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Germany Tag

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 08, 2017 7 Comments
On May 8, 1945, the German army collapsed around Europe after Adolf Hitler's successor Karl Dönitz officially surrendered to the Allies. This date has become known as Victory Day in Europe, aka VE Day, to mark the end of World War II on the continent. At first, the German High Command led by General Alfred Jodl only wanted to surrender to the Western Allies. General Dwight D. Eisenhower demanded the Germans surrender on both fronts. Dönitz told Jodl to comply. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced the surrender on May 8:
Yesterday morning, at 2.41, at General Eisenhower's headquarters, General Jodl, the representative of the German High Command and of Grand Admiral Doenitz, the designated head of the German State, signed the act of unconditional surrender of all German land, sea and air forces in Europe to the Allied Expeditionary Force, and, simultaneously, to the Soviet High Command. General Bedell Smith, who is the Chief of the Staff to the Allied Expeditionary Force-and not, as I stated in a slip just now, Chief of the Staff to the United States Army-and General François Sevez, signed the document on behalf of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, and General Susloparoff signed on behalf of the Russian High Command.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on May 08, 2017 14 Comments
Nowhere has the victory of the establishment candidate Emmanuel Macron in the French presidential election been cheered more fervently than in Berlin and Brussels. Last night, President-elect Macron received a ‘warm call’ from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French news agency AFP reported. "Congratulations, Emmanuel Macron. Your victory is a victory for a strong and united Europe and for French-German friendship," Merkel's spokesman said on Twitter. Merkel's Chief of Staff Peter Altmaier was quoted saying “[Macron’s] success is a great opportunity for Franco-German friendship.”

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on May 04, 2017 17 Comments
"France will be led by a woman, either me or Angela Merkel," Marine Le Pen said last night as she clashed with the pro-EU candidate Emmanuel Macron in the final debate ahead of Sunday's presidential run-off. Le Pen's statement points to the long shadow of the German Chancellor that looms large over the establishment candidate Macron. Merkel, hoping to boost Macron's chances, had endorsed him last week, praising his "consistently pro-European policy." "I would be very pleased if Emmanuel Macron were to win, because he stands for consistently pro-European policy," Merkel said in an interview last week, claiming that he will be a "strong president for France" and "his victory would be a good sign for the political center, whose strength we would like to maintain here in Germany, as well."

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on April 25, 2017 10 Comments
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called off talks with the visiting German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel over his insistence on meeting anti-Israel NGOs. Netanyahu had previously urged Gabriel not to meet with organizations that are involved in anti-Israel activism. According to German newspaper Die Zeit, “Netanyahu tried to reach Gabriel on the phone on Tuesday, but the Foreign Minister refused to talk.” Disregarding his host's request, Gabriel went ahead with his plans to meet the representatives from Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem, two groups fueling anti-Israel activism and the boycott campaign. Gabriel, who also holds the position of Germany’s Vice Chancellor, serves as the chairman of Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) -- Chancellor Angela Merkel’s junior coalition partner.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on April 24, 2017 8 Comments
The European Union and German establishment are rallying behind French centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron after he emerged as the front runner in the first round of the French presidential vote. Pro-EU Macron and nationalist candidate Marine Le Pen have both advanced to the presidential runoff set for May 7, secured 23.7 and 21.7 percent of votes respectively. Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman praised Marcon's "firm course for a strong EU" and congratulated him on his preliminary victory, wishing him "all the best for the next two weeks." German Foreign Minister Sigmar endorsed Marcon saying, "I am sure that he will be the next French president." Minister Sigmar called him the “only pro-European candidate” in the French presidential race.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on April 13, 2017 5 Comments
The probe into Tuesday's triple bomb blasts in the city of Dortmund has led the German police to the refugee circles. Investigators detained a known Islamist holding a German passport and an asylum seeker from Iraq on suspicions of carrying out coordinated bomb attacks on the Borussia Dortmund soccer team bus, injuring one player. Three explosive devices went off near the soccer team's bus as it left the hotel for to the Champions League quarterfinals against AS Monaco. German authorities are treating the incident as a terrorist attack. German Police recovered a note near the site of explosions that began with "the name of Allah, the merciful," German newspapers Süddeutsche Zeitung reported. The note further calls for Germany to close the Ramstein airbase that serves as the headquarters for the U.S. Air Force in Europe:

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on April 11, 2017 9 Comments
With her book The Veiled Threat dealing with the plight of Muslim women in Europe, former radical feminist Zana Ramadani has kicked the Islamist hornets’ nest in Germany. Being born a Muslim herself, Ramadani is fearful of her life after receiving countless death threats from radical Muslims in Germany. German authorities have not granted her police protection yet. Ramadani gained public prominence in Germany five years ago when she founded the German chapter of the radical feminist group Femen. Once a darling of the left, Ramadani quickly fell out of favour with German liberals once she started criticising the oppression of women within Islam. Her fellow feminists accused her of being a racist and forced Ramadani out of the group which she founded.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on April 06, 2017 16 Comments
The government of Angela Merkel has approved draft legislation that seeks to combat certain content on the social media. The proposed law will force social media companies to remove content that German government may find offensive or 'false'. In its broadly defined parameters the law wants social media companies to act against hate speech, and other contents that may be "in breach of German laws", Bonn-based public broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported. Companies could face up to €50 million, or $53 million, in fines if they fail to remove 'criminal content'. All the major social media providers are based in the U.S. and by enacting this law Merkel government clearly wants to circumvent the free speech rights granted under the U.S. Constitution.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on April 04, 2017 18 Comments
President Donald Trump's latest executive orders on foreign trade have irked Chancellor Angela Merkel's government, prompting tough talk from Berlin. On Friday, President Trump signed two orders seeking to identify trade abuse and other malpractices carried out by foreign governments in order to lower the U.S. trade deficit. Merkel's second-in-command, German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, described Trump's moves as unlawful, claiming that he wants to "favour American companies, even if it contradicts international law." Germany's Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries said that President Trump was taking the U.S. in  "completely the wrong direction" and "moving away from free trade" by signing those executive orders. Minister Zypries had previously threatened to take the U.S. to court if the Trump administration were to impose import duties on German products.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on March 22, 2017 11 Comments
With the diplomatic row between Europe and Turkey escalating further, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan issued an unveiled threat to Europeans. "If Europe continues this way, no European in any part of the world can walk safely on the streets," Erdogan said during a speech in Ankara, Turkey. Earlier, several cities in Germany and the Netherlands canceled public appearances by Erdogan's ministers citing security concerns. It is unclear if Erdogan's statement was meant as a direct call to violence, but Erdogan supporters have a track record of resorting to intimidation and violence abroad to push their Islamist leaders' political agenda. Earlier this month, thousands of Turkish immigrants rioted in the streets of Rotterdam after city's mayor refused the landing rights to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. Following those riots in the Netherlands, Erdogan supporters vandalised the Dutch consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on March 21, 2017 5 Comments
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's challenger, Social Democratic Party's (SPD) candidate Martin Schulz kicked off his election campaign by bashing U.S. President Donald Trump. Schulz denounced, what he called, U.S. President's "misogynistic, anti-democratic and racist" rhetoric. These latest comments follow SPD candidate's earlier remarks in January when he called President Trump "un-American". Schulz was speaking at the SPD party convention on Sunday that unanimously confirmed him as party's Chancellor candidate. Long-time E.U. insider Schulz is running on the slogan "Make Europe[-an Union] Great Again". He served from 2012 to 2017 as the President of E.U. Parliament.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on March 18, 2017 10 Comments
A video footage, in which President Donald Trump apparently ignores a handshake request from the visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a photo op in the Oval Office, has irked the German press. In the video, press photographers can be heard urging both leaders to shake hands for the photo. Prompted by reporters, Merkel is heard asking Trump: “Do you want to do the handshake?” Trump appears to ignore the request. German broadcaster NTV complained lack of public affection during the bilateral meeting with the headline “No Kiss On the Cheek, No Patting”. The German TV channel contrasted Trump’s apparent snub of Merkel with chivalry shown by him towards the British Prime Minister Theresa May during her Whitehouse visit in January.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on March 17, 2017 7 Comments
Having postponed her Tuesday's visit due to a blizzard, German Chancellor Angela Merkel heads to Washington today. This would be the first in-person meeting between the two world leaders since the change of the guard in Washington. While German police go after citizens for criticizing Chancellor Merkel or her ‘Refugee’ Policy, demeaning President Trump is the new favourite pastime for Germany's political establishment and mainstream media. German mainstream media, hostile to President Donal Trump on any given day, made no effort to hide its belligerence toward the U.S. President ahead of Merkel's visit.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on March 13, 2017 8 Comments
What undoubtedly could be the most significant political encounter of the year, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Washington on Tuesday to meet President Donald Trump, the first meeting between these two world leaders. Ahead of German Chancellor's visit to the U.S., mainstream media is once again busy inflating the stature of their favourite European leader.  "The great disrupter confronts the last defender of the liberal world order," wrote The New York Times. London-based Financial Times declared in its headline, "The time for German leadership has arrived." However, a lot of Merkel’s political clout has been chipped away since President Obama endorsed her re-election bid while visiting Berlin last November.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on March 09, 2017 10 Comments

While the Merkel government and German media don't like to talk about the No-Go Zones and the rising wave of migrant crime in the country, a popular German TV show "Akte 2017" has brought the issue to the forefront. German journalist and moderator Claus Strunz went to Berlin's Kottbusser Tor area -- dubbed as the 'most dangerous place in Germany' -- to record the latest edition of his show.

As Berlin's Left-wing state government prohibits police from carrying out video surveillance in the capital on the grounds of 'preserving individual privacy', Strunz and his crew installed 9 cameras in and around Kottbusser Tor, and ran them for 48 hours. Last year, Berlin police registered 1,600 crimes in Kottbusser Tor. However, according to the show's moderator Strunz, his crew recorded 'hundreds of crimes' in just 48 hours and with just 9 cameras.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 08, 2017 4 Comments
The news has lately shown steady and growing markets, pushing optimism to new heights. But is it worth it? Central banks around the world have gone into self preservation mode. While the subject is not sexy, everyone should have information on the financial market. It's another reminder how fragile the global economy remains:
These central banks are showing crisis-like behavior to protect their currencies even in the absence of obvious trouble. This exposes them to losses if their currencies fail to weaken on their own. It also raises doubts as to how long they can keep this up in an era when economic and political uncertainties appear to be a lasting feature of the world economy.
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