Germany

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Europe’s recovery from a deep recession is incomplete and uneven so there is no room for complacency by governments or the European Central Bank, ECB President Christine Lagarde said on Friday.

“This current moment is coined by this uneven, incomplete and asymmetric recovery that we have observed in the third quarter after a very catastrophic second quarter,” Lagarde told a press conference after meeting European Union finance officials.

10 Sep 2020; MEMO: Some 3,000 protesters in Germany are calling on their own government and countries across the EU to accept all refugees from the Moria refugee camp in Greece.

Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesbos has burnt to the ground after fires ravaged the settlement this week. Some 20 firefighters tackled the blaze.

BERLIN, September 7. /TASS/: The condition of Alexei Navalny has improved, he has been taken out of a medically induced coma and is responding to verbal stimuli, Berlin’s Charite hospital said in a statement on Monday.

"The condition of Alexei Navalny, who has been receiving treatment at Charite - Universitaetsmedizin Berlin since August 22, 2020, has improved," it said.

"The patient has been removed from his medically induced coma and is being weaned off mechanical ventilation. He is responding to verbal stimuli," the press release reads.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel does not rule out imposing sanctions on a pipeline set to bring Russian gas to Germany in response to the suspected poisoning of a Kremlin critic with a Soviet-style nerve agent, her chief spokesman said on Monday.

Merkel is under mounting pressure from members of her conservative party to suspend the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a huge project to double Russian gas exports to Germany that is more than 90% complete and due to start operating from early 2021.

BERLIN, September 6. /TASS/: Discussions concerning the Navalny incident should not be narrowed to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in an interview with the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

"In any case, I don’t think that Russians will make us change our position on Nord Stream 2. Those who demand it need to realize the consequences," he said.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany on Sunday increased pressure on Russia over the poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, warning that a lack of support by Moscow in the investigation could “force” Germany to rethink the fate of a German-Russian gas pipeline project.

“I hope the Russians won’t force us to change our position regarding the Nord Stream 2” pipeline being built under the Baltic Sea, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told weekly Bild am Sonntag.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who is in intensive care in a Berlin hospital, is damaging to Russia’s leadership and makes it harder for Germany to cooperate with Moscow, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday Navalny was poisoned with a Soviet-style Novichok nerve agent in an attempt to murder him and that Berlin would consult its NATO allies about how to respond.

BERLIN (AP) — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned with the same type of Soviet-era nerve agent used in a 2018 attack on a former Russian spy, the German government said Wednesday, provoking outrage from Western leaders who demanded Moscow provide an explanation.

The findings — which experts say point strongly to Russian state involvement — added to tensions between Russia and the West. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Navalny’s poisoning attempted murder, meant to silence one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics.

BERLIN, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Today's world is faced with three crucial choices while China and Germany, as major countries with global influence, should jointly undertake three major tasks, said visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday.

Wang made the statements at a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. Wang said they had candid, in-depth and friendly talks, which boosted mutual trust and generated fruitful results.

BERLIN (AP) — Far-right extremists tried to storm the German parliament building Saturday following a protest against the country’s pandemic restrictions, but were intercepted by police and forcibly removed.