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Key Points “That is what I see, that Donald Trump will buckle under pressure, that he corrects his announcements under pressure,” German economy minister Robert Habeck said Thursday. Elsewhere, outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he believed the latest tariff decisions by Trump were “fundamentally wrong,” according to a CNBC translation. On Wednesday, Trump imposed 20% levies on the European Union, including on the bloc’s foremost economy Germany. ****************************************************************

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump Europe has spent more money buying Russian Oil and Gas than they have spent on defending Ukraine —BY FAR! Mar 03, 2025

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz risked the wrath of Donald Trump as blasted the U.S, President for being 'selfish'. -snip- 'The words of US President Donald Trump about the use of Ukraine's natural resources in exchange for military assistance are selfish.' Scholz argued the valuable minerals should be sold by Ukraine to pay for what it will need to rebuild after the war. He also suggested that 'all of us' - as in European allies who helped Ukraine - should be allowed access to the materials. But Ukraine seems more open to the idea of doing it Trump's way. Sharing Ukrainian...

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has sharply criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to tie future military aid for Ukraine to access to its rare earth resources, calling the move "very egotistic, very self-centered." Scholz said that Ukraine needs its natural resources to finance post-war rebuilding, not to bargain for security assistance. "That's why I think it would be better if Ukraine's resources were used for a good future," he said. However, Ukraine appears more open to the idea — at least the opening up of its critical raw materials to allies, if not explicitly the quid pro quo suggested by...

Germany's ruling coalition has collapsed after Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed Finance Minister Christian Lindner just hours after Donald Trump's US election win. The coalition collapsed due to disagreements over budget policy, with Lindner opposing tax hikes and debt increases. Scholz plans a parliamentary confidence vote on January 15, potentially leading to a snap election by March 2025. Germany’s conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz said there's "absolutely no reason" to wait that long. "There is absolutely no reason to wait until January of next year to ask for a vote of confidence," he said. "The traffic light coalition no longer has...

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.

LITHUANIA — A Ukrainian attendee at this year's NATO Summit found himself feeling embarrassed upon realizing the get-together was not, in fact, a costume party as he had thought. "Zoinks! This is humiliating!" said the man, who was wearing a brand-new army-man costume complete with realistic army shoes. "I'm sticking out like a sore thumb here! Why am I the only one not wearing a fancy suit? Didn't the invite say to wear the coolest costumes we can come up with?" "UGH! So awkward!" The man then milled about uncomfortably as most of the attendees smiled politely and tried to...

At the end of the meeting of G7 nations in Japan, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday that Ukraine currently does not meet the requirements to join the NATO alliance. The expansion of the American-led NATO alliance into Ukraine does not seem to be on the cards any time soon, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz downplaying the idea after meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Hiroshima, Japan over the weekend.

German defence minister says his country cannot protect itself in warThe Germany Defence Minister said the army of his country is understaffed and does not have adequate equipment as it has been neglected from the federal government for decades Berlin: German army is not capable of protecting the country against any offensive, said Defence Minister Boris Pistorius. He further alleged that the Bundeswehr is understaffed and under-equipped after being left neglected from the federal government for decades. “We have no armed forces that are capable of defending [Germany] that is, capable of defending [it] against an offensive, brutally waged aggressive...

BERLIN, Jan 24 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has decided to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and allow other countries such as Poland to do so while the U.S. may supply Abrams tanks, magazine Spiegel reported on Tuesday. A government spokesperson declined to comment. The defence ministry was not immediately available for comment. The decision concerns at least one company of Leopard 2 A6 tanks that will be provided out of Bundeswehr stocks, Spiegel said.

The German chancellor celebrated the government's ability to evade an economic crisis or gas shortage this winter. His remarks came at the opening of a second LNG terminal in northern Germany.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz became the first Western leader to travel to Beijing to meet with Xi Jinping since the Chinese coronavirus crisis on Friday. Chancellor Scholz, of the leftist Social Democratic Party (SPD), made the trip alongside top industry leaders, including the CEOs of BMW, Bayer, Deutsche Bank, and Volkswagen, in order to shore up relations with Germany’s top trading partner as relations with its largest energy importer, Russia, have collapsed over the past year. Speaking alongside soon-to-be-ousted Premier Li Keqiang, Scholz said in remarks reported by AFP: “We do not believe in ideas of decoupling [from Communist China]...

The chairman of the Palestinian Authority, who is visiting Berlin, avoided condemning the massacre of the athletes in Munich - and while he was giving his speech, Chancellor Schulz was seen contorting his face. Prime Minister: "a moral disgrace". Earlier, Schultz clarified that for him, Israel is not an apartheid state According to the AP news agency, during the PA chairman's speech, the German chancellor grimaced in displeasure - however, he did not react in real time, but later issued a statement to the German "Bild" in which he criticized Abu Mazen's choice of words. The horrors of the Holocaust...

Germany's leading energy expert says she's living in a nightmare. What's worse, she saw it coming. Germany had vowed to ditch coal but is now restarting mothballed, coal-fired power stations For 15 years Claudia Kemfert says she tried to warn politicians and the public that the country was too reliant on Russian energy. Until recently Germany bought more than half of its gas from Russia. She advised Berlin to find other sources and focus more on renewables. And she warned against the construction of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline through which Germany receives much of its gas. "That's what I...

Germany wants to end all fossil fuel imports from Russia, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday. "Germany wants to completely phase out fossil fuel dependence on Russia," Baerbock told the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue conference. "Germany has already halved its imports in the last few weeks, especially in hard coal, and we will not only halve this in all other areas, we will also completely phase out fossil fuels that come from Russia," she added.

Though the invading Russian Army seems to be capturing Ukraine, the real war is between the US-led West and Russia, not between Ukraine and Russia. Also as Russia has vetoed a UNSC resolution that demanded that Moscow immediately stop its attack on Ukraine and withdraw all troops, the only possible way out now is an urgent dialogue between Russia and the West With shock and awe, the world is witnessing the worst ever war crisis in Europe since the end of the Second World War as Russian President Vladimir Putin is hell-bent on punishing Ukraine for refusing to dance to...

Russian President Vladimir Putin will recognize the independence of eastern Ukraine's separatist republics, the Kremlin said in a statement Monday, adding that he had informed the French and German leaders of his decision. "In the near future, the president plans to sign the order," the Kremlin said. It added that French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had "expressed disappointment" over the decision in phone calls with Putin. This story is being updated.

BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz turned down an invite at short notice from U.S. President Joe Biden to discuss the Ukraine crisis, German magazine Der Spiegel said on Friday. Scholz did not accept the invitation due to a full schedule, including a trip to Madrid, as well as the desire to show that he was present as Germany grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Der Spiegel. A government spokesman declined to comment on the report. Both sides hoped now to organize a meeting by mid-February.

Germany’s incoming government, led by the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), were pressed to clarify their foreign policy priorities at a press conference on Tuesday. Having officially signed a three-party coalition agreement, Chancellor-designate Olaf Scholz and the rest of his Cabinet members are expected to take office on Wednesday after a vote and swearing-in ceremony in the German parliament. Scholz put Europe in focus as he fielded questions on Russia, China and the United States alongside Greens co-leader and incoming vice chancellor Robert Habeck as well as Free Democrat (FDP) chief and incoming Finance Minister Christian Lindner. Strengthening the European Union...

The Social Democratic Party’s Olaf Scholz has been elected Chancellor of Germany, marking the end of Angela Merkel’s 16-year reign. Olaf Scholz, who was elected Chancellor of Germany on Wednesday, will lead a so-called “Traffic Light” coalition of left-wing parties, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD, red), the Green Party, and the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP, yellow).