Germany

(Reuters) --- Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday called on Germans to stick to tighter coronavirus restrictions imposed in areas with high infection rates over the weekend, saying the step was needed to break a third wave of infections.

Both chambers of parliament approved the amendments to the Infection Protection Act earlier this week to give the federal government more powers to fight the third wave in the pandemic.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended her lobbying for Wirecard during a 2019 visit to China, testifying before a parliamentary committee Friday that the payments company received no special treatment and that it was in Germany’s interest to promote its businesses.

Merkel said Wirecard’s aim of entering the Chinese market overlapped with the best interests of the German economy as a whole. The company later collapsed in an accounting scandal.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank is expected to signal Thursday that even if inflation rises later this year it won’t consider cutting back support for Europe’s economy, which is lagging the U.S. and China amid a drawn-out struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Extended lockdowns amid a resurgence of the virus, coupled with slow vaccination rollouts, have pushed back hopes for what should eventually be a robust rebound.

BERLIN, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The German parliament will vote on Wednesday on a controversial law amendment that would give Angela Merkel’s government power to impose tougher measures including school closures and disputed night-time curfews to curb the coronavirus pandemic.

With the country buckling under a third wave of the pandemic, the new law is intended to end a political tug-of-war between the federal government and Germany’s 16 states over coronavirus measures.

(Reuters) --- The European Union needs to engage with China despite many differences instead of opting for a more isolationist approach, Germany said on Wednesday.

"In the EU, we have been describing China as a partner, competitor and systemic rival at the same time," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said ahead of a virtual meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

"In all these three dimensions we need strong, sustainable communication channels with Beijing. De-coupling is the wrong way to go."

(Reuters) --- Germany is very concerned about Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's health, Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

"The German government, together with others, is pressing for him to receive adequate medical treatment," she told the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Tuesday.

Merkel also said that a Russian troop buildup on the border with Ukraine created an "alarmingly tense" situation, saying it was important to keep a dialogue going on the issue.

(Reuters) --- Armin Laschet, leader of Germany's Christian Democrats (CDU), won the backing of senior party members at an internal meeting to run as the conservative candidate to succeed Angela Merkel in a federal election in September, party sources said on Tuesday.

That brings him a step closer to being named candidate for the conservative bloc, a role for which he has been vying with Markus Soeder, leader of the CDU's smaller Bavarian sister party CSU.

(Reuters) --- The co-leader of Germany's Greens, Annalena Baerbock, said on Monday she would run to become chancellor in September's elections, the first time the left-leaning party has sought the top job in its 40-year history.

Baerbock, a former champion trampolinist who has seen support for her party rise over the past year, said she would offer a "new start" and focus on investing in education, digital and green technologies.

BERLIN (AP) — High-level talks in Vienna aimed at bringing the United States back into the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran are moving ahead with experts working on drafting proposals this week, but a solution remains “far away,” Russia’s delegate said Monday.

The U.S. unilaterally left the agreement, which promises Iran economic incentives in return for curbs on its nuclear program, in 2018 under then President Donald Trump, who said it needed to be renegotiated and imposed crippling sanctions.

BERLIN, April 18. / TASS /: Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany Andrey Melnyk believes that it’s up to Berlin to help Kiev become part of NATO, the diplomat stated on Sunday in an interview with the Welt am Sontag newspaper.

According to the Ukrainian diplomat, Germany has to "take a leading role so that Ukraine becomes a NATO member." "And as soon as possible, without any reservations," he stressed. The ambassador attributed this to the fact that Germany "bore special historical responsibility for Nazi crimes against the Ukrainian people."