Free Republic

German Chancellor Angela Merkel considers U.S. President Donald Trump’s eviction from Twitter by the company “problematic,” her spokesman said Monday. Twitter permanently suspended Trump from the microblogging platform on Friday, citing a “risk of further incitement of violence” in the wake of the storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of the outgoing president. Asked about Twitter’s decision, Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said the operators of social media platforms “bear great responsibility for political communication not being poisoned by hatred, by lies and by incitement to violence.” He said it’s right not to “stand back” when such content is posted,...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel considers it “problematic” that Twitter would toss President Trump off its social media platform, saying through a spokesmen Monday that the president’s ability to express his opinion is a fundamental right of “elementary significance.” “This fundamental right can be intervened in, but according to the law and within the framework defined by legislators — not according to a decision by the management of social media platforms,” Merkel spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters in Berlin. “Seen from this angle, the chancellor considers it problematic that the accounts of the U.S. president have now been permanently blocked,” he...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Moscow on Saturday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid growing tensions in the Middle East and elsewhere, officials said Monday. Merkel and Putin will discuss “current international questions,” said Steffen Seibert, the chancellor’s spokesman. Those will include Syria, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Ukraine and bilateral ties. “Russia is an important player on the world stage and as a permanent member of the (U.N.) Security Council it’s also indispensable when it comes to solving political conflicts,” Seibert said. Germany is currently a non-permanent member of the Security Council. Germany and Russia are among...

Finally, the ugly truth about Europe's "no-go zones" is out in the open, and it has come from an unlikely source -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Ever since U.S. terrorism expert Steven Emerson spoke in a Fox News interview about so-called "no go zones" in the U.K. -- that was nearly three years ago -- the establishment elites across the Western world have been denying that these zones exist in any European cities.  These are areas where Sharia law dominates and police are afraid to enter. Emerson did misspeak, saying the city of Birmingham, England, was a no-go zone, an...

o Chancellor said there are parts of her country police and others fear going to o She argued a zero-tolerance approach to crime must not tolerate such areas o Her spokesman Steffen Seibert declined to name the specific locations today o He said Merkel's words speak for themselves, leaving some officials speechless Chancellor Angela Merkel has claimed there are 'no-go areas' in Germany, leaving ministers speechless. Officials have previously dismissed the notion there are places in the country that police and other outsiders can't visit. But Merkel said she favours a zero-tolerance policy on crime that includes preventing no-go areas,...

An employee of Germany's intelligence agency has been arrested on suspicion of spying for the US, reports say. The man is said to have been trying to gather details about a German parliamentary committee that is investigating claims of US espionage. German media say the man arrested this week is a 31-year-old employee of the federal intelligence agency, known as the BND. The German federal prosecutor's office confirmed the man's arrest, but gave no other details. A spokesman for Ms Merkel said she had been informed of the arrest, as had the members of the nine-strong parliamentary committee investigating the...