Germany

26 Jan 2022; MEMO: A German federal court has described as "unconstitutional" the city of Munich's refusal to allow a public venue to be used for a debate on its 2017 anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions resolution, The Electronic Intifada has reported. The court ruled that the resolution "violates the fundamental right to freedom of expression."

BERLIN, Jan 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A German woman who travelled to Syria as a 15-year-old to join the Daesh group goes on trial on Tuesday accused of aiding and abetting crimes against humanity.

Leonora Messing, now aged 21, is in the dock in the eastern German city of Halle on suspicion that she and her Daesh husband enslaved a Yazidi woman in Syria in 2015.

During the course of the trial scheduled to last until at least mid-May and being held behind closed doors, Messing will also face charges of membership of a terrorist organisation and weapons law violations.

BERLIN, Jan 25 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said he would seek clarification over Russia's intentions towards Ukraine in a phone call with President Vladimir Putin on Friday amid rising fears of an attack by the Kremlin on its former Soviet republic.

Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stressed their support for Ukraine in a joint news conference on Tuesday in Berlin and reiterated their position that Russia would pay a high price if it attacked its smaller neighbour.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s refusal to join other NATO members in providing weapons to Ukraine has annoyed some allies and raised questions about Berlin’s resolve in standing up to Russia.

The issue rose to the fore over the weekend following a report that Berlin had gone so far as to block Estonia from supplying old German howitzers to Kyiv to help defend itself against Russian troops massing near the Ukrainian the border.

BERLIN (AP) — A lone gunman opened fire during a lecture at Heidelberg University in southwestern Germany on Monday and wounded four people, some of them seriously, before killing himself, police said.

The man opened fire with a long-barreled firearm in a lecture hall and then fled outside, police said. They stressed that they believe he was acting alone and there was no longer any danger.

There was no immediate word on a possible motive. Officers at the scene could be seen examining two firearms and a bag.

BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Germany’s 16 state governors decided Monday to keep existing coronavirus restrictions in place and examine how best to use increasingly strained PCR test capacities as the highly contagious omicron variant fuels a steep rise in infections.

Germany has hit a series of daily infection records over the past two weeks as omicron has spread. On Monday, the national disease control center said 840.3 new cases per 100,000 residents have been recorded over the past week. The health minister has said he expects the numbers to peak in mid-February.

BERLIN, Jan 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Germany’s navy chief stepped down on Saturday after drawing criticism for saying Russian President Vladimir Putin deserved respect and that Kyiv would never win back annexed Crimea from Moscow.

“I have asked Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht to relieve me from my duties with immediate effect,” Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schoenbach said in a statement.

“The minister has accepted my request.”

BERLIN, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The German government on Saturday distanced itself from comments made by its navy chief after video footage emerged in which the vice-admiral said Russian President Vladimir Putin deserved respect and that Kyiv would never win back annexed Crimea from Moscow.

German Navy Chief Kay-Achim Schoenbach apologized for his "rash" comments, published on YouTube and widely circulated on German media, and called them a mistake.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Delegates from the party of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel endorsed prominent conservative Friedrich Merz as the Christian Democratic Union’s new leader Saturday as the center-right party seeks to redefine itself.

Merz received 94.6% of the vote from 983 delegates who cast ballots during an online party convention. The vote was mostly a formality since he won 62.1% in balloting among the party membership in December, defeating two centrist contenders.

BERLIN, Jan 21 (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock expressed scepticism about cutting Russian banks off from the Swift global payments system in an interview with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

"Decoupling all payment transactions would perhaps be the biggest stick, but not necessarily the sharpest sword," she told the paper.

She said Western countries were looking very closely at which economic and financial sanctions would actually affect the Russian economy and leadership without a bounceback effect.