Germany

BERLIN (AP) — Thousands of police officers carried out raids across much of Germany on Wednesday against suspected far-right extremists who allegedly sought to overthrow the government in an armed coup. Officials said 25 people were detained.

Federal prosecutors said some 3,000 officers conducted searches at 130 sites in 11 of Germany’s 16 states. While police raids against the far right are not uncommonin the country — still sensitive to its grim Nazi past — the scale of the operation was unusual.

BERLIN, Dec 5 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned against creating a new Cold War by dividing the world into blocs and called for every effort to be made to build new partnerships, writing in an opinion piece for Foreign Affairs magazine published online on Monday.

The West must stand up for democratic values and protect open societies, "but we must also avoid the temptation to once again divide the world into blocs," wrote Scholz in the piece.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Oil prices rose Monday as the first strong measures to limit Russia’s oil profits over the war in Ukraine took effect, bringing with them uncertainty about how much crude could be lost to the global economy through the new sanctions or Russian retaliation.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The Saudi-led OPEC oil cartel and allied producing countries, including Russia, are expected to decide how much oil to supply to the global economy amid weakening demand in China and uncertainty about the impact of new Western sanctions against Russia that could take significant amounts of oil off the market.

BERLIN, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Germany is preparing to deliver seven Gepard tanks to Ukraine, adding to the 30 air-defence tanks that are already being used to fight against the Russian army, according to a German government website.

According to Spiegel magazine, which first reported the number of additional tanks, the seven Gepards, which were initially destined for the scrap pile, should arrive in Ukraine in Spring 2023 and are currently being repaired by Munich-based arms manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW).

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s parliament on Wednesday approved a resolution recognizing as genocide Ukraine’s 1930s “Holodomor,” a famine believed to have killed more than 3 million Ukrainians under the repressive rule of Soviet leader Josef Stalin.

The resolution was brought to the lower house, or Bundestag, by the three parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition and the main opposition bloc. After a debate attended by Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, it passed with their support in a show of hands, while the two other opposition parties abstained.

29 Nov 2022; MEMO: Germany's Economics Minister on Tuesday welcomed the term of an agreement with Qatar on deliveries of liquefied natural gas to Germany, calling it "super", Anadolu News Agency reports.

"Fifteen years is great," said Robert Habeck, at an industry conference in Berlin, adding that the duration could also have been an even longer contract.

Referring to the 15-year term, he said Germany wants to become climate neutral by 2045.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany and France pledged Friday to provide each other mutual support in preventing a possible energy crisis after supplies from Russia dried up amid the war in Ukraine.

As part of a joint agreement signed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, Germany will provide France with electricity while getting much-needed natural gas in return.

“Friends help each other in need,” Scholz said after the signing ceremony in Berlin.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s socially liberal government is moving ahead with plans to ease the rules for obtaining citizenship in the European Union’s most populous country, a drive that is being assailed by the conservative opposition.

Chancellor OIaf Scholz said in a video message Saturday that Germany has long since become “the country of hope” for many, and it’s a good thing when people who have put down roots in the country decide to take citizenship.

“Germany needs better rules for the naturalization of all these great women and men,” Scholz said.

BERLIN/WARSAW, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Germany said on Friday it was discussing with allies Poland's request that German Patriot air defence units be sent to Ukraine, after NATO's chief suggested the military alliance might not oppose such a move.

"We are talking with our allies about how to handle Poland's ... suggestion," a German government spokesperson told reporters in Berlin.