Latest news with #AndreasRinke
Japan Today
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Germany set to defend NATO neighbors with new brigade in Lithuania
By Andreas Rinke and Sabine Siebold Germany and its NATO partners are prepared to defend every inch of the alliance's territory, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday at a military ceremony in Vilnius to mark the establishment of a German brigade in Lithuania. The thousands-strong brigade on NATO's eastern flank is part of European efforts to strengthen the region's defenses in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump on allies to invest more in their own security. "Anyone who challenges NATO must know that we are prepared. Anyone who threatens an ally must know that the entire alliance will jointly defend every inch of NATO territory," Merz told delegates at a roll call for the new 45 Armoured Brigade. "Protecting Vilnius is protecting Berlin," he added, telling a crowd of cheering onlookers waving paper flags for the two nations that Lithuanians could count on Germany. Merz was joined at the ceremony by his Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, as well as Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, who said Russia and Belarus had conducted military exercises on his country's border. The three Baltic states, linked to NATO's main territory only by a narrow corridor known as the Suwalki Gap, are considered one of the regions most vulnerable to a Russian assault. The German brigade will be headquartered in Rudninkai, near the capital Vilnius. Some 400 German military staff personnel have already moved to Lithuania to set up the brigade, which will comprise 4,800 troops and 2,000 vehicles, including dozens of tanks, when it will be fully operational by the end of 2027. INVESTMENT BOOM Merz said Russia was a threat to European peace and order, through its war in Ukraine and its hybrid attacks across Europe, including espionage, sabotage and cyber-attacks. Germany is aware of its own responsibility, Merz said, promising to modernize the Bundeswehr, Germany's long-neglected army, a pledge his predecessor Olaf Scholz also made after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. "Our goal is to provide in future all financial means necessary for the Bundeswehr to become Europe's strongest conventional army," Merz said. Since 2017, Germany has led a multi-national battle group in Lithuania, one of four such combat units set up by NATO in the Baltic states and Poland to bolster its eastern flank following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. As part of Germany's pledge to modernize its armed forces, the country in March loosened its constitutional debt brake to fund a surge in defense spending. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also backed Trump's demand to hike NATO's defense spending to 5% of GDP. NATO estimates indicate that Germany's defense spending was 2.12% of GDP last year, up from 1.19% in 2014. Lithuania, which is expected to spend more than 3% of its GDP on defense this year, has announced plans to hike defense spending to over 5% of GDP from next year, partly to pay for the construction of the base for the incoming German troops, estimated at over 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion). © Thomson Reuters 2025.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
French, German leaders call on EU to scrap supply chain audit law
By Andreas Rinke, Sarah Marsh and Kate Abnett BERLIN/BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The leaders of France and Germany have called on the European Union to scrap its new supply chain audit law, worried that it could hurt the bloc's ability to compete economically with the U.S. and China. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday the law, which requires larger companies in the bloc to check if their supply chains use forced labour or cause environmental damage, should be taken "off the table". His comments came 10 days after Germany's Friedrich Merz called for the law to be scrapped during his first visit as chancellor to Brussels. European bureaucracy has come increasingly under fire as U.S. President Donald Trump's administration sets about fulfilling his campaign promise of deregulation. "Clearly we are very aligned now with Chancellor Merz and some other colleagues to go much faster, and (the supply chain law) and some other regulations have not just to be postponed for one year, but put out of the table," Macron told business executives gathered for an investment summit in Versailles. Under pressure from France, which circulated a proposal in January to slow down the implementation of green regulations and indefinitely delay the CSDDD, the EU Commission had already proposed cuts to the law to reduce red tape for European businesses. But before France and Germany's interventions, a full repeal was not on the table, EU diplomats said. In current form, the CSDDD would start imposing obligations from 2027 on companies to find and fix human rights and environmental issues in their supply chains. EU countries are negotiating the proposed changes to the policy, and had hoped to strike a deal in coming months. The elections in February in Europe's largest economy however, bringing to power in Germany economic liberal Merz, has shifted the tone of the discourse. Merz, the author of 2008 book "Dare more capitalism" who spent years working in the private sector, has called for reduced bureaucracy in Germany and in the EU. It remained unclear if this was the German government's position, given differences within the coalition between Merz's conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats. The SPD co-leader has pointed to the two parties' coalition treaty, which calls for eliminating the German supply chain audit law but keeping a reformed EU one. "Just because the French President expresses his opinion doesn't mean that the SPD changes its position," said SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch on Tuesday. "We see the need for supply chains to be legally regulated at the European level."
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Germany taps utility executive Reiche for economy minister
By Andreas Rinke BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's conservative party on Monday named utility executive Katherina Reiche as the country's next economy minister and foreign policy expert Johann Wadephul as foreign minister, as part of a raft of appointments. Germany's CDU/CSU conservatives under Friedrich Merz clinched a coalition deal with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) earlier this month, aiming to revive growth in Europe's largest economy just as a global trade war threatens recession. The deal accorded Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU) the economy and foreign ministries, their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) the interior ministry and the SPD the defence and finance ministries. A former lawmaker, Reiche has been CEO of regional energy infrastructure firm Westenergie - a division of Europe's largest operator of power grids - since early 2020. Reiche, 51, served as a member of Germany's parliament from 1998 until 2015 and held roles as parliamentary secretary at the environment and transport ministries. Wadephul, a member of Germany's parliament since 2009, will succeed Annalena Baerbock of the Greens in the position. He is deputy leader of the CDU/CSU conservative faction in parliament responsible for foreign and defence topics.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Battered by polls, tariffs and allies, Germany's Merz seeks to regain agenda
By Andreas Rinke and Thomas Escritt BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's would-be Chancellor Friedrich Merz sought to recapture the political agenda on Monday, promising renewed focus on competitiveness after a bruising weekend that saw the far-right draw level in a poll with his conservatives for the first time. His comment, after carping from allies at a seeming willingness to concede too much to his intended Social Democrat partners, came in response to alarm at the tariff-induced chaos engulfing financial markets. Germany's main equity index plunged 10% at Monday's opening in reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, heightening pressure on Merz to form a government. "The situation on the international equity and bond markets is dramatic and threatens to get worse," he told Reuters. "It's more important than ever for Germany to restore its competitiveness. That must be at the heart of coalition talks." That promise, at the start of a crunch week of coalition talks, appeared designed to soothe restive party members and conservative voters, many of whom are aghast at what they see as too many potential concessions for the sake of a coalition. Soon after winning the February 23 national election, Merz pushed through a constitutional amendment allowing Germany to take on as much as a trillion euros in new debt with the help of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats and the Greens. Merz campaigned as an heir to the fiscal rigour that has characterised German governments for decades, and blocked attempts by Scholz's outgoing government to raise more money for infrastructure and the military. FAR-RIGHT DRAWS LEVEL A poll on Sunday showed the far-right Alternative for Germany, the election runners-up, drawing level with his conservatives - the first time in the post-war era that a far-right party has topped polls. Criticism came from the leader of his party's own youth wing, Johannes Winkel, who said Merz's credibility was at stake over election promises. "We can't carry on as before," Winkel told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. "Especially in the key election themes: migration, the economy, cutting red tape. Merz has to pay back that debt," he added, hinting that he might oppose a deal that failed to deliver on those. Both parties say they want to finalise the coalition agreement this week to allow the SPD time to poll members. Merz's earlier promise of a government by Easter is starting to drift out of reach. If a coalition deal is not reached, Merz would face a choice between going back on his pledge never to govern with the far-right, forming a minority government that would rely on ad hoc deals for parliamentary majorities, or calling new elections. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Merz and SPD try to narrow differences in German coalition talks
By Andreas Rinke BERLIN (Reuters) - Working groups for Germany's election-winning conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats will submit findings on a possible coalition on Monday, a step toward forming a government and bridging differences over issues such as migration. Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz wants to forge a ruling coalition with the SPD by April 20 but both sides have emphasised getting the substance of the talks right rather than toiling under self-imposed deadlines. The two parties received a boost last week when the outgoing parliament approved plans for a huge state borrowing programme designed to revive economic growth in Europe's largest economy and build up its armed forces. The conservatives and the SPD are likely to be the only viable coalition prospects in the new parliament, whose term begins on Tuesday. But differences remain that are mostly being hashed out behind closed doors. The SPD has doubts over Merz's plans for tougher migration controls that include turning away asylum seekers at the border. For their part, the conservatives want to reform welfare payments and find savings in the budget, but the SPD has qualms over how deep the changes could go. "I assume that everyone will naturally want to continue working with concentration, but we also don't want to put ourselves under time pressure," SPD General Secretary Matthias Miersch told RTL/ntv. After winning elections last month, Merz had urged forming a coalition quickly, warning it is "five minutes to midnight" for Europe to fend for itself against a hostile Russia and with the U.S. no longer seen as a reliable ally. Merz's tougher stance on migration reflects a changing political landscape, where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has surged to become the country's second-largest party. Adding to the sense of the AfD breathing down the necks of the mainstream players, according to the latest poll by INSA on Sunday, the AfD climbed one percentage point to 23% support while Merz's bloc of Christian Democrats and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) fell by one point to 27%. The poll also showed that nearly three-quarters of traditionally thrifty Germans, including 44% of supporters of the CDU/CSU, felt deceived by his borrowing plans. The CDU/CSU has long cast itself as a guardian of financial prudence and during the election cautioned against opening the taps, only for Merz to unveil massive borrowing plans after winning the February 23 vote. (Writing by Matthias Williams; editing by Mark Heinrich)
