Contents tagged with Germany

  • Bild will not include Russia on Olympic medals table in its newspaper

    The sports editor of Bild newspaper, Walter Straten, said on June 20th that the German newspaper would not include the results of Russian athletes in the medal table if the Russian team is allowed to participate in the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. According to Straten, the International Olympic Committee and its President, Thomas Bach, have not yet decided on Russia’s participation in the Olympic Games.

    “We will not do so. If Russia is allowed in the Olympics, Bild will remove its …

  • German Cabinet adopts new defense strategy due to Russian foreign policy

    On July 13, 2016, the German Cabinet of Ministers approved a new white paper which outlined the country’s security and defense strategy, Deutsche Welle reports. This document, developed under the auspices of the Ministry of Defense, is of crucial importance for the future role of the Bundeswehr (the unified armed forces of Germany, their civil administration and procurement authorities).

    The new white paper takes into account changes in the security sector that have occurred since 2006, when …

  • German Police: The Russian mafia began its expansion in Germany

    The Russian mafia has begun actively expanding its presence in Germany.

    This was stated by the head of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Holger Münch, in an interview with Die Welt am Sonntag, Deutsche Welle reports.

    “We are seeing the dynamic development of Russian–Eurasian organized crime. Now it has begun to spread to the West,” Münch explains.

    According to him, the Russian mafia is also active in types of offenses that are “unpopular” for organized crime, such as theft or store …

  • German politican: Strengthening of NATO presence in the Baltic should be short-term

    A few days before the summit of NATO countries in Warsaw, the German Co-Chair of the German-Russian Petersburg dialogue, Ronald Pofalla, stated that the planned strengthening of NATO troops in Poland and Baltic States should only be in the short-term, Korrespondent.net reported.

    “NATO could initially limit the term of strengthening of troops to one year. If ceasefire is observed in eastern Ukraine and a legally binding truce is established, the Alliance would be able to weaken the military …

  • Polish media: French-German superpower will replace the European Union

    Polish State Channel TVP has claimed that Germany and France have grandiose aspirations. Both nations are allegedly attempting to create a new European superpower to rival the European Union. Polish journalists based their allegations on a document prepared by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Germany and France, Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Jean-Marc Ayrault, respectively.

    The project should be presented at the meeting of the heads of diplomacy of the Visegrad Four countries, the Czech …

  • Merkel: Sanctions against Russia will be extended because of failure to implement Minsk Agreements

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated at a briefing on the results of European Council meeting in Brussels that the extension of sanctions against Russia is connected with the implementation of Minsk Agreements, RIA Novosti reported.

    “Both the President of France, François Hollande, and I reported once again on the degree of the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. We pointed out that the extension of sanctions is unfortunately necessary in connection with the level of implementation. That …

  • Germany’s Defense Minister calls for transparency of Russian military movements

    In her interview with Bild am Sonntag, the Minister of Defense of Germany, Ursula von der Leyen, called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization the strongest existing military alliance and called on Russia to openly report the number of its troops and its movements. “It would be an appropriate step if Russia and NATO continue to exchange information on movements and number of their troops within OSCE,” the Minister stated. Von der Leyen favored improving relations with Russia, noting that Moscow …

  • Lithuania receives first shipment of military hardware from Germany

    On Friday, the Armed Forces of Lithuania received two 155 mm self-propelled PzH2000 (Panzerhaubitze 2000) howitzers from the German Bundeswehr, Evropeyskaya Pravda reported, citing a statement issued by the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense.

    “Lithuanian soldiers will soon start training to master the newly received advanced and particularly capable equipment and the first shots are expected to be fired within several months at Exercise Flaming Thunder,” the statement read.

    The delivery of the …

  • Bundestag Deputy: Germany is concerned about Russia hosting the 2018 World Cup

    The Chairman of the SPD Parliamentary Group in the Bundestag, Thomas Oppermann, stated that Germany is concerned about the behavior of Russian fans during the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup that will be hosted by Russia, Deutsche Welle reported.

    “Russia, as a future host country to the FIFA World Cup was disgraced from head to foot. Bullies from Russia became the heroes of the headlines and even received applause from Moscow after the fights,” Oppermann said.

    According to him, the International …

  • Media: The next Normandy Format meeting could be held before the NATO Summit

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President François Hollande want to hold a meeting in Minsk with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to revive the process of implementing the Minsk Agreements, reported the German newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung, citing sources in the German government.

    According to the newspaper, serious efforts are being made to arrange a new Minsk meeting. The newspaper quoted Merkel, who said at a recent meeting with the Prime …