All posts tagged: Berlin

Berlin gives the OK for tougher trade action on China – POLITICO

Berlin gives the OK for tougher trade action on China – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Berlin is “open to discussing” stronger trade defense measures,” a German government official told POLITICO. “Things are moving in the right direction. We are open to discussing a measure to address overcapacity.” The bloc’s trade deficit with China widened to €360 billion last year from €312 billion in 2024. And a surge in Chinese goods ranging from vehicles to solar panels and clothes is undercutting Europe’s industries, leading to factory closures and job losses.  Yet even with Berlin’s backing, von der Leyen will still need to corral her fellow commissioners into a common stance — a tall order when her own office struggles with a non-descript readout from the meeting.  The first missive said “China is a critical partner, and engagement and dialogue will continue while communication channels remain open.” A follow up removed the line about channels remaining open, which the press office blamed on misinterpreting a handwritten note. Source link

Zelenskyy’s top negotiator flies to Berlin for talks with Germany, France, UK – POLITICO

Zelenskyy’s top negotiator flies to Berlin for talks with Germany, France, UK – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

The diplomatic engagement comes at a crucial moment after Russia executed a massive attack on Kyiv over the weekend and threatened further “consistent and systemic strikes.” The Russian foreign ministry urged diplomats and foreign citizens to leave the city “as soon as possible,” while the EU’s ambassador to Ukraine rejected the demand, saying, “We stay in Kyiv. We stay with Ukraine.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated Friday that America would backtrack from Ukraine peace talks it was leading, saying they “were not fruitful, unfortunately” and adding, “If someone else would like to handle it, they should.” European officials have in recent weeks discussed whether to reach out directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin for negotiations, with names such as former German Chancellor Angela Merkel being floated for the role — although she said she wouldn’t be the right person. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told German daily Welt earlier this month that the E3 group was “making a fresh attempt to re-enter negotiations — with Europe playing a greater role in the coming …

Neighbour leaves residents fuming after erecting 7ft-high ‘Berlin Wall’ boundary | UK | News

Neighbour leaves residents fuming after erecting 7ft-high ‘Berlin Wall’ boundary | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

The vast boundary has been compared to the Berlin Wall by neighbours (Image: BNPS) A homeowner has enraged residents of an affluent neighbourhood after replacing a boundary fence with a vast concrete structure that “looks like the Berlin Wall”. Ken Lynch has had the 75ft-long grey wall constructed along the side of his detached home on Sandbanks Road in the sought-after Lilliput area of Poole, Dorset. The area, alongside its neighbour Sandbanks, are among the most expensive and exclusive seaside areas in the whole country, with average house prices starting at £700,000. The imposing structure stands over 7ft tall and has been branded an eyesore by locals, with some likening it to something straight out of the Soviet Union era. Before its transformation, the home was a charming bungalow with an attractive front garden and modest brick wall that allowed passers-by to enjoy its vibrant herbaceous borders. The previous owner secured planning permission to convert the bungalow into a two-storey house with a sizeable rear extension. The property is now valued at £1m. The house …

Ebola deaths surge 30 percent as Berlin prepares for patient – POLITICO

Ebola deaths surge 30 percent as Berlin prepares for patient – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Measures that specifically exclude foreigners are ineffective, said Jeanne Marrazzo, head of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. “Diseases don’t have passports,” she said in a statement. “The fastest path to protecting all countries in the world is to aggressively support outbreak control at the source,” Jean Kaseya, head of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. “Global health security cannot be achieved through borders alone. It is achieved through partnership, trust, science, and rapid investment in preparedness and response capacity,” he added. Meanwhile, the American doctor being transferred to Germany, Peter Stafford, worked for the U.S. missionary organization Serge and treated Ebola patients in Nyankunde Hospital, Ituri. Stafford was one of three doctors treating patients in the region when the outbreak began. The other two doctors — his wife, Rebekah Stafford, and Patrick LaRochelle — have not yet shown any symptoms, according to Serge. The U.S. State Department said Monday it is coordinating “a comprehensive response” to the Ebola outbreak, “working closely with [the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] …

German artist lays ‘Stolpersteine’ to honor Holocaust victims

German artist lays ‘Stolpersteine’ to honor Holocaust victims

Published by Sam Flores

BERLIN (AP) — Artist Gunter Demnig carefully placed a palm-sized Holocaust memorial brass plaque into the sidewalk on a busy street corner of Berlin. It said: “Johanna Berger, born in 1893, lived here; deported on Nov. 17, 1941, murdered on Nov. 25, 1941.” After Demnig had swiped the sand off Berger’s memorial stone and those for her husband and two sons, a dozen relatives drew closer around the four plaques, which are called Stolpersteine, or “stumbling blocks,” in German. They put down white roses and recited the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, while traffic roared by on a rainy spring day. Demnig installed the first plaque in the German capital three decades ago. By now, one can find more than 11,000 of his memorial stones all over the city. But Demnig’s decentralized Holocaust memorial goes much further than that — the artist and his teams of supporters have laid 126,000 stones in Germany and 31 other countries across Europe. The first stone was installed in 1992 in the western German city of Cologne. …

Germany calls for end to EU unanimity rule to stop decision-making ‘standstill’

Germany calls for end to EU unanimity rule to stop decision-making ‘standstill’

Published by Sam Flores

During a keynote speech in Berlin, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul called for the EU’s unanimity principle to be scrapped. Instead, a “qualified majority” should be enough, he said at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation on Wednesday. The move would effectively abolish the veto power that currently allows any one of the blocks 27 member states to block major decisions, making consensus “significantly” easier. Unanimity, Wadephul said, would continue to be the goal, though. A qualified majority could “make the EU capable of acting in areas where it currently has to remain at a standstill,” he claimed. “Under our leadership, twelve member states have already come together to bring about this change.” In recent months, Hungary’s blockade of a €90 billion loan for Ukraine led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sparked controversy. Orbán has previously agreed to the loan, but enforced the blockade after damages at the Druzbha pipeline, which temporarily disrupted Russian oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia. The Hungarian PM later reversed his position after being defeated by Péter Magyar in the country’s elections …

AfD Vows To Drain ‘NGO Swamp’ After Berlin Café That Bans White People Received Taxpayer Cash

AfD Vows To Drain ‘NGO Swamp’ After Berlin Café That Bans White People Received Taxpayer Cash

Published by Jenni Sidey

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News, The right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) has vowed to cut off taxpayer money for left-wing activist groups after a Berlin organization that runs a coworking café that reportedly excludes White people received more than €662,000 in public funding. The controversy centers on BIWOC Rising, a nonprofit group in Berlin-Kreuzberg that operates a coworking space and café marketed as a protected venue for Black, Indigenous, and women of color, as well as transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people of color. Critics say the model amounts to a publicly subsidized space that excludes white people while presenting itself as a project for tolerance, diversity, and democracy. AfD co-leader Alice Weidel said the case showed why the party wants to overhaul Germany’s taxpayer-funded activist sector. “A Berlin café that bans white people from entering was funded with €662,450 in taxpayer money — from the federal program ‘Democracy in Action!’ Pure racism! The AfD will drain the NGO swamp and end the waste of taxpayer money on left-wing ideology,” she wrote on X. …

US reviews cutting troop numbers in Germany amid Trump’s Berlin feud

US reviews cutting troop numbers in Germany amid Trump’s Berlin feud

Published by Sam Flores

Soldiers of the U.S. Army V Corps salute during a color casing ceremony to mark the departure of V Corps headquarters from Europe on May 10, 2012 at the U.S. Army base in Wiesbaden, Germany. Ralph Orlowski | Getty Images News | Getty Images The U.S. is considering reducing the number of troops it has stationed in Germany, President Donald Trump said Thursday, amid a growing dispute with Berlin over the Iran war. “The United States is studying and reviewing the possible reduction of Troops in Germany, with a determination to be made over the next short period of time,” Trump posted on social media platform Truth Social overnight Thursday. The U.S. had just over 36,000 active-duty military personnel across a number of significant bases in Germany as of December 2025, according to data from the U.S. Defense Manpower Data Center, representing the largest such contingent in Europe. Many troops and their families are based at Ramstein Air Base, which serves as a major transportation hub and command center for U.S. military operations in Europe, …

Berlin deepens military ties with Washington while Merz-Trump rift grows

Berlin deepens military ties with Washington while Merz-Trump rift grows

Published by Sam Flores

BERLIN — Germany is embedding a senior U.S. officer deep into its military command structures in a sign of close cooperation that comes despite worsening political ties. Starting in October, an American colonel will serve at the German Army Command in a key role as deputy head of the Operations Division, where missions are planned and decisions are prepared, the German army and the Pentagon told POLITICO. This places a U.S. officer in close cooperation with German counterparts at the center of Germany’s land forces. The aim, a German army spokesperson said, is “to further deepen German-American cooperation and optimize joint operational capability within NATO.” There is a tradition of exchange programs with foreign officers in the Bundeswehr, but such deep integration into core command structures is unusual — and comes at a moment where relations between U.S. President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are publicly fraying. The U.S. does send officers to work with allied militaries, and allied officers frequently serve as deputies to senior commanders in American units. Such officers serve …

Berlin turns up the heat – POLITICO

Berlin turns up the heat – POLITICO

Published by Sam Flores

Europe is staring down a familiar and unwelcome set of circumstances: rising energy prices, slowing growth and growing political pressure. As the fallout from the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran ripples through global markets, EU governments are scrambling to cushion the blow — with far fewer tools than they had when the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered the last energy crisis. Zoya Sheftalovich is joined by Nick Vinocur to unpack what this new economic shock could mean — not just for households, but for Europe’s political center. Also on the pod: German conservatives turn up the heat on Ursula von der Leyen — and Belgium looks to keep the lights on in its shops a little longer. Got a question or a comment? Contact us on WhatsApp here or at +32 491 05 06 29. Source link