance.

by Blazingcatfur•March 10, 2022March 10, 2022•0•Germany, Germany - AfD party

Germany’s army: Will €100 billion make it strong?

At first, only two black dots are visible in the bright blue sky above the Eifel region in the far west of Germany. Then, the dots turn into the shapes of two F-35 fighter jets, the roar of their engines quickly growing louder. The jets are coming from the east, where they have been flying patrols over Poland near the Ukrainian border and are now heading back toward the US Air Force Base Spangdahlem.

That’s where US troops have deployed 12 of the aircraft to monitor NATO airspace over Eastern Europe in the face of Russian aggression.

by Blazingcatfur•March 5, 2022March 5, 2022•0•Germany, NATO

Germany, in Historic Reversal, Abandons Pro-Putin Russia Policy

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced a paradigm shift in German defense and energy policies in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that Germany will substantially increase defense spending and take immediate measures to reduce its energy dependence on Russia.

Scholz has also announced several other important policy reversals: Berlin has halted the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would double shipments of Russian natural gas to Germany by transporting the gas under the Baltic Sea; it has agreed to authorize the transfer of weapons to Ukraine; and it has decided to ban Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment system.

by Blazingcatfur•March 1, 2022March 1, 2022•0•"Ukraine - Russia", Germany

Stand Up, Germany

Berlin needs to let Vladimir Putin know that it can resist his gas supplies and that it is willing to pay more for NATO’s military defense.

“Suppose they gave a war, and nobody came?” went a 1960s antiwar slogan. Stell Dir vor, es ist Krieg, und Keiner geht hin is the German version. It’s still popular in Germany, a country of peaceniks. Germans’ defeat in World War II and subsequent reeducation by the Allies stripped them of any enthusiasm for war or military things.

by Blazingcatfur•February 26, 2022February 26, 2022•0•Germany

Germany home to 1,950 potentially violent Islamist extremists

The German government has revealed there are about 1,950 potentially violent Islamist extremists in the country.

These people were assessed by the Interior Ministry as both extreme in their beliefs and either known to be violent or showing a willingness to commit violent acts.

They were the most dangerous of the roughly 29,000 people believed to have Islamist extremist tendencies in Germany, who in turn are a minority of the approximately 5.5 million Muslims in the country.

by Blazingcatfur•February 23, 2022February 23, 2022•0•"Islamophobia", Germany, Islam, Islam and violence, Islamization of the West

Why Germany isn’t sending weapons to Ukraine

Germany’s refusal to send weapons to Ukraine has puzzled and angered some allies. But the reasons why Europe’s most powerful country is standing back are historical and complex.

There’s a great grassy plain to the east of Berlin where the soil tells terrible stories.

As farmers plough, their blades disturb human bones, weapons; the fragments of one of the most brutal battles of World War II.

It was spring 1945. Hitler was hiding in a bunker in Berlin, his troops in retreat. Soviet forces advanced from the east across the plain but, above them on a hill called the Seelow Heights, the Nazis had taken up a defensive position.

by Blazingcatfur•January 29, 2022January 29, 2022•0•Germany, Ukraine

How Russia’s pipeline politics could split the alliance around Ukraine

Germany’s upcoming decision on whether to certify the controversial Russian-owned Nord Stream 2 pipeline is rapidly emerging as a key element in high-stakes diplomatic efforts to dissuade Moscow from invading Ukraine.

Delaying or cancelling the $11 billion project would have a significant impact on the Russian economy, depriving it of $3 billion US in annual revenue.

It also could serve to divide Ukraine’s allies as Russia continues to increase the pressure on the former Soviet bloc state.

by Blazingcatfur•January 26, 2022January 26, 2022•0•Germany, NATO, Russia, Ukraine

The Worst Ally

Germany, the laggard of NATO with a deep conflict of interest regarding Russia, is the weak link.

President Joe Biden’s press conference last week was atrocious, but one of his worst missteps amounted to telling the truth about Germany, if not by name.

Biden said there’d be divisions within NATO over a “minor incursion” by Russia into Ukraine. This is true enough, and the chief cause would be a Germany that is staking a strong claim to being our worst European ally.

Well well well. NATO member will withdraw troops in event of war with Russia – president

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic blamed the US for escalating the crisis and said his country would stay out of a conflict

Putin is winning by not invading. What a guy.

by Blazingcatfur•January 25, 2022January 25, 2022•0•Germany, Russia, Ukraine

German Catholic priests come out as queer, demand reform

The Roman Catholic Church in Germany on Sunday faced renewed calls for better protection of LGBTQ rights and an end to institutional discrimination against queer people.

Around 125 people, including former and current priests, teachers, church administrators and volunteers, identified themselves as gay and queer, asking the church to take into account their demands and do away with “outdated statements of church doctrine” when it comes to sexuality and gender.

by Blazingcatfur•January 25, 2022January 25, 2022•0•Big Gay, Catholic Church, Germany

No word on whereabouts of Prince…

Heidelberg university shooting: Gunman dead after injuring several

A lone gunman is dead after injuring several people inside a lecture hall at Heidelberg University, German police have said.

They said the gunman was in possession of a “long gun”, and that a large operation including emergency services was under way at the university’s campus in Neuenheimer Feld.

It is not yet clear how many people have been injured, or how badly.

Heidelberg is a university town in the southwest of Germany.

by Blazingcatfur•January 24, 2022January 24, 2022•0•"Mass Shooting", Germany

Germany blocks Estonian arms exports to Ukraine: report

Germany is said to be blocking Estonia from providing German-origin military support to Ukraine, US newspaper The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Friday.

The report comes after the US State Department gave Estonia the green light to send US-made weapons to Ukraine.

According to the WSJ report, Berlin has refused to issue permits so that the weapons can be exported to Kyiv.

by Blazingcatfur•January 22, 2022January 22, 2022•0•Germany, Ukraine

Germany Shows Lack of Resolve Against Russian Threats

It refuses to provide arms to Ukraine while other NATO members step up to do so.

Fears are rising that Germany is failing to do enough to prevent a Russian invasion and failing to aid Ukraine in the case of an attack amid warnings from the White House that Russian troops could invade at any time.

U.S. officials say there is evidence Russia is planning to overthrow Ukraine’s government and take Kyiv, CNN reported Tuesday. Russia is also deploying troops into Belarus — a development that U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Tuesday shows Russia “is making moves that would suggest that they have plans to invade.”

by Blazingcatfur•January 19, 2022January 19, 2022•0•Germany, NATO, Russia, Ukraine

If Russia invades Ukraine, Germany must pay the price

Pipeline politics have undermined Europe’s strategic advantage over Russia

A pipeline of natural gas from Russia to the West is also, in effect, a pipeline of money from the West to Russia. Neither side can cut off supplies to the other side without cutting itself off.

It’s a co-dependent relationship that has helped to keep to peace for decades. Pipeline politics has been especially helpful to the countries between Russia and Germany — and, in particular, Poland and Ukraine.

by Blazingcatfur•January 19, 2022January 19, 2022•0•Germany, NATO, Russia, Ukraine

David Bowie at 75: why Germany will remember him

Pop stars don’t come more quintessentially British than David Bowie. But during his Berlin years, the English icon left a deep impact on Germany too. When Bowie died exactly six years ago, the German Foreign Office tweeted out its farewells and thanked him ‘for helping to bring down the wall.’ Bowie would have been 75 this weekend, giving Germans cause to reflect on the legacy of a much-loved Cold War hero.

by Blazingcatfur•January 10, 2022January 10, 2022•0•Germany