Germany

17 May 2023; MEMO: Two Turkish journalists were released several hours after their arrest by the German police on Wednesday, sparking a diplomatic row between Ankara and Berlin, Anadolu News Agency reports.

BERLIN, May 17. /TASS/: Germany doesn’t have the planes and other capabilities required to be part of a coalition for the supply of fighter jets to Ukraine, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Wednesday.

"We can’t play an active role in this alliance, this coalition because we don’t have training capabilities, expertise or planes," he said at a joint news conference with his UK counterpart Ben Wallace in Berlin.

BERLIN (AP) — A top official at the German economy and climate ministry resigned Wednesday following accusations that he was involved in choosing his best man to head the federally owned German Energy Agency and signed off on financial support for a project in which his sister was involved

Patrick Graichen was one of Economy Minister Robert Habeck’s closest aides and had been in charge of developing and implementing the government’s energy policies with the goal of achieving net zero emissions in Germany in 2045.

BERLIN (AP) — A German court on Tuesday convicted five men over the theft of 18th-century jewels worth more than 100 million euros from a Dresden museum in 2019.

They were sentenced to prison sentences of between four years and four months and six years and three months, German news agency dpa reported. One defendant was acquitted.

11 May 2023; AA: Germany's retail sector is set to shrink with 9,000 shops and small businesses expected to close in 2023, according to the Handlesverband Deutschland, the national retail association of Germany.

According to figures from 2021, the country's retail sector is Germany’s third-largest – accounting for 17% of its gross domestic product.

BERLIN, May 14 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday Kyiv and its Western supporters could make a Russian defeat in the war in Ukraine "irreversible" as early as this year and thanked Germany for being a "true friend" during a visit to Berlin.

Zelenskiy secured a large military boost on his visit, with the German government announcing a 2.7 billion euro ($3 billion) of military aid to Ukraine on Saturday, its biggest such package since Russia's invasion in February last year.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany will provide Ukraine with additional military aid worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition, the government said Saturday.

The announcement came on the eve of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s first visit to Germany since Russia invaded his country last year.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Berlin wanted to show with the latest package of arms “that Germany is serious in its support” for Ukraine.

BERLIN (AP) — Voters are going to the polls in Germany’s northern state of Bremen on Sunday to decide whether the center-left Social Democrats should continue to run a city they’ve governed since World War II.

The party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz came second behind its conservative rivals for the first time in 70 years at the last election, but retained power with the help of the Greens and Left party.

BERLIN (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that his country is preparing a counteroffensive designed to liberate areas occupied by Russia, not to attack Russian territory.

Speaking during a news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s goal is to free the territories within its internationally recognized borders.

13 May 2023; AA: Germany will provide Ukraine with a new €2.7 billion ($2.97 billion) military aid package, local media reported on Saturday.

The biggest military aid package to date will include 30 Leopard 1 battle tanks, 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 15 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, and around 100 armored vehicles, according to the weekly Der Spiegel.