German Foreign Policy (DE/FR/EN)

(Own report) - Germany is significantly responsible for helping create the conditions causing tens of thousands to flee from Kosovo. This has been confirmed by an analysis of the development that seceded territory has taken since NATO's 1999 aggression, in which Germany had played a leading role. Prominent German politicians have also played leading roles in establishing Kosovo's subsequent occupation, helping to put the commanders and combatants of the mafia-type Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) militia into power in Priština. They created social conditions that have drawn sharp internationally criticism. In 2012, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) reported that organized crime continues at "high levels" in Kosovo. The Council of Europe even discerns some of the highest-ranking politicians, including a long-standing prime minister, as being members of the Mafia. Poverty is rampant. After 16 years of NATO and EU occupation, around one-sixth of the children suffer from stunted growth due to malnutrition. Germany has played an important role in organizing the occupation. If it were not for cash transfers refugees send home, many Kosovo families would not be able to survive. In the first semester of 2015 alone, more than 28,600 found themselves forced to apply for refugee status in Germany - with little chance of success. Berlin is now seeking more rapid ways for their deportation.

(Own report) - The German establishment is sending mixed signals in reaction to the announcement of an unofficial plebiscite on Catalonia's secession from Spain. Catalan Prime Minister Artur Mas has declared the September 27 regional elections a de facto plebiscite on the region's secession. Should his alliance secure the absolute majority, he will proclaim independence from Spain within 8 months. In the past, Germany had repeatedly supported Catalan secession. Influential German think tanks are demanding that secession not be obstructed. However, there is opposition rising from within business circles. Catalonia is a central site for German companies in Spain. Engaged in trade throughout Spain, they do not want to see their business possibilities limited to one region and Barcelona's secession from Madrid could possibly prove an obstacle. According to German government advisors, on the other hand, these problems could be solved. Some economists contend that the EU's currency, the Euro, can, in the long run, only be maintained within a uniform economic area. This would exclude Spain, but include a seceded Catalonia, the strongest economic zone on the Iberian Peninsular.

(Own report) - The German government has contributed to the causes of people fleeing in three of the world's five countries generating the largest number of refugees. This was exposed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). By the end of 2014, Syria, according to the UNHCR, was the country that generated most refugees, with Afghanistan second. Since mid 2011, the West had massively exacerbated the civil war in that country, causing a steadily growing number of refugees. Back in the 1980s, the West began supporting the complete destruction of Afghanistan's social structures, which has been driving countless numbers to seek safety abroad. Pursuing geopolitical objectives, the West pressured South Sudan - number five in the UNHCR's statistics - to declare its independence in 2011, disregarding warnings by observers that secession could inevitably re-enflame tensions inside the territory, possibly even leading to a new round of civil war. The civil war is now reality with millions fleeing. To ward off refugees ("border management") from Europe, Berlin and the EU are seeking an even closer cooperation with the Juba government - whose militias have carried out horrible massacres.

(Own report) - The German judiciary has initiated new criminal proceedings against German arms companies because of their multi-millions in bribes payments in Greece. Last month, the states attorney's office in Munich brought charges against a former manager of the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) tank producing company. He is charged with having personally pocketed up to €1.5 million of a much larger bribe without paying the adequate taxes. Other managers, for example of the Rheinmetall arms manufacturer, are also being threatened with criminal charges. In late last December, a German court sentenced the Düsseldorf-based Rheinmetall company to pay the unprecedentedly inflated profit of nearly €37 million into the budget of the Federal State of Bremen. These €37 million were paid by the Greek government for bribery-induced arms deliveries. In answer to its compensation demands, the Greek government is being told that Rheinmetall cannot be punished twice for the same offense. Greek lawsuits against German managers usually remain without consequences, because the German government refuses extradition to Greece after German courts gave more lenient sentences, than they could have expected from a court in Athens. The Greek government estimates its damages alone from the bribes in arms deals at €100 million.

(Own report) - The Greek government does not exclude the eventuality of indictments of German companies on charges of corruption, according to recent reports, on a contingency plan Athens has prepared for the event that Berlin forces it into state bankruptcy ("Grexit"). According to this plan, Athens would try to bring German companies to court - who have not or have only partially been subject of bribery investigations - to have them pay at least part of the restitution for damages caused by the alleged corruption, officially estimated in the billions. Siemens is the most famous example. A Greek parliamentary investigating committee estimated that, through systematic bribery, this Munich-based company has caused damages of two billion Euros in Greece. However, Siemens got off cheap in an out-of-court settlement and had to pay only 270 million Euros - hardly one fifth of its current quarterly profit. A court in Munich gave a Siemens manager a suspended sentence - significantly less than what he could have expected from a trial in Athens. Already in the fall of 2014, new legal proceedings had been opened in Athens to comprehensively investigate this systematic corruption.

(Own report) - Berlin is legitimizing German military intervention by alleging it is to combat the causes of fleeing. The Bundeswehr must undertake operations in Mali, "so that people will no longer have to flee the violence and hopelessness," claimed Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, early this week during her visit in Mali's capital Bamako. She is using the current refugee crisis in Germany to arouse sympathy for the Bundeswehr's interventions. However, with its aggressive foreign policy, Germany is actively helping create the causes for people to flee. A prime example is the Federal Republic of Germany's Afghan policy since the 1980s. Together with other western governments, Bonn had exacerbated the Afghan civil war with its support for the Mujahidin. Millions of Afghans had to flee the country and Afghanistan has never recovered from its political, economic, and social devastation. The Bundeswehr's deployment in Afghanistan, which began in 2001 and whose main mission was ended last year, has provoked a new wave of refugees.

(Own report) - With last weekend's arson attack on a refugee home, the bombing attempt on a supporter of refugees and the siege of a refugee hostel by a hostile mob of locals, Germany's recent wave of racist violence has taken on a new quality. It is only fortunate that no one was murdered in these recent attacks. At the same time, attacks on refugee housing are becoming dramatically more frequent. Already during the first half of 2015, the number of attacks has reached that of the entire year of 2014. For years, observers have been warning that initiatives against refugee hostels are firmly taking root locally and are increasing their abilities to mobilize. The political establishment and the media have regularly provided legitimization to the anti-refugee campaign, using racist clichés, for example, in the debate around the SPD politician Thilo Sarrazin's publications or with their derogatory insinuations about migrants. Last winter, the campaign against refugees was mobilizing tens of thousands for the "Pegida" street demonstrations. Moreover, in spite of the escalation of anti-refugee violence, the slander continues.

(Own report) - Berlin has reacted to Turkish air strikes on the "Islamic State" (IS) and the PKK, with both praise and sharp criticism. After several IS attacks on Turkish territory, Ankara halted its support for the IS last week and launched air strikes on the organization in northern Syria. For years, the West, including Berlin, had been benevolently observing how Ankara had been granting assistance to the IS - as an aspect of the war against the Bashar al Assad government in Syria. Ankara is now following the change of course, initiated last year by the West, when it declared war on IS. Berlin's sharp criticism of Turkish air strikes on PKK camps in northern Iraq must be seen in the context of Turkish plans to invade northern Syria, which would lead to a confrontation with Kurdish forces affiliated to the PKK. Germany clearly rejects such an invasion because either it would strengthen Ankara, which recently has been regularly opposing Berlin, or it would turn another EU-bordering country into a theater of armed conflict - between the Turkish armed forces and Kurdish units.

(Own report) - Parallel to the escalating crises in Greece and Ukraine and the participation or involvement in various wars in the Arab world, the German government is intensifying its efforts to enhance its political and military influence on the African continent. German companies are seeking lucrative business opportunities in booming Angola at the "Angola/Germany Economic Forum" ending today in the country's capital Luanda. Despite its persistent efforts, so far, German trade relations with Angola have not achieved a real breakthrough, whereas Berlin has already made progress in its military cooperation with Luanda. In late 2014, both countries signed an agreement on a "partnership" in military policy followed by a joint military exercise in March 2015. Angola is considered useful as an ally for implementing Germany's geo-strategic interests in Sub-Saharan Africa. It has been massively upgrading its military apparatus and thereby become a challenge to South Africa's claim to continental hegemony.

(Own report) - Berlin is rushing to renew economic ties with Iran and to engage in reshaping the Middle East by dispatching its minister of the economy to Tehran. The nuclear agreement, signed last Tuesday with Tehran, offers German companies the opportunity to normalize their trade with Iran, which was once among the most lucrative in the Middle East, but had sharply declined due to sanctions. Exports in the double-digit billions are expected. Meanwhile experts are calling for realigning power relations in the Persian Gulf under western leadership to establish a balance of power between Saudi Arabia and Iran. This would prevent the hegemony of either and offer the West favorable opportunities to influence developments in the region. Comprehensive German arms exports to Saudi Arabia and the weakening of Iranian positions, particularly in Syria, would form the basis of this desired balance of power. According to experts, the EU could play a leading role in reshaping the region, if resistance in the US Congress, at the last moment, does not block the nuclear deal.

(Own report) - New revelations in the inquiry on assassination attempts by the neo-Nazi "National Socialist Underground" (NSU) have incriminated an operative and an informer of two of Germany's intelligence services. According to recent reports, a long-time leading activist of the neo-Nazi scene in Cologne is strongly suspected of having planted a bomb in a local supermarket in December 2000. The bombing is considered one of a series of NSU crimes. The neo-Nazi activist was being managed as an "undercover agent" by North Rhine-Westphalia's Office for the Protection of the Constitution and had possibly still been in contact with the leading NSU trio in 2009. New suspicions have emerged pertaining to Andreas Temme, an operative of Hesse's Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Traces of gunpowder found on his gloves have been attributed to a rarely used type of ammunition, which had been used in the NSU murders. Temme had previously raised suspicion of having been involved in an NSU murder in Kassel. He had left the scene of the crime exactly at the time it was committed. However, he claims that he had not seen the victim, Halit Yozgat, neither alive nor dead, which seems impossible due to the circumstances of the crime. The Minster of Interior, at the time, currently Hesse's Prime Minister, Volker Bouffier , had systematically blocked investigations of Temme's possible involvement.

(Own report) - The German Defense Minister announced new multi-billion Euro armament projects, aimed at Germany's and the EU's greater independence from the USA. Ursula von der Leyen announced yesterday that the Bundeswehr would purchase the Medium Extended Air Defense System "MEADS" to replace the "Patriot" air defense system. Whereas the "Patriot" system had to be imported entirely from the United States, a consortium with significant German participation will manufacture MEADS. It is estimated to cost about four billion Euros, with another four billion having been already invested. With MEADS, Germany would achieve more "autonomy in security policy," according to a CSU party military policy specialist. The German Navy will also receive four MKS 180 multi-role warships worth around four billion Euros, better suited for waging distant wars more effectively and over more extended periods. Other armament projects, such as a German-French battle tank, serve the consolidation of the EU's arms industries or - as with the "Euro-drone" - are aimed at achieving more independence from the US arms industry. The A 400M Airbus airlifter crash in early May is seen by observers in the context of these efforts to achieve autonomy.

(Own report) - Wintershall, the giant German gas company, has begun reorienting the focus of its expansion drive westward. This subsidiary of the mega chemical company, BASF, had set high hopes on having direct access to Russia's enormous gas deposits - the largest in the world - which would have brought it to within reach of the summit of the world's natural gas sector. This perspective was obliterated by the escalation of tensions between Moscow and the West. An additional impetus for the necessary search for an alternative is provided by the fact that German gas imports from the Netherlands are on the verge of being shut down. Beginning 2020, The Hague intends to drastically reduce gas production from the country's largest gas field, because draining the deposit would heighten dangers of earthquakes. Wintershall is particularly expanding its activities in Norway and has already begun shale gas production in Argentina, where the world's second largest shale gas deposits are estimated to be found. Wintershall's orientation shift also reduces its interest in business with Russia, while reinforcing its transatlantic interest.

(Own report) - On the occasion of the G7 summit in Elmau, Bavaria, German government advisors are discussing the significance of the cohesion among the leading western powers. For quite a while, the G7 and G8 have been a sort of global policy "steering committee," according to a recent analysis published by the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). For the first time in 2008, the global financial crisis compelled the G8 to include other industrial and emerging countries in global consultations in the framework of the G20. By setting the agenda for the G20, the G7 seeks to safeguard its "leadership role" in global policy. At the same time, in Berlin one hears that Russia's exclusion cannot be permanently advantageous. Since its exclusion, Moscow has become even more engaged in the BRICS alliance. Commenting on BRICS' aims, experts write that its members are striving to "pit their collective political clout against the North's claims of its superiority." In a few weeks, BRICS will decide on operative steps in establishing a New Development Bank. As an alternative to the World Bank, it should become operational by the end of the year. Steps are also planned to undermine the US Dollar's hegemony.

(Own report) - In its search for alternatives to Russian oil and gas supplies, Germany has entered an "energy partnership" with Algeria. Until now, Germany has hardly tapped that country's resources, which have great potential. Algeria is the world's sixth largest natural gas exporter and a significant oil producer. The development of new sources is urgent. In light of the West's policy of escalation in regards to Moscow, Germany would like to become less dependent on Russian energy resources. At the same time, the Libyan civil war threatens to cut off completely one of Germany's most important sources of oil. Because of the nuclear dispute with Iran, oil and gas imports from that country are not yet feasible. The West's aggressions and their repercussions are making energy procurement increasingly difficult. The new energy partnership with Algeria, which should help relieve this bottleneck, also offers the beleaguered German solar energy sector the possibility to gain ground on their Chinese rivals. German mechanical engineering and construction can expect supplementary profits.

(Own report) - Berlin is increasing pressure on Kiev that it enforces the cease-fire in eastern Ukraine. Observers consider the continuation of the civil war to be perilous. On the one hand, they see the risk of loosing even more territory to eastern Ukrainian insurgents, while on the other, it is unclear how the country's total economic collapse can be avoided without ending the hostilities. Therefore, on the weekend, German Foreign Minister Steinmeier traveled not only to Kiev, but also to Dnepropetrovsk, the town of oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi. Even though Kolomoyskyi has recently stepped down as governor, he still wields significant influence over the - in some cases - fascist militias, which refuse a cease-fire. To put pressure on the fascists, who had helped execute the February 2014 Kiev coup, but are uncontrollable in the civil war, Berlin must make a deal with Ukrainian oligarchs. These same oligarchs had been the focus of the protests at the Maidan. Several times last year, Foreign Minister Steinmeier held personal consultations with powerful oligarchs - including President Poroshenko - or politicians directly dependent on them. The Ukrainian oligarchy has emerged unscathed from last year's upheavals.

(Own report) - A recently declassified memo of the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) reveals that the West had supported the creation of the "Islamic State" (IS). Using jihadist forces has been a Western tradition for decades, as the Afghanistan war in the 1980s and an analysis of the Western power struggle with Iran (especially since 2003) show. In the 1980s, western countries - in collaboration with Saudi Arabia - had supported jihadists associated with Osama bin Laden, to defeat Soviet military forces in Afghanistan. Since at least ten years, they have been supporting Arab jihadists in an effort to weaken Iran's main allies. These activities, accompanying the official "war on terror," are "a very high-risk venture,” warn US intelligence officials. Saudi Arabia, one of Germany's main allies in the Arab world, is playing a central role in supporting jihadists.

(Own report) - Today, Tuesday, German Minister of Defense Ursula von der Leyen will begin several days of talks in New Delhi on questions of military and arms policies. India's new armament projects are the immediate reason for von der Leyen's visit. India wants, among other things, to construct German submarines under license, and Berlin is seeking a more intensified cooperation in foreign and military policy. This visit will prepare numerous agreements, within the framework of the German-Indian government consultations, scheduled for October. It takes place in the context of India's efforts to roll back China's influence in the Indian Ocean - an effort Berlin supports. Sri Lanka is a current point of contention of this power struggle. Over the past few years, this strategically important island nation has begun to ally itself closely with Beijing. To avoid a too strong dependency on China, the new Sri Lankan government - in office since January - is seeking to reduce its ties to China and strengthen relations to the West. Last week, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany's Minister of Foreign Affairs, welcomed his Sri Lankan counterpart in Berlin, to reinforce Germany's position in Sri Lanka - in light of the power struggle with Beijing.

(Own report) - Libya's government has resolutely rejected the EU's plans for a military operation aimed at terminating the transit of refugees to Europe. No ventures will be allowed that place the country's sovereignty into question, announced a spokesperson of the internationally recognized Libyan government, located in Tobruk. Monday evening, the EU decided to make a four-step military mission to Libya's coastline, which, following an initial phase of "reconnaissance," the EU forces would begin regular inspections of vessels, to then ultimately prepare the way for military operations on Libyan territory. Those operations threaten to lead to armed conflicts with the Libyan branch of the "Islamic State" (IS), which, according to reports, has a strong business interest in refugee smuggling. Thanks to the West having laid the groundwork by overthrowing Libya's long-time ruler Moammar al Gadhafi, the IS was able to establish itself in Darnah, East Libya, as was reported in the spring of 2011. The easiest and surest option of shutting down the refugee smuggling business - permitting the refugees legal entry into the EU - is being contemplated neither in Berlin nor in Brussels.

(Own report) - In cooperation with NSA, a US military intelligence service, the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) has massively intercepted and stored emails from Austria, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic. This became evident through an internal email from an employee of the Deutsche Telekom AG, responsible for cooperation with the intelligence service and police. According to the email, published by the Austrian parliamentarian Peter Pilz, Telekom, already in early February 2005, had given a green light to the BND having access to a fiber optic cable for internet communication connecting Luxembourg to Austria and numerous other countries. At the time, Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD), as Head of the Federal Chancellery, bore the highest responsibility for the activities of the BND. According to reports, Austria's domestic intelligence was also being tapped. Whoever is cognizant of this communication, knows "almost everything about the Republic's political life," summarized Pilz. The governments concerned have raised no serious protests, in the Germany-dominated EU. The German government is continuing the BND's technological upgrading, aimed ultimately toward raising German espionage "to an equal footing" with the NSA - also in internet spying.