Germany megathread

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https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss/status/1615083880825978891?s=20&t=JzBX8q2a...

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Lower Saxony interior minister Boris Pistorius becomes new German defence minister.

A suprising pick, since he hadn't been among the names speculated for the post... at all. He also hasn't any prior experience in defence or foreign policy and federal politics so I hope that we don't make the same mistake thrice.

One wonders what spoke against Siemtje Möller, for instance... who is the former defence policy spokesperson of the SPD Bundestag caucus, a former member of the Bundestag defence committee, a former deputy member of the Bundestag foreign affairs committee, current undersecretary at the ministry of defence, a member of the board of the "German-Atlantic Society" (a NGO advocating support for and closer relations to NATO and its members), as well as a member of the Society for Security Policy and Women in International Security.

Looks a bit like internal SPD party politics bullsh**t again.

EDIT: Ah, I see... according to Wikipedia, Pistorius used to be a member of the "German-Russian Friendship Group" of the Bundesrat (Federal Council).

This DW analyst puts a hopeful spin on Pistorius:

Though I'm not sure what "military and defense-relevant experience" she's referencing, based on his English and German (using google translate for the latter) wikipedia bios.

https://twitter.com/berlin_bridge/status/1615293052188528640?s=20&t=VQ5hpagP...

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A neat "slice of life" article I stumbled upon about Zittau, a town in Saxony located next to the tripoint of Germany, Poland, and Czechia, which touches on how things have changed for the better once the Iron Curtain fell and the latter two countries joined the Schengen Area in 2007:

https://mailchi.mp/19789bf4d7e7/twilight-borders

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Russian propaganda has gone bonkers when it comes to Germany since the latter made the decision to give Ukraine tanks:

https://twitter.com/j2ooj/status/1619777987360194563?s=20&t=fGGzQhE7w6PLgQjK...

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https://twitter.com/TheresaAFallon/status/1630129964388343808?s=20

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https://twitter.com/transatlantic/status/1642623523356135424?s=20

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lmao:

https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1643905623069736961?s=20

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https://twitter.com/ConStelz/status/1649413703631085571?s=20

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Russian propaganda trying to hype up the GDR:

https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss/status/1655560794942107662?s=20

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Does anybody else have Nazi genes?

https://twitter.com/francis_scarr/status/1658757733611454465?s=20

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https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1660304334553268226?s=20

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Based:

https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1661079799526244371?s=20

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A map I saw on twitter:

https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1672955310066073601?s=20

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Peak American journalism:

https://twitter.com/jkass99/status/1673412289121198082?s=20

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A map I saw on twitter:

https://twitter.com/simongerman600/status/1672955310066073601?s=20

Bonn isn't even labeled.  Truly remarkable for being a former Capital.

A history youtuber I enjoy made a short video about why Bonn was chosen as the FRG's capital:


- Bonn wasn't heavily damaged in the war unlike nearly all larger cities in the Allied occupation zone, so it was established as the temporary capital when the FRG was established in 1949 .

Eventually it was decided to keep the capital in Bonn because:

. Adenauer didn't want to move the capital to a larger city in order to avoid making Germany's division appear permanent.

- The city had no strong assocaition with Nazism or Hitler (unlike Munich for example).

- There was little (and soon none because the British had no money) foreign military presence in the city

- I kid you not: it was only 20 minutes from Adenauer's house.

- Since the government was already established there, it was decided it wasn't worth the effort and expense to move the capital to a larger city.

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https://twitter.com/lijukic/status/1682720742171967491?s=20

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This gets a yikes from me:

"“It was a grave mistake to let in so many people of totally different culture and religion and concepts, because it creates a pressure group inside each country that does that,” the 100-year-old ex-top American diplomat said in an interview..."

German-born Kissinger — who fled Nazi Germany with his family in 1938, and went on to become the architect of American foreign policy during the Vietnam War — said that it was “painful,” in response to a question about seeing Arabs in Berlin celebrating last weekend’s assault on Israel."

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November 8-10th is the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht. Here's a DW News segment about it:

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Also, more mass demonstrations against AfD, the far-right and fascism. Protest in Hamburg was so overcrowded that authorities needed to close entrance. Tagesschau in the headline says just 30k, but the article says 80k and other sources quoted in the article even claim 130k.

https://twitter.com/TheLocalGermany/status/1748368610081607947

https://twitter.com/tagesschau/status/1748387313955025203

Based:

"German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has compared the far-right plan to deport migrants to Nazi racial ideology, calling it "an attack on our democracy."

He has welcomed planned protests against right-wing extremism this weekend."

"If there is one thing that must never again have any place in Germany, it's the ethno-racial ideology of the national socialists. That's exactly what the repulsive resettlement plans of these extremists are. The very thought sends a shiver down the spine."

https://twitter.com/dw_politics/status/1748431632812634554?s=20

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A winning message for sure, lol:

"The far-right Alternative for Germany will push for a Brexit-style referendum on membership of the EU if it comes to power, its leader Alice Weidel said, hailing the UK’s exit from the bloc as “dead right”.

“It’s a model for Germany, that one can make a sovereign decision like that,” she said in an interview with the Financial Times.

Weidel, party leader since 2022, said an AfD government would seek to reform the EU and remove its “democratic deficit”, including by curbing the powers of the European Commission, an “unelected executive”.

“But if a reform isn’t possible, if we fail to rebuild the sovereignty of the EU member states, we should let the people decide, just as Britain did,” she said. “And we could have a referendum on ‘Dexit’ — a German exit from the EU.”"

https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1749324622909067751?s=20

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"AfD loses run-off in first vote since mass-deportation story"

"Christian Herrgott of the conservative CDU beat out far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) candidate Uwe Thrum in a regional run-off election in the eastern German state of Thuringia on Sunday.

The vote was viewed by political observers as a barometer for the AfD's popularity at a time when damaging headlines may have dented its alarming nationwide momentum.

The vote was the first since Correctiv, an investigative journalism outfit, published a report outlining a November meeting in which AfD politicians and far-right extremists — including Austrian neo-Nazi Martin Sellner of the Identitarian Movement — discussed plans for the mass deportation of foreigners and unassimilated German citizens should they come to power.

AfD candidate Thrum had led the race safely before the Correctiv report was released — he dominated the general election two weeks ago with 45.7% of the vote compared to Herrgott's 33.3% — but only gained 47.6% of the vote to Herrgott's 52.4% on Sunday."

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Speaking of AfD Bundestag members:

"Exclusive: A controversial aide to Bundestag deputy Eugen Schmidt, of Germany's far-right AfD party, is an agent of Russian intelligence. Oh, and his handler raps!

As @InsiderEngand our partner @derspiegel reported in August, Vladimir Sergienko, 52, a Lviv-born German parliamentary aide, had been communicating with a certain suspected FSB operative named "Alexei." Alexei, we've discovered, is Ilya Vechtomov, 36ish, an officer of the FSB.

Vechtomov is attached to the Ninth Division of Operational Information Department (DOI) of the FSB Fifth Service, the unit targeting Ukraine. (Earlier this week, @InsiderEng exposed Latvian MEP Tatiana Zdanoka as an agent of the Fifth Service)

But Vechtomov, Sergienko's case officer, isn't any old spy. He's a self-promoting Russian hip hop star who performs under the stage name, "Fox D’Liss" as part of a trio called OSII.  (I'm not making this up, I swear.)

Offstage, Vechtomov is no less energetic. Under his tasking, Sergienko has tried to slow or stop the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv. The plan was to sue the German government for not consulting the Bundestag on security assistance.

Sergienko wanted $93,000 from Vechtomov for the legal fees, all to be paid to white-shoe German law firms. In fact, the AfD faction filed a suit on exactly these grounds, but extended the complaint well beyond the Leos.

Pretty much all weapons systems and military aid is covered. Even wool blankets and sleeping bags, the faction argued, could not be sent without Bundestag approval.

(The Ukrainian government has blamed delays in delivery of vital kit for the late start of its underwhelming counteroffensive last year.)

Sergienko and Vechtomov also chatted about funneling Russian money to dodgy NGOs in Germany. “Can we transfer money to a German NGO? I would need the bank details,” Vechtomov messaged Sergienko on April 14, 2023.

Sergienko responded: “Yes, we can transfer to a German NGO. I will check with the auditor.” Sergienko even drafted a letter on behalf of several AfD politicos and one such NGO, Vadar, to Pope Francis about the alleged "persecution" of Christians in Ukraine.

(Sergineko's boss, Eugen Schmidt, is on the board of Vadar.) The aide kindly shared the draft missive with Vechtomov in advance of sending it on to the Vatican.

More recently, Sergienko railed against arming Ukraine at a "Peace with Russia" rally sponsored by the German magazine Compact in Magdeburg. He received a rapturous response.

Of course, private communiques with "Alexei" weren't Sergienko's only eyebrow-raising activities. Last April he was caught traveling to and from Russia with 9,000 euros in cash, just under the limit of 10,000 euros that must be declared at German customs.

Sergienko is now facing the revocation of his German citizenship because he lied on his naturalization form, claiming he'd only had Ukrainian citizenship, which he renounced. (Until last month, Germany did not allow dual citizenship.)

In fact, he has a Russian passport, issued in 2022. It was discovered with the cash during a security check in Hamburg upon his return from the Motherland.

As of now, Sergienko has had his unrestricted to the Bundestag access temporarily suspended. He must enter parliamentary grounds under escort now. (It's pretty remarkable he can even do that.)

Sergienko insists to us he's innocent. "The said connections to Russia are fiction and the said contact person, Ilya Vechtomov, does not exist for me," he told @derspiegel.

Even worse: these annoying press inquiries are distracting him from his important new book project on “preventing the Third World War.” /END"

Der Spiegel article

The Insider article

https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss/status/1753087360185635063?s=20

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Speaking of AfD Bundestag members:

"Exclusive: A controversial aide to Bundestag deputy Eugen Schmidt, of Germany's far-right AfD party, is an agent of Russian intelligence. Oh, and his handler raps!

As @InsiderEngand our partner @derspiegel reported in August, Vladimir Sergienko, 52, a Lviv-born German parliamentary aide, had been communicating with a certain suspected FSB operative named "Alexei." Alexei, we've discovered, is Ilya Vechtomov, 36ish, an officer of the FSB.

Vechtomov is attached to the Ninth Division of Operational Information Department (DOI) of the FSB Fifth Service, the unit targeting Ukraine. (Earlier this week, @InsiderEng exposed Latvian MEP Tatiana Zdanoka as an agent of the Fifth Service)

But Vechtomov, Sergienko's case officer, isn't any old spy. He's a self-promoting Russian hip hop star who performs under the stage name, "Fox D’Liss" as part of a trio called OSII.  (I'm not making this up, I swear.)

Offstage, Vechtomov is no less energetic. Under his tasking, Sergienko has tried to slow or stop the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv. The plan was to sue the German government for not consulting the Bundestag on security assistance.

Sergienko wanted $93,000 from Vechtomov for the legal fees, all to be paid to white-shoe German law firms. In fact, the AfD faction filed a suit on exactly these grounds, but extended the complaint well beyond the Leos.

Pretty much all weapons systems and military aid is covered. Even wool blankets and sleeping bags, the faction argued, could not be sent without Bundestag approval.

(The Ukrainian government has blamed delays in delivery of vital kit for the late start of its underwhelming counteroffensive last year.)

Sergienko and Vechtomov also chatted about funneling Russian money to dodgy NGOs in Germany. “Can we transfer money to a German NGO? I would need the bank details,” Vechtomov messaged Sergienko on April 14, 2023.

Sergienko responded: “Yes, we can transfer to a German NGO. I will check with the auditor.” Sergienko even drafted a letter on behalf of several AfD politicos and one such NGO, Vadar, to Pope Francis about the alleged "persecution" of Christians in Ukraine.

(Sergineko's boss, Eugen Schmidt, is on the board of Vadar.) The aide kindly shared the draft missive with Vechtomov in advance of sending it on to the Vatican.

More recently, Sergienko railed against arming Ukraine at a "Peace with Russia" rally sponsored by the German magazine Compact in Magdeburg. He received a rapturous response.

Of course, private communiques with "Alexei" weren't Sergienko's only eyebrow-raising activities. Last April he was caught traveling to and from Russia with 9,000 euros in cash, just under the limit of 10,000 euros that must be declared at German customs.

Sergienko is now facing the revocation of his German citizenship because he lied on his naturalization form, claiming he'd only had Ukrainian citizenship, which he renounced. (Until last month, Germany did not allow dual citizenship.)

In fact, he has a Russian passport, issued in 2022. It was discovered with the cash during a security check in Hamburg upon his return from the Motherland.

As of now, Sergienko has had his unrestricted to the Bundestag access temporarily suspended. He must enter parliamentary grounds under escort now. (It's pretty remarkable he can even do that.)

Sergienko insists to us he's innocent. "The said connections to Russia are fiction and the said contact person, Ilya Vechtomov, does not exist for me," he told @derspiegel.

Even worse: these annoying press inquiries are distracting him from his important new book project on “preventing the Third World War.” /END"

Der Spiegel article

The Insider article

https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss/status/1753087360185635063?s=20

Update:

"Vladimir Sergienko, an aide to Bundestag deputy Eugen Schmidt of the AfD, has "ceased all activity" for the MP after a report by The Insider and @derspiegel exposed him as an FSB asset.

Schmidt announced the development in a press release earlier today."

https://twitter.com/InsiderEng/status/1753538915640733873?s=20

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Italy is growing faster than Germany

"Official statistics released last week revealed the Italian economy grew by 0.5 percent in the last quarter of 2023, while German growth, for all its manufacturing might, had shrunk by 0.2 percent.

And that might set the pattern for the whole year: the Bank of Italy forecasts 0.6 percent growth this year, while the Deutsche Bundesbank only expects 0.4 percent for Germany."

"Analysts argue that it’s not that Italy is doing especially well. It’s that Germany, for once, is doing worse."

"Franco Bruni, vice president of the Milan-based Institute for International Political Studies, noted that Germany’s position at the top of Europe’s manufacturing food chain has made it particularly vulnerable to China’s ongoing, grinding slowdown. Some 8 percent of German exports went to China in 2020, but last November, they accounted for just over 5 percent and were down 13 percent on the year. By contrast only 2.6 percent of Italian exports went to China in 2022."

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"A German court has ruled that Germany’s domestic intelligence agency may classify the youth wing of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as extremist, fueling a debate about whether the group should be banned.

The youth group, known as Young Alternative, “continues to engage in massive anti-foreigner and, in particular, anti-Islam and anti-Muslim agitation,” an administrative court in Cologne found, according to German media reports.

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, which is tasked with surveilling groups deemed anti-constitutional, classified the Young Alternative as extremist in 2023 after monitoring it for years. The AfD and Young Alternative sought to counter the move in court."

https://twitter.com/POLITICOEurope/status/1754896763293516061?s=20