Free Republic

The more things change, well, the more they . . . So it is with the perpetual German resentments of the U.S. Recently German chancellor Angela Merkel reminded us of that German fixation, when she made some astounding statements to the German media that revealed what many Americans had long ago surmised. Merkel all but announced that Germany, or for that matter Europe itself, is no longer really an ally of the United States: “There is no doubt that Europe needs to reposition itself in a changed world. . . . The old certainties of the post-war order no longer...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s grand coalition government was plunged into turmoil Sunday when the leader of the Social Democrats resigned abruptly under pressure after her center-left party suffered a humiliating defeat in last week’s European Parliament elections. Andrea Nahles, the first woman to head Germany’s oldest party, announced she would quit as party chairwoman, parliamentary floor leader and even give up her seat in the German parliament after her attempt to snuff out a brewing rebellion over the party’s frightening slide backfired.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel took aim at Donald Trump’s world view in a speech on U.S. soil, saying unilateralism risks bringing down post-World War II alliances and trade wars threaten the “foundations of our prosperity.” “More than ever, our way of thinking and actions have to be multilateral rather than unilateral,” Merkel said in a commencement speech to Harvard University’s class of 2019 that combined tough criticism of nationalist policies with philosophical vistas of a change for the better. Merkel, 64, was addressing a receptive audience on Thursday as she seeks halt a deterioration in the trans-Atlantic alliance under Trump’s...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered a commencement speech to Harvard graduates on Thursday after being greeted with rousing applause when introduced as “one of the most respected and influential leaders of the postwar era.” Addressing students at the Ivy League school’s 368th commencement ceremony, Merkel began in English, yet quickly switched to German. Merkel, speaking through a translator, touched on a number of topics throughout the speech — beginning with her own upbringing in East Germany under the shadow of the Berlin Wall. The idea of the wall was one that she would return to throughout the speech. She would...

Video at link.

Germany, the EU's biggest economy, is still generating a third of its electricity with coal, a climate killer with huge CO2 emissions A European election drubbing has served as a harsh wake-up call for Germany's leaders that young voters fear climate change and are furious about the government's glacial response to it. A surge of support, helped by the Fridays for Future protest movement, propelled Germany's Greens to second place in Sunday's European Parliament elections, at the expense of the mainstream parties.

Germany: Merkel slams populists as the “enemy of Europe’ destroying globalist “values” German leader Angela Merkel is misleading Germans again just prior to elections. She stated that “populists are the enemy of Europe and seek to destroy the continent’s globalist values”. She also “urged Croatians and other voters in Europe to shun pro-sovereignty, anti-mass migration political forces at the ballot boxes.” Meanwhile, Christianity is dying in Germany while Islam rises, with help from globalist Merkel. As a result, Germany has suffered the ills of: jihad attacks, widespread sex attacks, an escalation of crime and even Merkel has admitted to a...

Chancellor Angela Merkel joined dozens of young people of immigrant background in Berlin on Tuesday to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Germany’s Basic Law, or constitution. The event was hosted by Deutschlandstiftung Integration (DSI), a foundation that in 2012 founded the Geh Deinen Weg (“Go Your Way”) program to help young and ambitious people of immigrant background find a way into the German job market. The purpose of the event was to highlight the connection between the Basic Law and the lives of those of immigrant background in Germany. Many of the dignitaries who spoke at the event quoted the...

Some of our European allies aren’t acting very much like allies these days. The latest example of this phenomenon comes to us from Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel has basically put aside all pretenses of diplomacy and is now insulting us to our faces. In remarks to the German press this week, she spoke of the “adversaries” Europe must contend with, both militarily and in terms of trade agreements, and listed three examples. China, Russia and… the United States. (Newsweek) German Chancellor Angela Merkel lumped in the United States with Europe’s other global adversaries on Wednesday, arguing that the countries...

Angela Merkel’s immigration policy was given a largely positive assessment by the Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration (SVR), though one of its members described the confusing situation at the European level as a “catastrophe.” The panel of nine academics from various fields appeared together at a press conference in Berlin on Tuesday to present their annual migration report. It evaluated policy developments of the past few years, particularly those in response to the so-called “refugee crisis” of 2015-16, when more than one million individuals, mainly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, sought asylum in Germany. The report’s...

Former President Barack Obama (D) appeared at a town hall event in Berlin on behalf of the Obama Foundation. One of the issues that came up with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and whether or not they're doing more harm than good, The Hill reported."One of the things I do worry about sometimes among progressives in the United States —maybe it’s true here as well — is a certain kind of rigidity where we say, 'Uh, I’m sorry, this is how it’s going to be,' and then we start sometimes creating what’s called a 'circular firing squad,' where you...

BERLIN - Chancellor Angela Merkel has received former U.S. President Barack Obama at her office in Berlin for a meeting characterized by German officials as a routine private encounter with a former international peer...

France is blocking the launch of trade talks with the US, exasperating its EU partners who fear a restart to a trade war with President Donald Trump, diplomats said on Friday. “The French are blocking, but they are isolated,” a European source told AFP after a Friday meeting of envoys from member states ended without an agreement. The envoys are struggling to decide a mandate to launch the transatlantic negotiations given the opposition of Paris that fears domestic blowback just months ahead of European elections, set for May 22 to 26. Berlin, however, strongly wants the deal in order to...

Putin is just a thug with a mediocre economy and a middling military. That’s why it is also fair to blame Obama. After all, who let Russia back into the great power game? Team Obama racked up a long list of seriously bad moves in dealing with Moscow. There was the failed “Russian reset” that was going to win Putin over with kindness. There was the gift of New START – a treaty that let Russia to build up its nuclear arsenal further, while forcing us to cut ours. They compounded that error by letting Putin get away with cheating...

The German government is poised to renege on its pledge to raise military spending, the latest gesture of defiance by Chancellor Angela Merkel toward President Donald Trump... In recent months, Berlin has rebuked Washington's demands that it limit gas purchases from Russia, ban Chinese components from its communication networks, and prevent German companies from doing business with Iran.

It was widely reported that Theresa May paid a visit to Angela Merkel in Berlin shortly before the Chequers meeting. What did they discuss? We weren't told at the time. According to a confidential source who has seen a complete transcript of the meeting, the two leaders agreed to a plan that Mrs May allegedly told the Chancellor would "appease" Brexit voters while nonetheless enabling her to get rid of those Tories who were (in her words) "against progress and unity in the EU." According to the transcript, Mrs May is also reported to have agreed "to keep as many...

German political leaders have reacted positively to a raft of suggestions by French President Emmanuel Macron for strengthening the European Union. […] On Tuesday, Macron, who has come under fire in France by yellow-vest protesters and others, presented ideas for a “European renaïssance” in an article published in newspapers throughout Europe and online. Among his wide-ranging suggestions were enhanced protection against hate speech, greater control of EU borders and immigration, and a nationally adjusted European minimum wage — ideas that went down well with most German politicians. […] Some of those who expressed support for Macron’s ideas criticized the German...

A damning new report has claimed that since 2014, the government of German Chancellor Angela Merkel has allowed thousands of war criminal migrants to enter the country. The new report claims that from 2014 to 2019, the German government not only let in around 5,000 migrants who were subject to investigation for violating international law, but only investigated a handful of them itself, German tabloid Bild reports. The paper states that the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) tipped the government off to around 5,000 migrants they believed had been involved in war crimes or other crimes against humanity....

Germany closed 2018 with its highest budget surplus of €58 billion ($65.8 billion) since reunification in 1989, the federal statistics bureau Destatis announced Friday. Revenues collected by government — at federal, regional state and communal level — amounted to €1,543.6 billion. Offset against expenditures of €1,485.6 that left coffers €58 billion in surplus, an overhang of 1.7 percent in terms of gross domestic product (GDP). It was also the fifth year in succession that Germany had notched up a record surplus, said the Wiesbaden-based Destatis, with total revenue in 2018 amounting to a 4.7 percent gain on 2017. Total expenditure...

MUNICH (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence rebuked European powers over Iran and Venezuela on Saturday in a renewed attack on Washington’s traditional allies, rejecting a call by Germany’s chancellor to include Russia in global cooperation efforts. In speeches and in private talks at the Munich Security Conference, Pence and Chancellor Angela Merkel laid out competing visions for how the West should address world crises. ...