Germany Explains Decision to Host US Long-Range Missiles
The deployment of US long-range missiles to Germany will allow Berlin time to develop similar weapons of its own, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has said.
Berlin and Washington announced after the NATO summit in the US capital this week that American cruise missiles will be stationed in Germany from 2026. The deployment of such weapons would previously have been banned under the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, although Washington withdrew from the landmark agreement in 2019.
Speaking to the Deutschlandfunk broadcaster on Thursday, Pistorius expressed relief that US long-range missiles would be deployed in Germany, arguing that this would help cover a “serious loophole” in defense. He also expressed confidence that future US administrations would not reverse the decision.
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However, since US long-range missiles will “come to Germany only on a rotational basis,” it is “absolutely clear” that Washington expects Berlin to “invest in the development and procurement of such standoff weapons,” the official stressed.
According to Pistorius, the deployment “will give us the time that we need for that,” arguing that this aim is key to ensuring Germany’s national security.
A joint German-US statement released by the White House revealed that among the weapons to be deployed to the European nation are the SM-6 anti-air missile, which has a range of up to 460km (290 miles), as well as the Tomahawk cruise missile, which can reportedly strike targets more than 2,500km away.
In addition, Washington announced plans to station “developmental hypersonic weapons” in Europe, which will presumably boast a “significantly longer range than current land-based fires” on the continent.
Explaining its decision to abandon the INF treaty back in 2019, the Trump administration claimed that Russia had breached the agreement with its cruise missiles. Moscow denied the claims, and Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the demise of the accord would “have the gravest consequences.”
Russia continued to abide by the treaty for several years after the US withdrawal, although the Kremlin announced earlier this month that the country’s defense industry would resume development of intermediate and shorter range nuclear-capable missiles.
“We now know that the US is not only producing these missile systems, but has also brought them to Europe, Denmark, to use in exercises,” Putin explained at the time.
In a post on Telegram on Thursday, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov denounced the recently announced deployment of US long-range missiles to Germany as a “direct threat to international security and strategic stability.” The diplomat added that the move could lead to “uncontrolled escalation amid dangerously soaring Russia-NATO tensions.”
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Nothing Better to do? 360 German Police Investigations Over Anti-Migration Song
Official figures show that German police have launched a minimum of 360 separate investigations into the singing of a right-wing rendition of DJ Gigi D’Agostino’s “L’amour toujours”—or, with the new lyrics, “Ausländer Raus!” (Foreigners Out)—since last October. The figures do not include the states of Bavaria and Saxony.
The song first came to prominence when it was sung in a viral video by young German partygoers in May, resulting in participants being fired and facing up to five years in prison, courtesy of tough hate speech legislation.
In Germany, ‘hate speech’ is punishable under the Criminal Code, with penalties ranging from fines to imprisonment of up to five years.
Most worryingly, the figures describe how even schoolchildren have not been spared from police harassment as authorities interviewed pupils for posting the video online and even launched an investigation into the singing of the song in class by a student in the coastal town of Sassnitz in eastern Germany.
The overreaction to the song’s viral rise occurs in tandem with a wider state crackdown on the populist AfD party, which soared to second place in recent European elections despite official efforts to purge members from institutions such as the police, civil service, and military.
The cultural rise of Gen Z AfD voters in particular has also surprised the German political establishment, with the party winning 16% of voters under 24 during last month’s European elections, second only to the Christian Democrats.
There is still legal ambiguity within the Federal Court of Justice about whether the phrase ‘foreigners out’ constitutes hate speech under German law. Last month, police swooped in on an all-female birthday party at Cochem where the song was observed to have been sung.
The popularity of the viral sensation on platforms such as TikTok has flummoxed German hate speech enforcers, as it even became a major feature of the German beer and music festival calendar, leading to further police inquiries last month.
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Polish Confederation MEPs Face Internal Conflict Over EU Parliament Factions, Germany’s AfD Key Sticking Point
Members of Poland’s Confederation party are facing internal divisions in the European Parliament, with different MEPs deciding to join different factions.
Stanisław Tyszka, Marcin Sypniewski, and Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik have decided to join a group formed by the Alternative for Germany (AfD), while Anna Bryłka and Tomasz Buczek are currently negotiating to join a faction led by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. This split comes after the Confederation secured six seats in the recent parliamentary elections.
Three MEPs from the New Hope party, part of the Confederation, have chosen to join the “Europe of Sovereign Nations” group initiated by the AfD, responding to an invitation from the German right-wing party. Sławomir Mentzen, a leader within the Confederation and president of New Hope, mentioned that they faced a choice between joining this group or having no affiliation at all. Mentzen defended the decision, highlighting that the AfD does not advocate for revising the border with Poland, despite contrary claims in the media
“Of course, the AfD does not want to revise the border with Poland, and if someone believes this because some idiot from their youth wing once wrote that, then I pity their ability to verify the accuracy of information. The AfD is not anti-Polish. It is pro-German,” wrote Mentzen on platform X.
Meanwhile, MEPs Anna Bryłka and Tomasz Buczek are in talks about joining the “Patriots for Europe” group. Bryłka confirmed she would not join the group with the AfD, citing the German party’s stance on Nord Stream pipelines and statements by some of its members that she says contradict Poland’s national interests.
Bryłka expressed her commitment to representing Polish interests in the European Parliament and working “with any European force opposing creeping federalization, uncontrolled mass immigration, and the European Green Deal.”
The sixth MEP from the Confederation, Grzegorz Braun, is reportedly not engaged in any discussions with parliamentary groups, with sources suggesting that these factions are reluctant to include him.
According to media reports, the AfD has also reached out to other Eurosceptic parties across Europe, forming a new faction that has met the required threshold to be officially recognized, with an estimated 28 to 29 MEPs from various member states.
AfD co-leader Alice Weidel mentioned earlier this month that her party may consider joining the Patriots of Europe party in the long term and expressed her support for the new formation.
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Live Now: WWIII Alert As NATO Vows Ukraine Will Eventually Join
“The American Journal” is live every weekday from 8-11 am CST.
The Washington Summit Declaration of July 10 mentions “the irreversible path of Ukraine” to NATO. For Russia, 2 possible ways of how this path ends are acceptable: either Ukraine disappears, or NATO does. Still better, both.
— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) July 11, 2024
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Germany Forced to Water Down ‘Compulsory’ Military Draft Plans
The German government is being pressured by its junior coalition member FDP to throw out the ‘compulsory’ elements of its upcoming military conscription law, which is set to be implemented some time next year.
While the proposal would only involve drafting a small portion of eligible young people—those who previously indicated a willingness to join the German army—the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) says that any compulsory dimension would still be unfair, according to Die Welt on Tuesday, July 9th.
As The European Conservative reported previously, Berlin has been considering reintroducing some form of a limited military draft. This is purportedly in response to the war in Ukraine and growing geopolitical tensions globally, and part of a wider effort to make Germany ‘war ready’ by 2025.
The proposed law is based on the so-called Scandinavian model—similar to one in Sweden—under which all 18-year-old German males would only be obliged to register their intentions in a questionnaire.
From those saying they could see themselves in the military, the Ministry of Defense could select a small contingent each year for medical examination, and ultimately, for a six-month service that can be voluntarily extended to up to 17 months.
Defense minister Boris Pistorius argued that the ‘compulsory’ elements of this ‘light’ conscription model are “negligible,” because those potentially drafted will have expressed an interest in joining up anyway. Besides, the draft would cover a very limited number of only 5,000 conscripts every year—with options to increase this number later on—from an annual pool of 400,000.
Still, the FDP came out to oppose the plan on Tuesday, demanding the compulsory elements be scrapped before they’d greenlight the legislation.
“We are united by the goal of making the Bundeswehr one of the most modern and effective armies. We can and will only achieve this goal with the corresponding social acceptance,” Finance Minister Christian Lindner and Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, both members of the FDP, wrote in a letter addressed to Pistorius.
Any “obligation for small parts of a cohort to [attend medicals] or even military service would raise unavoidable questions of [fairness],” they wrote, adding that it would be a “deep intrusion” into the lives of young people.
Nonetheless, the FDP would still support other elements of the current proposal, including the annual survey of young people who could be called up in the event of war, as well as additional measures to make military service more attractive.
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VIDEO: NATO Leaders Release Cheesy Music Video Promoting WWIII
On the Wednesday show Alex Jones talked about the ‘ultra creepy’ intro NATO did at their World War III planning summit.
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