Free Republic

BERLIN, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Germany's coalition collapsed on Wednesday as Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired his finance minister and paved the way for a snap election, triggering political chaos in Europe's largest economy hours after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election. After dismissing Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the Free Democrats (FDP) party, Scholz is expected to head a minority government with his Social Democrats and the Greens, the second-largest party. Scholz said he would call a confidence motion in his government for Jan. 15, the necessary precursor to holding an election by the end of March. Under rules...

Germany's governing coalition is in crisis after Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired a key minister and said he would call a vote of confidence in his government early next year. Scholz said he had no trust in Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who leads a rival party that has been part of the coalition along with Scholz's Social Democrats and the Greens. The move means Scholz's government no longer has a majority in parliament. The confidence vote could lead to early elections by March. The so-called "traffic light" coalition led by the chancellor has governed Germany since 2021.

Germany’s top diplomat arrived Monday in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on an unannounced visit, in what appeared to be a show of European support for Ukraine on the eve of a U.S. presidential election that could bring far-reaching changes in Washington’s policy toward Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor. Germany is Ukraine’s second biggest weapons supplier after the U.S., and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock vowed that Berlin’s backing would remain steadfast. “Together with many partners around the world, Germany stands firmly by Ukraine’s side,” she said, German news agency dpa reported. “We will support the Ukrainians for as long as...

Civilian shipping and oil companies such as Maersk and BP aren’t the only ones telling their merchant vessels to avoid the Red Sea for fear of being attacked by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen. The German government this week ordered two of its warships to go around Africa because of the threats, according to the German magazine Der Spiegel. On Monday, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the frigate Baden-Wurttemberg and the naval supply ship Frankfurt am Main would take the much longer route around the Cape of Good Hope when returning from a months-long mission in the Indo-Pacific region.

Volkswagen could shut down as many as three factories in Germany and lay off tens of thousands of workers as it seeks to regain its edge in Europe amid slumping sales and increased competition from China, the company’s top employee representative said Monday. ***snip*** The representative, Daniela Cavallo, who leads the council representing the company’s employees in Germany, told a gathering of workers at Volkswagen’s home plant in Wolfsburg that the proposed closures were part of a plan that managers had presented to the works council. The company “wants to close at least three VW factories, downsize all remaining plants,...

Nürtingen, Germany – A chilling discovery along the Neckar River has intensified the debate over Germany’s open borders and the dangers citizens face under these policies. A 37-year-old Iranian asylum seeker, who reportedly knew the victim personally, was arrested on suspicion of brutally murdering a 66-year-old German teacher, Isabelle D. The crime, which has left the community shaken, is fueling criticism of Germany’s lenient immigration system, which critics argue allows dangerous individuals to enter and remain unchecked. ... The body of Isabelle D., a dedicated and well-known German language teacher, was found early Sunday morning beneath a viewing platform along...

As an observant reader will note, from censorship to lawfare it’s the Democrat Party today -- not Republicans -- that has embraced the exact same methods as the Nazis to seize power. But there is so much more. The Democrat use of DEI as a mandatory race ideology is similar to Nazi racial ideology -- just change whites for Jews in DEI training and you get a good idea of what Nazi racial ideology was like. The current attacks on academic freedom in universities in America also give you a good idea of Nazi methods of 1933. But that’s for...

“It's also been an imperative for us to try to make sure that this conflict doesn't spread." US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Israel not to escalate its conflict with Tehran and the Iranian proxy group Hezbollah as it continues to respond militarily to attacks from both entities. “It's also been an imperative for us to try to make sure that this conflict doesn't spread. We are resolute in our defense of Israel when it comes to attacks it's receiving from Iran, from Iran's proxies,” Blinken told reporters on Wednesday morning before departing Tel Aviv for Saudi Arabia. “We...

Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis hurried through the medieval monastery that is part of her 500-room palace. It was a chilly autumn night in Bavaria, with rain spitting outside, as she arrived at the chapel to pray. The room glowed red, lit from a crypt below where her husband and other family members lay in their coffins. The princess knelt and soft bells sounded. Her dinner guests, a British baroness and her husband, slipped in to join her as a priest led prayers. Princess Gloria, 64, who burst onto the international scene in the 1980s..as since evolved into a...

Elon Musk said Sunday he planned to upgrade his security after a left-wing German magazine labeled him an enemy of the people. Musk held a town hall discussion in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Sunday in support of former President Donald Trump’s candidacy. While talking to the crowd, Musk commented on the heightened political atmosphere as the nation approached the November presidential election. He noted he was recently on the cover of Der Spiegel, which labeled him “Public Enemy No. 2” — the first being Trump. “I’m like, enemy number 2 of what? Uh, democracy? I mean I’m pro-democracy. I’m literally trying...

Europe’s electricity has become so expensive that trade unions have started warning of the threat of deindustrialization. Deepening Europe’s crisis, the Biden administration has announced a pause in liquefied natural gas export license approvals. U.S. policymakers should heed warnings from Europe, and embrace a policy of making American electricity once again the most reliable and affordable on Earth. Copied After years of misguided energy policies, Europe’s electricity has become so expensive that trade unions have started warning of the threat of deindustrialization. The warning will hopefully prove a salutary one for the U.S., which is now headed down the same...

EU ministers are debating alternatives to Russian gas imports as the Ukraine transit deal expires in December 2024.. Concerns are rising regarding rising Russian LNG imports and the effectiveness of EU sanctions on re-exports.. Some EU members advocate for stricter LNG reporting and alternatives like Azerbaijan are being discussed, but no concrete solutions are yet agreed upon.. European Union energy ministers are discussing the flows of natural gas from Russia to the EU as the transit deal via Ukraine is nearing its end. The ministers are also talking about the issue of Russia’s LNG shipments to the bloc, which have...

Germany’s flagship airline has been fined $4 million by the U.S. Department of Transportation over allegations it discriminated against a group of Jewish passengers. The regulator said Tuesday that Lufthansa had prohibited 128 people wearing traditional Orthodox Jewish clothing from boarding for a connecting flight in Germany as they made their way from New York City to Budapest, Hungary, in May 2022. “Based on the alleged misconduct of some passengers,” DOT said, Lufthansa staff “treated them all as if they were a single group and denied them boarding,” despite many of the passengers not knowing each other nor traveling together....

Wednesday’s debate in the European Parliament (EP) confirmed what those on the right have long suspected: both the EP and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have become political instruments of the left-wing mainstream in their campaign against sovereign states. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán travelled to Strasbourg to outline the priorities of Hungary’s EU Presidency but found himself in the midst of a purely political and personal confrontation. Both the Commission President and the leaders of the EP’s mainstream political groups launched a series of baseless accusations and propagandistic attacks against Hungary. However, as facts are stubborn things,...

If NATO becomes a party to the conflict in Ukraine, it will get to a point where Russia will carry out a strike on military facilities in NATO territory, German parliament member and leader of the BSW said. BERLIN, October 12. /TASS/. NATO’s growing involvement in the Ukraine conflict may trigger a nuclear response from Russia, Sahra Wagenknecht, German parliament member and leader of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance - Reason and Justice party (BSW), said. "If NATO becomes a party to the conflict in Ukraine, it will get to a point where Russia will carry out a strike on military...

German left-wing populists have revealed data which shows 48 per cent of all recipients of state out-of-work cash payments are not German citizens, with some migrant groups majority unemployed. Over two and a half million foreign residents in Germany are drawing the Bürgergeld — ‘citizen’s allowance’ — the German state benefit that pays out cash to those who don’t or can’t work, or who work so little their income needs topping up to survival levels. This group represents 48 per cent of all recipients in Germany, with 2.7 million foreigners claiming compared to 2.9 million German citizens.

It turns out that the people and government of Germany “can’t do this.”... In 2015, then-Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany swung open wide the gates to her country, and welcomed more than a million Muslim migrants with her famous — now infamous — remark that “Wir schaffen das!” “We can do this.” But in the nearly decade since, it turns out that the people and government of German “can’t do this.” They cannot integrate successfully millions of Muslim economic migrants. The government cannot turn them into loyal and productive citizens. Many of them continue to avoid employment, and instead batten...

Austria’s Freedom Party has secured the first far-right national parliamentary election victory since the Second World War, beating conservatives in power. Political analysts say the far-right achieved this electoral victory by tapping into voters’ concerns over immigration, inflation, and the war in Ukraine. It must be said, however, that the Freedom Party’s chances of governing are unclear at this stage. Preliminary election results show that the Freedom Party finished first in the election with 29.2 percent of the vote, while the ruling Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative Austrian People’s Party came in second with 26.5 percent of the vote. The center-left in...

* The European Union on Friday voted to adopt definitive tariffs on China-made battery electric vehicles (BEVs). * "Today, the European Commission's proposal to impose definitive countervailing duties on imports of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from China has obtained the necessary support from EU Member States for the adoption of tariffs," the EU said in a statement. * The EU added that it was still working in China to look for "an alternative solution" even as the tariffs are adopted.The European Union on Friday voted to adopt definitive tariffs on China-made battery electric vehicles (BEVs). "Today, the European Commission's proposal...

<p>A station platform has been cordoned off at Hamburg central station in northern Germany amid fears that a train passenger may have arrived carrying a dangerous virus.</p><p>A fire department spokesman told the Bild tabloid that the man and his girlfriend had developed flu-like symptoms on a high-speed train from Frankfurt.</p>