Latest news with #Deutschlandfunk
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Experts: Berlin-Warsaw ties will suffer after Nawrocki's election win
Relations between Berlin and Warsaw could suffer after conservative Karol Nawrocki won Poland's presidential election, German foreign policy experts warned on Monday. Lawmaker Paul Ziemiak said cooperation between Germany and Poland is "fundamentally important" for Europe. However, Ziemiak told the Deutschlandfunk radio station that the relationship could become strained after Nawrocki's victory in Sunday's election. "It will not be easier with this new president, Karol Nawrocki," said Ziemiak, who leads the German-Polish parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament. During the election campaign, Nawrocki argued that Germany could never be trusted, Agniezka Lada-Konefal from the German Institute of Polish Affairs told dpa. Nawrocki, a conservative historian, pledged he would fight for World War II reparations from Germany, an issue that has long proved contentious between the two countries. As head of state, Nawrocki will not be able to initiate any concrete steps on reparations, but he can influence the atmosphere in bilateral relations with his rhetoric, said Lada-Konefal. Furthermore, she said the result will likely make life difficult for Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who could struggle to pass his reform agenda due to Nawrocki's veto power. Tusk is seen as close to Germany's new Chancellor Friedrich Merz, with the pair having already held several meetings since the latter took office last month. Lada-Konefal said Tusk will have to "avoid any positive movements in the direction of Germany" ahead of parliamentary elections in 2027. "Major German-Polish initiatives are therefore not to be expected," she argued.
DW
21-05-2025
- Politics
- DW
Merz sees no signs that war in Ukraine will end soon – DW – 05/21/2025
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz does not see any indication that the war in Ukraine will end soon, while Defense Minister Boris Pistorius urged further action to cut off Russia's financial lifelines. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday dampened expectations of a quick end to the war in Ukraine. "There are currently no signs that this war will end quickly," Merz said in Berlin. However, when mentioning diplomatic efforts to end the war, he referred to the potential mediation of the pope as "the last earthly authority." Merz said one could only hope that it would at least be possible to bring the conflicting parties together for a constructive discussion in the Vatican. The chancellor also emphasized the importance of Germany playing an "active, supportive, strong" role in the peace efforts. Trump: 'This is not my war' Merz's remarks follow Monday's telephone conversation between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump-Putin call fails to yield Ukraine ceasefire To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video After the call, Trump wrote that Russia and Ukraine would "immediately start negotiations toward a ceasefire and, more importantly, an end to the war." He also mentioned that the Vatican said it would be very interested in hosting the negotiations. Trump reiterated his warning that he could abandon the process to seek a ceasefire if there is no progress in the talks. "This is not my war," he told reporters. On Tuesday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that Pope Leo XIV had confirmed the Vatican's willingness to host peace talks between the two sides. The Vatican has not issued a public statement on the matter. Trump misjudged influence on Putin, Pistorius says Meanwhile, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Trump misjudged his influence on Putin. "I suspect he assessed his negotiating position incorrectly," Pistorius told the Deutschlandfunk public radio broadcaster, referring to Trump's apparently abandoned efforts to pressure Putin into accepting an unconditional 30-day ceasefire. "Nothing is really happening. It's all new places, new timelines — and it just means Vladimir Putin can continue his attacks on Ukraine. But there is no peace in sight," Pistorius said. Since the phone call between the Russian and US presidents yielded no progress in the Ukraine peace talks, Europe was prompted to announce new sanctions on Russia. EU plans new sanctions to deflate Putin's war chest To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Pistorius urged further action to cut off Russia's financial lifelines. "The goal must be to curb the considerable flow of money into Russia's state coffers, which helps finance the war," he said. The German defense minister argued that only by doing so can the West effectively degrade Russia's ability to sustain its war in Ukraine, citing revenues from Russian oil and gas exports as an example. Pistorius also stressed the need to bolster Ukraine's rearmament efforts, noting that the country has production capacity in its arms industry but lacks the funding to utilize it fully. "We will step in together and fill these capacity gaps," Pistorius said. Edited by: Sean Sinico
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
German defence minister calls for clampdown on Russia's war financing
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius on Wednesday urged further action to cut off Russia's financial lifelines, following the European Union's adoption of its latest sanctions package against Moscow. The goal must be to curb "the still considerable flow of money into Russia's state coffers, which helps finance the war in the first place," Pistorius told Deutschlandfunk radio. Only by doing so, he argued, can the West effectively worsen Russia's ability to sustain its war in Ukraine, pointing to revenues from Russian oil and gas exports. He also stressed the need to boost Ukraine's rearmament efforts, saying the country has available production capacity in its arms industry but lacks sufficient funding to fully utilize it. "We will step in together and fill these capacity gaps," Pistorius said. The minister expressed scepticism over the latest diplomatic overtures involving US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two leaders spoke by phone on Monday following a series of meetings by their advisers. "Nothing is really happening," he said. "It's all new places, new timelines - and it just means Vladimir Putin can continue his attacks on Ukraine. But there is no peace in sight." On Tuesday, EU member states approved a 17th round of sanctions against Russia. The new measures include tighter controls on the so-called Russian "shadow fleet" used to transport oil and oil products. The ships help Moscow evade Western oil-price caps.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Berlin justice minister: Debate on banning far-right AfD premature
Public debate over a ban on the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is premature in the view of Felor Badenberg, justice minister in the city of Berlin and a former vice-president of Germany's federal domestic intelligence agency (BfV). Badenberg said she expected the AfD, which was on Friday designated as "confirmed right-wing extremist" by the intelligence agency, to take legal action against the designation. The classification has implications for how the party is monitored by the intelligence services. Speaking to national public radio Deutschlandfunk, she noted that this could drag on for years. Politicians should start considering the issue only after the courts had ruled on the designation, Badenberg said. On Friday, the BfV said in a lengthy report that there was now concrete evidence that the anti-immigrant party pursued efforts that threaten Germany's democratic order and that its understanding of the German nation as based on ethnicity and descent was incompatible with Germany's free democratic order. The AfD has charged that the decision is not based on evidence. Badenberg rejected criticism of the BfV decision from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said on Friday: "Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition. That's not democracy - it's tyranny in disguise." She told Deutschlandfunk that she could see nothing anti-democratic in the BfV designation.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
FTSE 100 LIVE: Stocks plunge into the red as Trump's 104% China tariffs take effect
The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European stocks fell sharply on Wednesday as the latest set of US tariffs, including a huge 104% levy on Chinese imports, took effect. China has vowed to take 'firm and forceful' steps to protect its interests, with Beijing's foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian insisting that 'the Chinese people's legitimate right to development is inalienable." Lin said: 'China's sovereignty, security and development interests are inviolable. We will continue to take firm and forceful measures to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests.' According to Donald Trump, other countries are keen to try to negotiate a deal, with delegations from Japan and South Korea en route to Washington. Meanwhile German finance minister Joerg Kukies said Europe's largest economy was at risk of another recession as a result of the trade tensions. There is growing friction within the President's Maga coalition, after billionaire Elon Musk called Trump's tariffs guru 'dumber than a sack of bricks' over his suggestion that Tesla (TSLA) vehicles are not made in America. London's benchmark index (^FTSE) was 2.4% down in morning trade Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) dipped 1.7% and the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris headed 1.8% into the red The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) lost 2.2% Wall Street is set for a muted start to the day as S&P 500 futures (ES=F), Dow futures (YM=F) and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were all treading water The pound was 0.2% higher against the US dollar (GBPUSD=X) at 1.2789 Follow along for live updates throughout the day: Germany is at risk of another recession thanks to US president Donald Trump's tariff war, the finance minister for Europe's largest economy said. Joerg Kukies told the Deutschlandfunk radio station on Wednesday: 'A possible trade conflict increases the risk of recession, there is no question about that.' Germany has already suffered two consecutive years of recession, and a third would mark an historically long downturn. The latest set of US tariffs, including a huge 104% levy on Chinese imports, have taken effect as of today. China has vowed to take 'firm and forceful' steps to protect its interests, with Beijing's foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian insisting that 'the Chinese people's legitimate right to development is inalienable." Lin said: 'China's sovereignty, security and development interests are inviolable. We will continue to take firm and forceful measures to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests.' According to Donald Trump other countries are keen to try to negotiate a deal, with delegations from Japan and South Korea en route to Washington. Stocks had across the globe on Tuesday, with indexes up 6% in Tokyo, 2.5% in Paris and 1.6% in Shanghai. However any optimism or buying enthusiasm soon dissipated as Trump's tariffs became reality. Japan's Nikkei 225 (^N225) slumped around 4% on the day, while other Asian shares were mostly lower on Wednesday as the latest set of US tariffs, including a massive 104% levy on Chinese imports, took effect. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng (^HSI) gained 1.2% while the Shanghai Composite index ( edged 1.3% higher amid reports that Beijing would step in to support the market. South Korea's Kospi (^KS11) lost 1.7% while the S&P/ASX 200 (^AXJO) in Australia declined 1.8pc. Shares in New Zealand also fell. It came as Wall Street stocks tumbled across the pond again last night as initially successful efforts yesterday to rebound from big losses faded amid worries over Donald Trump's trade war. All three major indexes finished firmly in the red, with the S&P 500 (^GSPC) shedding 1.6% to 4,982.77, its first close below 5,000 points in nearly a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) ended 0.8% down at 37,645.59, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) shed 2.2% to 15,267.91. Good morning, and welcome back to our markets live blog. As usual we will be taking a deep dive into what's moving markets and happening across the global economy. Here's a quick look at what's on the agenda for today: 7am: Trading updates: JD Sports, Saga, Oxford Biomedica, Audioboom Group 12pm: US MBA Mortgage Applications 2.30pm: US Crude Oil Inventories 3.30pm: US Wholesales Inventories 7pm: US FOMC Interest Rate MinutesGermany is at risk of another recession thanks to US president Donald Trump's tariff war, the finance minister for Europe's largest economy said. Joerg Kukies told the Deutschlandfunk radio station on Wednesday: 'A possible trade conflict increases the risk of recession, there is no question about that.' Germany has already suffered two consecutive years of recession, and a third would mark an historically long downturn. The latest set of US tariffs, including a huge 104% levy on Chinese imports, have taken effect as of today. China has vowed to take 'firm and forceful' steps to protect its interests, with Beijing's foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian insisting that 'the Chinese people's legitimate right to development is inalienable." Lin said: 'China's sovereignty, security and development interests are inviolable. We will continue to take firm and forceful measures to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests.' According to Donald Trump other countries are keen to try to negotiate a deal, with delegations from Japan and South Korea en route to Washington. Stocks had across the globe on Tuesday, with indexes up 6% in Tokyo, 2.5% in Paris and 1.6% in Shanghai. However any optimism or buying enthusiasm soon dissipated as Trump's tariffs became reality. Japan's Nikkei 225 (^N225) slumped around 4% on the day, while other Asian shares were mostly lower on Wednesday as the latest set of US tariffs, including a massive 104% levy on Chinese imports, took effect. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng (^HSI) gained 1.2% while the Shanghai Composite index ( edged 1.3% higher amid reports that Beijing would step in to support the market. South Korea's Kospi (^KS11) lost 1.7% while the S&P/ASX 200 (^AXJO) in Australia declined 1.8pc. Shares in New Zealand also fell. It came as Wall Street stocks tumbled across the pond again last night as initially successful efforts yesterday to rebound from big losses faded amid worries over Donald Trump's trade war. All three major indexes finished firmly in the red, with the S&P 500 (^GSPC) shedding 1.6% to 4,982.77, its first close below 5,000 points in nearly a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) ended 0.8% down at 37,645.59, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) shed 2.2% to 15,267.91. Good morning, and welcome back to our markets live blog. As usual we will be taking a deep dive into what's moving markets and happening across the global economy. Here's a quick look at what's on the agenda for today: 7am: Trading updates: JD Sports, Saga, Oxford Biomedica, Audioboom Group 12pm: US MBA Mortgage Applications 2.30pm: US Crude Oil Inventories 3.30pm: US Wholesales Inventories 7pm: US FOMC Interest Rate Minutes Sign in to access your portfolio
