DTN News - UKRAINE CRISIS: Merkel, U.S. Warn Putin of Crimea Annexation

DTN News - UKRAINE CRISIS: Merkel, U.S. Warn Putin of Crimea Annexation

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources CBC News

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - March 9, 2014: Germany's Angela Merkel delivered a rebuke to President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, telling him that a planned Moscow-backed referendum on whether Crimea should join Russia was illegal and violated Ukraine's constitution.

Putin defended breakaway moves by pro-Russian leaders in Crimea, where Russian forces tightened their grip on the Ukrainian region by seizing another border post.

As thousands staged rival rallies in Crimea, street violence flared in Sebastopol, when pro-Russian activists and Cossack militiamen attacked a group of Ukrainians.

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Russian forces' seizure of the Black Sea peninsula has been bloodless but tensions are mounting following the decision by pro-Russian groups there to make Crimea part of Russia.

The operation to seize Crimea began within days of Ukraine's pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich's flight from the country last month. Yanukovich was toppled after three months of demonstrations against a decision to spurn a free trade deal with the European Union for closer ties with Russia.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk will hold talks with President Barack Obama in Washington on Wednesday on how to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis, the White House said.

One of Obama's top national security officials said the United States would not recognise the annexation of Crimea by Russia if residents vote to leave Ukraine in a referendum next week.

Putin declared a week ago that Russia had the right to invade Ukraine to protect Russian citizens, and his parliament has voted to change the law to make it easier to annex territory inhabited by Russian speakers."We won't recognize it, nor will most of the world," deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken said.

Speaking by telephone to Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron, Putin said steps taken by authorities in Crimea were "based on international law and aimed at guaranteeing the legitimate interests of the peninsula's population," the Kremlin said.

A German government statement, however, said the referendum was illegal. "Holding it violates the Ukrainian constitution and international law."

Border post taken

Late on Sunday, an armed pro-Russian force wearing military uniforms bearing no designated markings sealed off another military airport in Crimea, a defence ministry spokesman on the peninsula said.

The 80 or so-strong group, who were supporting 50 civilians, blocked off the entrance to the airport near the village of Saki and established machine-gun posts along the landing strip, the spokesman, Vladislav Seleznyov, told Reuters by telephone.

Kremlin Statement

'Despite the differences in the assessments of what is
happening, they (Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British PM David Cameron) expressed a common
interest in de-escalation of the tensions and normalization of
the situation as soon as possible.'

The civilian group, who were wielding sticks and clubs, sought to break into the airport's control terminal, he said

Earlier in the day, Russian forces seized a border post on the western edge of Crimea, trapping about 15 personnel inside, a border guard spokesman said, revising an earlier figure of 30.

The spokesman, Oleh Slobodyan, said Russian forces now controlled 11 border guard posts across Crimea, a former Russian territory that is home to Russia's Black Sea fleet and has an ethnic Russian majority.

In Sevastopol, several hundred people held a meeting demanding that Crimea become part of Russia, chanting: "Moscow is our capital."

Across town at a monument to Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko, violence flared at a meeting to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his birth, when pro-Russian activists and Cossacks attacked a small group of Ukrainians guarding the event and the police had to intervene.

Footage from the event showed a group of men violently kicking one of the Ukrainians as he lay on the ground and a Cossack repeatedly hit him with a long black leather whip.

Former Russian oil tycoon, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, released from jail in December, addressed a crowd in Kyiv's Independence Square lambasting his old foe Putin for his heavy-handed approach to protesters in Ukraine.

"Russian propaganda lies, as always. There are no fascists or Nazis here, no more than on the streets in Moscow or St  Petersburg," said Khodorovsky, who spent 10 years in a Russian prison. "These are wonderful people who stood up  for their freedom."

In Simferopol, Crimea's main city, pro- and anti-Russian groups held rival rallies.

Vladimir Kirichenko, 58, an engineer, opposed the regional parliament's plans for a vote this month on Crimea joining Russia. "I don't call this a referendum. It asks two practically identical questions: Are you for the secession of Ukraine or are you for the secession of Ukraine? 

So why would I go and vote?"Several hundred opponents of Russian-backed plans for Crimea to secede gathered, carrying blue and yellow balloons the colour of the Ukrainian flag. The crowd sang the national anthem, twice, and an Orthodox Priest led prayers and a hymn.

Soviet songs

Around 2,000 Russian supporters gathered in Lenin Square, where there is a statue of the Soviet state founder, clapping along to nostalgic Soviet era songs being sung from the stage.

Alexander Liganov, 25 and jobless, said: "We have always been Russian, not Ukrainian. We support Putin."

President Vladimir Putin declared a week ago that Russia had the right to invade Ukraine to protect Russian citizens, and his parliament has voted to change the law to make it easier to annex territory inhabited by Russian speakers.

At a rally in the eastern city of Donetsk, home to many Russian speakers, presidential candidate Vitaly Klitschko, a former boxing champion, said Ukraine should not be allowed to split apart amid bloodshed.

"The main task is to preserve the stability and independence of our country," he said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking to Russia's foreign minister for the fourth day in a row, told Sergei Lavrov on Saturday that Russia should exercise restraint.The worst face-off with Moscow since the Cold War has left the West scrambling for a response, especially since the region's pro-Russia leadership declared Crimea part of Russia last week and announced a March 16 referendum to confirm it.

"He made clear that continued military escalation and provocation in Crimea or elsewhere in Ukraine, along with steps to annex Crimea to Russia, would close any available space for diplomacy, and he urged utmost restraint," a U.S. official said.

Shots fired

A spokeswoman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said military monitors from the pan-Europe watchdog had on Saturday been prevented for the third time in as many days from entering Crimea.

Moscow denies that the Russian-speaking troops in Crimea are under its command, an assertion Washington dismisses as "Putin's fiction." Although they wear no insignia, the troops drive vehicles with Russian military plates.Shots were fired to turn back the mission of more than 40 unarmed observers, who have been invited by Kyiv but lack permission from Crimea's pro-Russian authorities to cross the isthmus to the peninsula. No one was hurt.

A Reuters reporting team filmed a convoy of hundreds of Russian troops in about 50 trucks, accompanied by armoured vehicles and ambulances, which pulled into a military base north of Simferopol in broad daylight on Saturday.

Ukrainian troops are performing training exercises in their bases but there are no plans to send them to Crimea, Interfax news agency quoted acting Defence Minister Ihor Tenyukh as saying. Ukraine's military, with 130,000 troops, would be no match for Russia's. So far Kyiv has held back from any action that might provoke a response.

*Link for This article compiled by K. V. Seth from reliable sources CBC News
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DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT: Germany Warns UK Against EU Budget Veto

DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT: Germany Warns UK Against EU Budget Veto

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Press TV
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - October 22, 2012: Germany is warning Britain that its threat to veto the European Union’s new budget will force Berlin to cancel next month’s EU budget summit.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has threatened to veto any agreement on the EU’s new seven-year budget other than a complete spending freeze. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has reportedly decided that holding talks on the 2014-2020 budget while Britain is almost certain to veto it is pointless, The Financial Times reported. 

A veto will further outrage EU members after Cameron also vetoed an EU-wide financial agreement to help the eurozone crisis back in December and forced the other 26 nations to sign the pact without Britain. 

EU officials are now warning that the second veto can seriously damage diplomatic ties between the 27-member bloc and Britain. 

Merkel has reportedly raised the subject in a telephone conversation with Cameron last Monday. 

Cameron openly said earlier this month that “If there isn’t a deal that’s good for Britain, there won’t be a deal.” 

However, Merkel is apparently trying to persuade him to back her government’s proposal for the EU spending to be capped at one percent of European gross domestic product. 

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Press TV
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DTN News - FINANCIAL NEWS: Global Markets Jump After Greek Vote Eases Fears

DTN News - FINANCIAL NEWS: Global Markets Jump After Greek Vote Eases Fears
*Global markets jump as Angela Merkel tells election victor Antonis Samaras she is confident Greece will abide by bailout pledges, and world leaders gather in Mexico for the G20.
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources The Globe & Mail
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - June 18, 2012: Asian stock markets were up sharply Monday after elections in Greece eased fears of global financial turmoil, but analysts warned that the economic crisis shaking the 17 nations that use the euro was far from over. Stock markets rejoiced at the narrow victory by Greek conservatives who favour upholding an austerity program that their recession-mired country entered into in exchange for a financial bailout from international lenders.

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 1.9 per cent at 8,731.57. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.6 per cent to 19,548.83. Australia’s S&P/ASX200 added 1.8 per cent to 4,129.20 and South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.1 per cent at 1,897.62.

On Wall Street, Dow Jones industrial average futures were up 62 points on Sunday night, suggesting the market could open higher Monday. The euro rose to $1.2700 (U.S.) from $1.2637 late Friday in New York. The U.S. dollar rose to 79.22 yen from 78.71 yen.

The New Zealand and Australian dollars were also higher. Both currencies typically rise when investors have more appetite for risk. The Australian dollar was trading above $1.01 and the New Zealand dollar was trading above 79 cents.

Masahiro Yamaguchi, a manager at Mizuho Securities Co. in Tokyo, said the perk in Tokyo stocks came from a sense of relief that the worst had been avoided in Greece.

“There’s is a rebound simply because the risks are now reduced,” he said. “There’s a sense that, at least, things are okay for now. The solution is far from basic.”

On Sunday, pro-bailout parties in Greece won enough seats to form a coalition government.

Greece has been dependent on rescue loans to operate since May 2010, after it was shut out of international markets following years of profligate spending and falsifying financial data.

The country is mired in a fifth year of recession, with unemployment spiralling above 22 per cent and tens of thousands of businesses shutting down.

Greece had to agree to austerity measures to get its bailout. Measures included deep spending cuts on everything from health care to education and infrastructure as well as tax hikes and cuts in salaries and pensions. Anger at the measures has sent Greeks into the streets in frequent strikes and protests, some of them violent.

Some analysts said the election results could overstate the willingness of Greeks to embrace austerity.

“Overall, the Greek election result, while welcome, does not imply that the Greek people are embracing the tough reforms tied to the bailout package. It merely meant that fear overruled anger,” analysts at DBS Bank Ltd. in Singapore wrote in a market commentary.

No one is sure how bad a Greek exit from the euro would have been. Greece would almost have certainly defaulted on its debt, triggering losses for European banks that own its government bonds. The outcome of the election, however tenuous, gives Greece a chance to breathe life into its moribund economy.

“It will be tough, but Greece will survive because I think the tourist industry and the agriculture sector will help it recover from its dire straits right now,” said Francis Lun, managing director of Lyncean Holdings in Hong Kong.

Japanese vehicle makers soared on hopes that Europe, a huge export market, would avoid deepening economic turbulence. Mazda Motor Corp. jumped 4 per cent and Yamaha Motor Co. gained 4.5 per cent.

Steelmakers and shipyards also gained ground. South Korea’s top shipbuilder, Hyundai Heavy Industries, rose 3.1 per cent. Japan’s JFE Holdings Inc. added 4 per cent and Kobe Steel rose 3.3 per cent.

Samsonite International SA rebounded 5.8 per cent after it issued a statement saying its luggage is safe, following a Hong Kong Consumer Council report last week that found carcinogens in the handles of some models, which caused its shares to dive 16 per cent.

But stock market operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. fell 2.8 per cent as investors worried a $2.2-billion bid announced last week for the London Metal Exchange was too high.

Benchmark oil for July delivery was up 91 cents to $84.94 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 12 cents to end at $84.03 a barrel in New York on Friday.

  DTN STOCK MARKET


*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources The Globe & Mail
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DTN News - GERMAN DEFENSE NEWS: Iran Blocks Merkel's Plane Enroute To India

DTN News - GERMAN DEFENSE NEWS: Iran Blocks Merkel's Plane Enroute To India

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Times of India

(NSI News Source Info) BERLIN, Germany- May 31, 2011: Iran temporarily withdrew flyover rights for the plane carrying German chancellor Angela Merkel to India on Tuesday, forcing it to circle over Turkey for two hours before the rights were restored and she could land in New Delhi.

"An unusual start to the India trip," Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert wrote on his Twitter account. "Iran temporarily denied flyover rights for the Chancellor's plane. A late landing in Delhi."

A Reuters journalist travelling with Merkel reported that Iran had withdrawn the previously granted rights shortly before the plan reached Iranian territory.

Officials in the German delegation travelling with Merkel attributed it to "coordination problems." The plane, carrying a large group of industry representatives and reporters, was forced to circle over Turkey before Iran gave it permission to fly over the country.

A second German government plane that left Berlin earlier reached India without any problems.

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources Times of India

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DTN News: Europe Faces Historic Test In Euro Crisis Says German Chancellor Angela Merkel

DTN News: Europe Faces Historic Test In Euro Crisis Says German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Source: DTN News / AP

(NSI News Source Info) BERLIN, Germany - May 19, 2010: Europe faces an "existential" test in its effort to shore up the euro, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday, as she pushed for tougher regulation of markets and tighter public finances across the region. Merkel told lawmakers that closer oversight of the financial world was needed to assert the "primacy of politics" amid the debt crisis. "It is about no more and no less than the preservation of the European idea," she told the lower house of parliament. "That is our historic task; if the euro fails, then Europe fails." Parliament was meeting to consider the euro750 billion ($1 trillion) rescue package to help eurozone nations avoid default -- with Germany to contribute at least euro123 billion in loan guarantees. It is expected to vote on Friday. Merkel made clear that the root cause of the debt crisis was insufficiently competitive countries living above their means. "Europe needs a new culture of stability," she said, with faster and more effective punishment for countries that habitually run excessive budget deficits. Those could include withholding European Union structural funds and temporarily withdrawing voting rights from repeat offenders, she added. Merkel said that markets, while not the original cause of the crisis, poured oil on the fire -- raising "the question of how we can assert the primacy of politics." It is up to governments and parliaments to intervene "to keep the risks controllable," she added. Merkel renewed a pledge to push for taxation of financial markets -- either a financial transaction tax or another form of levy -- in Europe and beyond. She pointed to her government's decision on Tuesday to ban so-called naked short-selling of eurozone government debt and shares of major financial companies, and said that would remain in place until wider European rules are drawn up. Naked short-selling involves a trader selling shares or investments he doesn't own. The move, which market regulator BaFin said was aimed at upholding financial stability, initially unsettled markets and helped push the euro down on Tuesday night. Parliament is considering the eurozone rescue package two weeks after a smaller, separate package for Greece, which was unpopular in Germany.

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DTN News: German Chancellor Angela Merkel Tells U.S. Congress Unacceptable For Iran To Have Nuclear Arms

DTN News: German Chancellor Angela Merkel Tells U.S. Congress Unacceptable For Iran To Have Nuclear Arms *Source: DTN News / Reuters (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON, USA - November 4, 2009: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that Iran must be prevented from obtaining a nuclear weapon and that the country must be shown that the West has zero tolerance on the matter.German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses a joint session of Congress as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden (L) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi listen on Capitol Hill in Washington, November 3, 2009. Merkel, who began her second term in office last week, is the first German leader to address the U.S. Congress since Konrad Adenauer in 1957. "Zero tolerance needs to be shown when there is a risk of weapons of mass destruction falling, for example, into the hands of Iran and threatening our security," Merkel said in translated remarks to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress. German Chancellor Angela Merkel smiles as she arrives to address a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, November 3, 2009. (REUTERS/Jason Reed) "Iran needs to be aware of this, Iran knows our offer but Iran also knows where we draw a line," Merkel said. Tehran and Washington have been at odds for years over Iran's nuclear program which Western powers fear is a covert effort to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has denies that and says it needs nuclear technology to generate electricity. Western powers have urged Iran to accept a draft deal in which it would send most of its low-enriched uranium abroad by the end of the year for further enrichment to turn it into fuel for a medical reactor in Tehran. However, on Monday an Iranian diplomat said additional talks were needed on the U.N.-drafted nuclear deal and that Tehran wants to import atomic fuel rather than send its own uranium abroad for processing. "A nuclear bomb in the hands of an Iranian president who denies the Holocaust, threatens Israel and denies Israel the right to exist is not acceptable," Merkel said, referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

DTN News: German Chancellor Angela Merkel Warns Iran Of Sanctions If No Progress On Nuclear Talks

DTN News: German Chancellor Angela Merkel Warns Iran Of Sanctions If No Progress On Nuclear Talks *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) BONN, Germany - August 22, 2009: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday Iran would face further economic sanctions from Western powers if it did not enter into meaningful talks on its nuclear programme. Merkel said new sanctions would likely target the Iranian energy sector.Mohamed El Baradei, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, attends a question & answer session with the press during the second day of the Leaders in Dubai Business Forum in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. For nearly a year, say diplomats, restricted documents on Iran's alleged nuclear weapons experiments have been sitting in a drawer of a U.N. nuclear monitoring agency, with access limited to only a few top officials. The question is whether they will soon see the light of day. The International Atomic Energy Agency plans to publish its latest report on Iran within two weeks. As that date approaches IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei is faced with the tough choice of publishing all his agency knows about Iran's alleged arms programs - or leaving the decision to his successor later this year.

Western powers will have to respond with further sanctions against Iran if there is no progress on nuclear talks, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a newspaper in remarks released on Thursday. She told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the focus of any new sanctions would be on the energy sector. “If there is no progress, we have to react with further sanctions. It is clear that there cannot be an atomic bomb in the hands of Tehran which has a president who constantly questions the existence of Israel,” she was quoted as saying. U.S. President Barack Obama has given Iran until September to take up a six-power offer of talks on trade benefits if it shelves sensitive nuclear enrichment, or face harsher sanctions. The United States and its allies may target gasoline imports if Tehran refuses to enter talks over its nuclear programme. The West suspects Iran aims to make nuclear bombs but Tehran insists it needs atomic fuel only for power plants. In this photo released by an official website of the Iranian supreme leader's office, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad, center, as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, listens, under a picture of the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, during their official meeting in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009. Iran, the world’s fifth-largest crude exporter, imports up to 40 percent of its gasoline. Asked what sort of sanctions the powers would consider, Merkel said: “Economic sanctions which hit the energy sector are up for debate but we will have to wait for the talks. We must talk with our partners Russia and China.” She added that Germany and its partners would have to decide in September on any further action, adding there was no noticeable progress on nuclear talks with Iran.

DTN News: German Chancellor Angela Merkel Still World's Most Powerful Woman: Forbes

DTN News: German Chancellor Angela Merkel Still World's Most Powerful Woman: Forbes

*Source: DTN News / AFP

(NSI News Source Info) NEW YORK, USA - August 20, 2009: German leader Angela Merkel and businesswomen dominate Forbes magazine's new list of powerful women, while First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton didn't break the top 30. German Chancellor Angela Merkel of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party waves during a CDU pre-election party on German's North Sea island Norderney on August 17, 2009. Merkel and businesswomen dominate Forbes magazine's new list of powerful women, while First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton didn't break the top 30. Merkel headed the list, published Wednesday, for the fourth year running, with the magazine highlighting her role as leader of the huge German economy and her likely re-election in September. Reflecting the world's focus on recession and the struggle to keep the financial markets afloat, Merkel was followed almost exclusively by businesswomen. In second place came Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, which insures US banks. Third was Indra Nooyi, chief executive at PepsiCo, then Cynthia Carroll, the chief executive of mining giant Anglo American, and Ho Ching, chief executive at Singapore's government investment company Temasek Holdings. Hillary Clinton slipped from 28 last year, when she was close to winning the Democratic presidential nomination to 36, despite heading the powerful US State Department. Michelle Obama came into the list for the first time. Although she has the ear of the US president around the clock, she ranked only 40. Below her, at 42, came Britain' Queen Elizabeth II. Herewith the full top 10 in the list on www.forbes.com/women : 1: Angela Merkel, chancellor. Germany 2: Sheila Bair, chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. US. 3: Indra Nooyi, chief executive, PepsiCo. US. 4: Cynthia Carroll, chief executive, Anglo American. UK. 5: Ho Ching, chief executive, Temasek Holdings. Singapore 6: Irene Rosenfeld, chief executive, Kraft Foods. US. 7: Ellen Kullman, chief executive, DuPont. US. 8: Angela Braly, chief executive, WellPoint. US. 9: Anne Lauvergeon, chief executive, Areva. France 10: Lynn Elsenhans, chief executive, Sunoco. US.

DTN News: Germany, Russia Hold Traditional Dialog Forum In Munich

DTN News: Germany, Russia Hold Traditional Dialog Forum In Munich *Source: DTN News / Int'l Media (NSI News Source Info) MUNICH, Germany - July 17, 2009: Politicians, business leaders and civil society experts from Germany and Russia are meeting in Munich for the "Petersburg Dialog," a key semi-annual event meant to strengthen ties between the two countries. Bavarian state premier Horst Seehofer, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev are welcomed by traditional Bavarian shooters during a reception at the Munich residence July 16, 2009. Medvedev and Merkel participate in Russian-German high-level consultations, the so called "Petersburg Dialogue". The talks this time are dominated by the global financial crisis that has hit the economies of both Germany and Russia. Under the motto, "Ways out of the Crisis," the three-day meeting in the southern German city will bring together trade and industry representatives from both countries. German Chancellor Angela Merkel will also meet Russian President Dimitry Medvedev on Thursday on the sidelines of the talks. Speaking at the opening of the event in Munich on Wednesday, Bavarian Premier Horst Seehofer said his state had a strong interest in good relations between Germany and Russia because a third of all German companies active in Russia are from Bavaria. Germany is Russia's single biggest trading partner with bilateral turnover amounting to around 43 billion euros ($60 billion) last year. Some 4,600 German firms have subsidiaries in Russia. "The crisis makes us realize how important close cooperation between both countries is. And I think, in future we need even closer cooperation," Seehofer said. "Towards that purpose, we've created an excellent basis for trust and mutual respect in the past years." "A new chapter of cooperation" Much of the work of the so-called "Petersburg Dialog" is done in eight working groups across the fields of politics, business, civil society and media. The groups bring together nearly 200 representatives from Russia and Germany. They provide impulses and ideas for projects as varied as a German-Russian youth exchange program to creating a network of experts to fight infectious diseases in both countries. The Petersburg dialogue was first launched six years ago by former Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. It's meant as an open discussion forum to lend new impetus to German-Russian relations in a wide range of sectors - from economics and politics to education and science, cultural relations and religion. The talks are supported by both political and private-sector foundations and private businesses in Germany and in Russia, as well as the two governments. "The Petersburg Dialog is a very good and illuminating example of what trust can achieve," Lothar de Maiziere, chairman of the dialog forum, told Deutsche Welle. "The core of the German-Russian partnership is the cooperation in areas where our common future is decided. Namely, in questions of upholding the law, education and science, the health sector and in making effective use of energy resources," de Maiziere said. "The new dialog should thus open a new chapter of cooperation between Russians and Germans." Civilian dialog the most important But the Petersburg Dialog, which is held twice a year, hasn't always been smooth. In 2005, Germany criticized a law passed by then Russian President Putin that put up hurdles for non-government organizations in the country. And last September, the talks held in St Petersburg were strained by the Caucasus conflict in South Ossetia and Georgia. The short war prompted the European Union to put its negotiations with Russia over a new Cooperation and Partnership Agreement on ice. In such times, according to Dmitrij Suslow from the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy, a Russian think-tank, civilian dialogue is even more necessary given that government contacts can become strained. "The civilian dialog - between companies, scientists, journalists, human right activists -- allows both sides to make their points," Suslow told Deutsche Welle. "Without this civil dialog, Russia would not be understood in Europe and will be continued to see as a danger - as a stirring Russian bear."

DTN News: Germany Is Poised to Sell Submarines to Pakistan

DTN News: Germany Is Poised to Sell Submarines to Pakistan *Sources: DTN News / Int'l Media *Analysis: Amazing and unbelievable for Germans are facing is how sensible it is to sell Pakistan high tech weapons when Pakistan is surviving on international aid and loan waviers. At the same time millions of people who are displaced in NWFP and the government can hardly maintain the cost! *DTN News: Pakistan Wants US To Write Off $1.35 Billion Loan....June 6, 2009 (Click here) *DTN News: Pakistan Asks World To Write Off All Loans Since 2005....June 4, 2009 (Click here) *DTN News: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Urges World To Fulfil Aid Pledges Of Half A Billion Dollars To Pakistan....May 30, 2009 (Click here) (NSI News Source Info) BERLIN, Germany - June 21, 2009: Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition will probably go ahead with the sale of three submarines to Pakistan, ignoring opposition concerns about the delivery of military hardware to the nuclear-armed state, two German government officials said. The Pakistan Navy is reportedly negotiating for the purchase of 3 Type 214 submarines, all of which to be built in Pakistan. During the IDEAS 2008 exhibition, the HDW chief Walter Freitag told “The commercial contract has been finalised up to 95 per cent,” he said. The first submarine would be delivered to the Pakistan Navy in 64 months after signing of the contract while the rest would be completed successively in 12 months. The Federal Security Council, a body made up of ministers that vets all military hardware sales, is prepared to back the sale of the Class 214 submarines made by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems AG, the officials said on condition of anonymity because the decision is not yet final. A Pakistani delegation including army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is in Berlin today for meetings with German officials. Opposition lawmakers are wary of sales to Pakistan as it struggles with Islamist radicals along the border with neighboring Afghanistan. “We have to ask ourselves whether such an unstable country really needs such submarine technology,” said Alexander Bonde, a Green Party lawmaker leading opposition to the sale in the lower house of parliament in Berlin. Bonde said a final decision will probably be made after German national elections Sept. 27. Taliban Offensive Pakistan has struggled in a seven-week campaign to push back radicals after Taliban fighters advanced to within 100 kilometers (60 miles) of the capital, Islamabad. The army is preparing to mount an offensive in South Waziristan to drive out militants from its northwest tribal areas. A Pakistani delegation visited Berlin several weeks ago to express interest in the submarines, said Muhammad Azam, a spokesman for the Pakistani embassy in Berlin. No official orders have yet been tendered, he said. A preliminary inquiry from Pakistan has been “positively assessed” by the German government, though no official request yet been processed, Economy Ministry spokesman Steffen Moritz said in a phone interview. Andrea Wessel, a spokeswoman for ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, a unit of Dusseldorf-based ThyssenKrupp AG, said the company wouldn’t comment on “ongoing projects.” “Pakistan’s interest in these submarines shows it still sees India as the traditional enemy, even though bilateral tensions have eased somewhat since 2004,” Christian Wagner, an analyst at the Berlin-based German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said in an interview. “The money would be better spent on equipping and training its land forces to combat terrorist insurgents.” The 65-meter (213-foot) submarines, non-nuclear vessels equipped with eight torpedo tubes, rely on a fuel-cell system to remain silent beneath the water for longer periods than previous models. ThyssenKrupp describes the vessels as having “extraordinarily developed stealth characteristics and an impressive weapon and sensor payload.”

DTN News: President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel Agree To Delay Decision On A400M Military Plane

DTN News: President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel Agree To Delay Decision On A400M Military Plane

*Sources: Int'l Media / AFP (NSI News Source Info) PARIS, France - June 12, 2009: France and Germany have decided to delay for six months a decision on the future of the problem-plagued Airbus A400M military transport plane, President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday. Tanker aircraft competition could reopen in July: GatesThe Pentagon could reopen a competition between Boeing and an EADS/Northrop Grumman team to replace the US military's aging fleet of air refueling aircraft as early as next month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday. Gates told lawmakers he expected to make a final decision within a week or 10 days on "the acquisition authority and the structure we're going to put into place to ensure that it is a fair, open and transparent process." The Pentagon's acquisition team hopes to put out a request for proposal "this summer, perhaps next month," he said. "Our hope is to probably try and get the RFP (request for proposal) out mid-summer." The Pentagon awarded the 35-billion-dollar contract for 179 aircraft to the EADS/Northrop Grumman team in February 2008, but Boeing successfully challenged the decision with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which recommended it be recompeted. "Part of the process I'm going through right now is to try and structure this in a way that puts the best people on this program and that provides a supervisory role," Gates said, adding he would ask his deputy to "take a very close interest in this process." Gates had initially said he expected competition for the politically sensitive contract to be reopened in the spring of 2009, and then in the summer. Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the fate of the plane being built by Airbus, a subsidiary of European aerospace giant EADS, during a meeting at the Elysee presidential palace. "We talked about the A400M and decided that it would be good to give ourselves a small delay of six months to continue discussions and to find the best possible solution," said Sarkozy at a joint news conference. The A400M was initially scheduled to start being delivered at the end of 2009 but the programme has suffered from a delay of at least three years and clients have threatened to cancel their orders. The military transport plane was unveiled last year but it has been hit by delays in building its massive turbo-prop engines, putting the 20-billion-euro (28-billion-dollar) project at risk. Spain, Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Turkey are participating in the A400M programme. "We are in full agreement... We will give ourselves a few more months and then we will see," said Merkel, who added that France and Germany "need a transport plane in any case." French Defence Minister Herve Morin said this month that there would likely be a meeting of ministers from the seven participating countries and EADS to renegotiate the delivery contracts.

DTN News: Germany TODAY June 10, 2009 - Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer On Official Visit In Berlin

DTN News: Germany TODAY June 10, 2009 - Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer On Official Visit In Berlin

*Source: DTN News

(NSI News Source Info) BERLIN, Germany - June 10, 2009: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer, the EU's current president, inspect a military honor guard on June 9, 2009 in front of the Chancellery in Berlin (in background can be seen the cupola of the Reichstag building housing the Bundestag, lower house of parliaments). They met for bilateral talks.

DTN News: US President Barack Obama Arrives At US military Airbase In Southern German City Of Ramstein

DTN News: US President Barack Obama Arrives At US military Airbase In Southern German City Of Ramstein

(NSI News Source Info) DRESDEN, Germany - June 6, 2009: US President Barack Obama arrives at the US military airbase in the southern German city of Ramstein on June 5, 2009.

U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel tour the Buchenwald Concentration Camp with the Crematorium in the background in Germany June 5, 2009. Pictured are concentration camp survivor Bertrand Herz, Merkel, Obama, and survivor Elie Weisel.

After policy talks and a news conference in Dresden, Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel travelled to Buchenwald, the former Nazi concentration camp where more than 56,000 prisoners died in horrendous conditions.

DTN News: US President Barack Obama With German Chancellor Angela Merkel In Germany

DTN News: US President Barack Obama With German Chancellor Angela Merkel In Germany

(NSI News Source Info) DRESDEN, Germnay - June 5, 2009: President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are seen prior to bilateral talks at the historical Green Vault in Dresden, Germany, Friday, June 5, 2009.

Obama, en route from Egypt to France, will visit Dresden, the former Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald and the US regional medical center in Landstuhl during his stopover in Germany.

Nato To Commit Up To 5,000 Extra Troops To Afghanistan

Nato To Commit Up To 5,000 Extra Troops To Afghanistan

(NSI News Source Info) STRASBOURG - April 4, 2009: The White House said Saturday its NATO allies would send up to 5,000 more troops to Afghanistan, in response to President Barack Obama's call for a greater alliance role. Obama's spokesman Robert Gibbs said the number would include 3,000 soldiers on short-term postings to provide security for the election later this year, including 900 from Britain, 600 from Germany and 600 from Spain. Front row from left, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, US President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Portugal's Prime Minister Jose Socrates, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and German Chancellor Angela Merkel wiat for the start of a group photo at the NATO summit. A further 1,400 to 2,000 soldiers would also be made available in 70 units of 20 to 40 troops each to form embedded training teams for Afghan army units. The White House also said the NATO summit in Strasbourg had agreed to establish an alliance mission to provide better training for the Afghan army and police force. Several nations would contribute more than 300 new para-military trainers and mentors for the struggling Afghan police service, the White House said in a fact sheet. The alliance, meeting in its 60th anniversary summit, also agreed to expand a fund to sustain the Afghan army and to make a downpayment of more than 100 million dollars. FROM THE SUMMIT PROCEEDINGS

Nato leaders sought new ways to tackle the Taliban in Afghanistan at the alliance's 60th anniversary summit on Saturday, as differences festered over its future secretary general. After a minute's silence to mark the fallen in allied operations from the Balkans to Afghanistan, leaders meeting in Strasbourg set their minds on ways to provide security for key Afghan elections in August. ‘We can't allow ourselves to lose,’ France's President Nicolas Sarkozy declared at the opening session of the talks on Afghanistan. ‘Over there, the freedom of part of the world is at stake.’ ‘Afghanistan is a real test of our credibility,’ added summit co-host Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, insisting that international terrorist groups must not again be allowed to set up Afghan safe havens. The hosts were responding in part to calls from US President Barack Obama, who has used his first diplomatic tour of Europe to call for his reluctant European allies to step up their involvement in the Afghan war. There are 70,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, mostly under Nato command, battling Taliban-led rebels, whose tenacious rebellion is spreading from the rugged and lawless tribal regions around the border with Pakistan. Obama has decided to send 21,000 extra US troops and is considering deploying 10,000 more, while asking Europe to contribute by providing more soldiers as well as civilian support staff to train the police. Sarkozy, who earlier met his Nato counterparts at the centre of a monumental footbridge connecting France and Germany, used the occasion to announce France's return to the alliance's military command. The meeting also honoured Albania and Croatia who this week became the 28-strong bloc's newest members. ‘Welcome to Nato, we are excited about your participation,’ Obama said, greeting the new states. ‘It is a measure of our vitality that we are still welcoming new members.’ Despite this optimism, the session was delayed for more than an hour as the leaders huddled in an impromptu meeting to try to overcome Turkish objections to Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as next head of Nato. Obama held an hour-long telephone conversation with Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Saturday and the two men were joined on the line by Rasmussen, Turkish news agency Anatolia reported. Outside, demonstrators disrupted proceedings, blocking some routes to the summit venue, while Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi held up events in what appeared to be his latest diplomatic gaffe. Arriving on the German side of the Rhine River to be greeted on a red carpet Merkel before the walk to the French side, the Italian leader left his car still talking on his mobile telephone. He turned his back on his host and walked to the river bank still talking. Merkel appeared at first amused and then exasperated, and the others left Berlusconi behind to cross for the bridge ceremony. Following two days of attempts to breach the security cordon around the summit, anti-war protesters split into smaller groups and attempted to block several road junctions throughout the French city. Riot police fired tear gas to repulse a group of 1,000 protesters who tried to cross a bridge into the city centre, but another group managed to breach the outer security perimeter and block a tramline serving the venue. There were 25 arrests in the early clashes, which followed two days of violence on both sides of the Rhine.