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☆ On a Frozen Border, Finland Puzzles Over a ‘Russian Game’
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Erika Solomon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Poking up through the snow drifts on the Finnish-Russian border lies a symbol of Moscow’s biggest provocation yet toward NATO’s newest member: a sprawling heap of broken bicycles. The battered bikes are sold for hundreds of dollars on the Russian side to asylum seekers from as far away as Syria and Somalia. They are then encouraged — sometimes forced, according to Finnish guards — to cross the border. As Finns vote on Sunday for a new president, who will be responsible for foreign policy and act as commander in chief, Finland has become fixated on its 830-mile border, the longest with Russia of any NATO country. How Finns handle the challenges there is critical not only for them, but also for their new allies on both sides of the Atlantic.

Persons: —, ”, Ville Organizations: NATO Locations: Russian, Syria, Somalia, Finnish, Vyborg ., Finland, Russia

☆ Germany’s Stifling of Pro-Palestinian Voices Pits Historical Guilt Against Free Speech
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Erika Solomon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Her activism won attention and praise in Germany, her adopted country — until she took it to a protest in support of Palestinians. The two were not demonstrating, she said, but wore the black and white Palestinian scarf known as the kaffiyeh. The police pushed her friend to the ground, pinned him down for several minutes and arrested him. “What I saw in their eyes is similar to what I saw in the eyes of Assad regime forces,” Ms. Mustafa said, referring to Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian dictator. Some, citing security fears, have imposed stiff restrictions on pro-Palestinian protests in particular or banned them altogether, raising concerns about the violation of civil liberties.

Persons: Wafa Mustafa, Mustafa, Assad, ” Ms, Bashar al, “, ” Organizations: United Nations Locations: Syria, Germany, Berlin, Gaza, Syrian, Israel, Europe

☆ German Businesses Bet Big on China, and They’re Starting to Worry
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Erika Solomon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The plan was survival: “It was just about grabbing chances,” Mr. Haeusgen said. Seven decades and three generations later the family business, Hawe Hydraulics, ships some 2,500 parts around the globe. Instead of scrambling for sales, though, Mr. Haeusgen must parse the geopolitics of an ever more polarized world. “I sometimes wish I ran a restaurant and didn’t have to care about global politics.”With China and North America as Hawe’s biggest trade partners, Mr. Haeusgen doesn’t have that luxury. As tensions between Beijing and the West rise, Hawe officials are working to hedge the company’s dependence on the huge Chinese market.

Persons: Karl Haeusgen’s, ” Mr, Haeusgen, Biden, Xi, ”, “ Locations: China, North America, Beijing

☆ German Defense Minister Vows Stronger Geopolitical Role Ahead of U.S. Visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Erika Solomon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In an interview before his first official visit to Washington, Germany’s defense minister staked out a broad geopolitical vision, taking pains to indicate that his country is ready to assume a more assertive stance in the face of growing international instability. The defense minister, Boris Pistorius, laid out plans for Germany to increase its arms deliveries and take a more robust role in both the Indo-Pacific region and in military leadership in Europe. He spoke to The New York Times before traveling to meet his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, as well as the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, on Wednesday in Washington. The minister has been a part of Germany’s effort to change allies’ perceptions of his country as reluctant to take up leadership in Europe in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — a view fostered by its slow initial pace in delivering weapons to Kyiv and its stumbling efforts to fulfill a pledge to revitalize its own military. Mr. Pistorius’s candor when discussing such topics has made him one of Germany’s most popular politicians, even when he sometimes goes further than some Germans, still haunted by their country’s World War II history, find comfortable.

Persons: Boris Pistorius, Defense Lloyd Austin, Jake Sullivan, Pistorius’s Organizations: New York Times, U.S ., Defense Locations: Washington, Germany, Europe, Ukraine

☆ As German Anxieties About Future Rise, Far Right Party Profits
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Erika Solomon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But the die-hards worry Germany’s political leadership less than people like Ina Radzheit. An insurance agent in a flowered blouse, she squeezed in among platters of schnitzel and frothy beers for her first visit to the AfD, the German initials by which the party is known. She is exasperated by government squabbling over climate plans she fears will cost citizens like her their modest but comfortable way of life. “I can’t say now if I would ever vote for the AfD,” she said. “But I am listening.”As anxieties over Germany’s future rise, so too, it seems, does the AfD.

Persons: Ina Radzheit, “, ” Locations: Germany, German, Ukraine

☆ Germany and China Try to Reset Relations for a Changed World
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Erika Solomon | Nicole Hong | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

These consultations will be the first for Mr. Scholz, as well as the first visit to Berlin for Mr. Li as premier, who will be accompanied by a large train of ministers. There is little doubt their missions will be at odds, even as they try to shape areas of common interest. For Germany, the meeting will be an opportunity to assert a new stance, one in which China is still one of its most critical economic partners but also a “systemic rival.” That means Berlin will try to shield its critical technologies and encourage its businesses to diversify away from Beijing. For China, it will be an opportunity to convince its largest European trading partner to stick to business as usual — and drive a wedge between Berlin and Washington. How to maintain necessary economic ties with China, in the shadow of growing U.S. pressure to align with it against Beijing, is a balancing act Germany is still struggling to master.

Persons: Scholz, Li Organizations: Mr Locations: Berlin, Germany, China, Beijing, Washington

☆ Ugly Fight Over Climate Bill Exposes Cracks in German Coalition
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Erika Solomon | Melissa Eddy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN — Germany’s coalition government was always an awkward trio of center-left Social Democrats, climate-conscious Greens and pro-business Free Democrats. Yet in the heady days after their election victory in 2021, the parties vowed to stick to a tradition of consensus-driven politics, keeping the drama behind closed doors. While the stakes would seem relatively minor, the level of vitriol has been anything but, reflecting a new era in which Germany’s once-staid politics have turned more fractious. No one is predicting a collapse of the coalition. But the public sparring has raised questions over how Germany will meet commitments to Europe’s climate goals — as well as Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ability to maintain effective stewardship of Europe’s most powerful economy.

☆ Meet the New Mayor: How a Refugee Won Over a Conservative German Town
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( Erika Solomon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“If you look at our state elections, Ostelsheim is the kind of place that votes so conservatively. I thought it was going to be very, very tough for him,” said Yvonne Boeckh, a tax accountant, shouting over a rowdy polka number at the festival. “It’s just remarkable.”When Mr. Alshebl reached Germany with a college degree in banking, politics was hardly on his mind. Alone without his parents, who stayed behind in Syria, he threw himself into his new world and its traditions. Yet like many of the 2015 refugees, now gaining citizenship and building new lives, he never wanted to hide where he came from or apologize for it.

☆ Zelensky Meets With German Leaders After Their Massive Weapons Pledge
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Erika Solomon | Vivek Shankar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Zelensky’s trip to Germany follows a visit to Rome, where peace negotiations were a major theme in meetings with Pope Francis and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Ukrainian and German officials have privately said that Mr. Zelensky might be hoping to persuade Mr. Scholz to play a more influential role when it comes to European support for the war, or even in mediating a peace settlement. Later on Sunday, Mr. Zelensky is expected to travel to city of Aachen in western Germany to receive the prestigious Charlemagne award on behalf of himself and the Ukrainian people. The award is bestowed on those who have done the most to promote European unity. Russian missile strike hits Ternopil in western UkraineRussia fired missiles at the Ternopil region in western Ukraine, Ukrainian officials on Sunday, hitting the hometown of Ukraine’s Eurovision group during the song contest and demonstrating Moscow’s ability to launch attacks far from the front lines.

☆ China Woos European Leaders on Trip Overshadowed by Kremlin Ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Steven Erlanger | Erika Solomon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

China’s top diplomat set out on a three-nation trip Tuesday to persuade European leaders that they can do business with Beijing, even as the Chinese tried to keep faith with their “unlimited partnership” with a Russia that has plunged Europe into war. But arriving in Berlin, Foreign Minister Qin Gang was quickly confronted about the war in Ukraine. “Neutrality means taking the side of the aggressor, and that is why our guiding principle is to make it clear that we are on the side of the victim,” the German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, declared at a joint news conference after they met. Beijing, she said, could be doing much more to help bring the war to an end. Mr. Qin defended his nation’s approach.

☆ Discreetly, Berlin Confronts Russian Spies Hiding in Plain Sight
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Erika Solomon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN — Every day as he settles into his desk, Erhard Grundl, a German lawmaker, looks outside his office window into the embassy he knows may be spying on him. “I come into the office, and on a windy day, I see the Russian flag waving. It feels a bit like Psalm 23: ‘You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies,’” he said, chuckling. For years, a silent espionage struggle played out here along the city’s iconic Under den Linden avenue. Members of Parliament like Mr. Grundl were warned by intelligence offices to protect themselves — to turn computer screens away from the window, stop using wireless devices that were easier to tap, and close the window blinds for meetings.

☆ Germany Deems Branch of Far-Right Party an Extremist Group
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Erika Solomon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN — Germany’s domestic intelligence agency on Wednesday classified the youth wing of a prominent far right nationalist party as an extremist group that threatens the constitution, dealing another blow to an organization that has come under increasing scrutiny over concerns of radicalization. The spy agency reclassified the “Young Alternative” unit of the party after monitoring it for four years. The government also labeled two other far-right institutions as right wing extremists on Wednesday — the Institute for State Policy and the One Percent group. Once a group is classified as extremist, its members could lose employment opportunities in the public sector and the ability to obtain or maintain weapons licenses. Domestic intelligence services, who already had the groups under surveillance, will also more quickly receive authority to tap or surveil group members.

☆ Germany Names Panel to Investigate 1972 Attack at Munich Olympics
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Erika Solomon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN — Germany named an international panel of experts on Friday to review the 1972 Munich Olympics attack by Palestinian militants that killed 11 Israeli athletes, completing the last step in a deal with the victims’ families to assess and apologize for the failures of the German authorities to prevent the bloody assault. A panel of eight historians, made up largely of academics from Israel and Germany, as well as experts from the United States and United Kingdom, has been commissioned to create a “comprehensive scholarly account and assessment of the events,” Germany’s Interior Ministry said. In September 1972, a group of Palestinian militants called Black September broke into the Olympic Village for athletes in Munich, killed two Israeli athletes and kidnapped nine others. The kidnappers were seeking the release of more than 200 Palestinians held by Israel and two imprisoned German left-wing extremists. An attempt by the German police to rescue the hostages ended in a bloody shootout that led to the deaths of all 11 Israeli athletes being held hostage.

☆ Germany Quits Nuclear Power, Ending a Decades-Long Struggle
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Melissa Eddy | Erika Solomon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It began as a movement of pacifists chaining themselves to fences outside nuclear power plants. Germany’s three remaining reactors will be shut down by Saturday — ending nuclear power generation in Europe’s largest economy. Britain, Finland and France are doubling down on nuclear energy as a source of reliable electricity and extremely low carbon emissions. Last year, Poland signed with Westinghouse Electric to build its first nuclear power plant, some 200 miles east of the German border. In the United States, the Biden administration is backing technology to build a new generation of smaller nuclear reactors as a tool of “mass decarbonization.”

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