Tag: Germany

Europe has now entered its worst drought in 500 years

– August 28, 2022

Europe is facing its worst drought in 500 years, with two-thirds of the continent under a “warning” or “alert,” a study by the European Commission has discovered.

Preliminary data from the European Drought Observatory found that 47% of Europe is under warning conditions, meaning the soil has a clear deficit of moisture. An additional 17% of the continent is in a state of alert, meaning vegetation is under stress.

Across Europe, hot, dry conditions have threatened livestock and increased crop failure. According to the report, grain yields are expected to fall 16% below the average for the past five years. Forecasts for soybean and sunflower yields are also set to fall by 15% and 12%, respectively.

“The severe drought affecting many regions of Europe since the beginning of the year has been further expanding and worsening as of early August,” the report said.

Countries along Europe’s Mediterranean coast, such as Italy, France, and Spain, are likely to see warmer and drier conditions until November. Mariya Gabriel, research commissioner for the European Union, said the ongoing heat waves and water shortages have created “unprecedented stress on water levels in the entire EU.”

Gabriel added: “We are currently noticing a wildfire season sensibly above the average and an important impact on crop production. Climate change is undoubtedly more noticeable every year.” The report also warned that most of Europe’s rivers have seen a drop in water level, with riverbeds in Germany and France drying up.

Sections of Germany’s River Rhine have completely dried up, disrupting shipping in the country’s most important inland waterway. German officials told CNN on Aug. 12 that levels of water in the river had fallen “exceptionally low.”

Receding water levels have uncovered artifacts from below the depths, including shipwrecks, world war relics and “hunger stones” — rocks placed throughout the centuries to mark water levels during historic droughts — inscribed with warnings to future generations. (Yahoo News)

https://endtimeheadlines.org

German Chancellor Demands Bigger EU, Less National Sovereignty for Members

Breitbart London – August 29, 2022

PRAGUE (AP) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Monday for a growing European Union to agree on a series of changes that would help it overcome internal divisions and stand up to external rivals such as Russia and China.

In a wide-ranging speech at Charles University in Prague, Scholz said the EU must make itself “fit” for future enlargement from 27 to 30 — or even 36 — nations by taking more decisions by majority vote, rather than requiring unanimity on all issues that has in the past allowed individual member states to veto key decisions.

“We have to remember that swearing allegiance to the principle of unanimity only works for as long as the pressure to act is low,” Scholz said, arguing that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a wake-up call for the EU to change the way it takes decisions.

Scholz suggested allowing majority decisions on pressing issues such as sanctions or human rights policy, with those unwilling to explicitly back a vote having the option to abstain without blocking unanimity.

The German leader also backed calls to reconsider the composition of the European Parliament, which currently has 751 deputies, to prevent it becoming “bloated” through future expansion. A similar reform of the way each member state is represented in the bloc’s executive Commission could see commissioners share responsibility in certain areas, he said.

With Europe lagging behind global rivals when it comes to digitalization and space exploration, Scholz said the EU could become a global leader in the transition to a greener economy that would also help it become less dependent on foreign energy suppliers.

In his address, Scholz repeatedly cited the threat posed to the EU by Russia under its authoritarian president, warning that “any disunity among us, any weakness, is grist to (Vladimir) Putin´s mill.”

“We must close ranks, resolve old conflicts and find new solutions,” he said, noting that the bloc needs to overcome long-running tensions among its members on the issues of migration and fiscal policy.

https://www.breitbart.com

Horrifying drought causing widespread crop failures throughout the United States and Europe

ETH – Aug 11, 2022

(OPINION) We really are reaching a major crisis point. Thanks to soaring fertilizer prices, insane weather patterns, and the war in Ukraine, global food supplies have been getting tighter and tighter. So we really needed a banner year for agricultural production in both the United States and Europe in 2022, and that is not going to happen.

In fact, unprecedented drought is absolutely devastating crops all over the northern hemisphere. A lot of people are complaining about how high food prices are right now but just wait. If some sort of a miracle doesn’t happen, agricultural production is going to be way below expectations in both the United States and Europe, and that is going to have very serious implications for 2023.

Let me start by talking about the nightmare that is starting to unfold in Europe. According to CNN, it is now being projected that farmers in Italy have lost “up to 80% of their harvest” because the drought has become so severe… In Italy, farmers in some parts of the country have lost up to 80% of their harvest this year due to severe weather anomalies, the Coldretti farming association said Thursday.

How are those farmers going to survive? Many farmers in France are facing similar losses because they have only been receiving a fraction of the rainfall that they normally get… In France, where an intense drought has hammered farmers and prompted widespread limits on freshwater use, there were just 9.7 millimeters (0.38 inches) of rain last month, Meteo France said.

That was 84 percent down on the average levels seen for July between 1991 and 2022, making it the driest month since March 1961, the agency added. Crop failures in France would be a really, really big deal because France is normally “the fourth-largest exporter of wheat” in the entire world…

France is the fourth-largest exporter of wheat and among the top five exporters of maize globally. Poor harvests due to drought may heap further pressure on grain supplies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused global shockwaves. The situation in Germany is also extremely dire.

https://endtimeheadlines.org

Great Reset: Economically Crippled Germany Pushes ‘Climate Club’ Global Tax Scheme at G7

Peter Caddle – June 26, 2022

Germany is aiming to found a global “climate club” taxation scheme designed to force countries worldwide to adopt a hardcore green agenda.

Seemingly unhappy with just destroying its own economy, eco-crazy Germany is now reportedly aiming to found a so-called “climate club”, a group that would punish countries not perceived as green enough.

The country is pushing this next element of its climate Great Reset agenda despite the fact that it is already facing economic collapse, a situation which is due in part to its obsession with its own green agenda.

According to a report by public broadcaster Deutsche Welle, the German government will push for the genesis of the “climate club” at the latest meeting of the G7 in Bavaria, Germany, seemingly in the hopes of onboarding some of the other member countries into the new scheme.

The plan was originally the brainchild of eco-zealot American Professor William Nordhaus of Yale University, who has argued that the voluntary nature of previous climate agreements has been insufficient in achieving green goals. Under the scheme, member states set extremely aggressive climate targets, while punishing those outside the group by implementing climate tariffs on their goods.

https://www.breitbart.com

Germany Prosecutes Christian Pastor For Biblical Stance on Homosexuality (Video)

Amy Mek – May 25, 2022

“While today this is about a view found in the Bible, tomorrow it will be about any other opinion.”

Evangelical Pastor Olaf Latzel has been acquitted of hate speech against homosexuals by a German court after they had previously found him guilty in 2020. The charges stem from statements the 54-year-old conservative pastor of the Bremen St. Martini congregation made during a November 2019 marriage seminar at his Church. A video of the seminar was posted months later on his Youtube channel and then deleted. The LGBTQ community accused him of sedition for speaking God’s word.

A court in Bremen, Germany, has previously condemned the pastor for hate speech against homosexuals in 2020. He was fined 8,100 euros and vowed to appeal the sentence.

The court said the pastor promoted hate against homosexuals and violated their dignity in the marriage seminar in which he addressed the activities of what he called the “homolobby.”

Speaking to around 30 couples, he said at one point: “All around walk the criminals of the Christopher Street Day [the Berlin Pride March]. All this gender crap is an attack against God’s order of creation; it is demonic and satanic”.

The pastor claimed that homosexuality is “a ‘degenerative form’ of society.” Latzel warned that the “whole gender crap is an attack on God’s order of creation.”

In the process, the defense of Latzel said these views were based on the Bible and referred to homosexuality and violent LGBT activists and not to homosexual people.

The judge dismissed it, considering that “the homosexual orientation of a person is a part of its personality.”

Latzel’s lawyer said the sentence is a “catastrophe.” He described it as “the opening of a door to restrict freedom of speech” and added that “while today this is about a view found in the Bible, tomorrow it will be about any other opinion.”

https://rairfoundation.com

Oil Spikes After EU Says Russian Embargo ‘Imminent’ As Germany Drops Opposition

Tyler Durden – April 28, 2022

After throughout the whole month consistently rejecting a proposed European Union ban on Russian oil, but while also walking a delicate tightrope of opposing Putin’s demand of payments in rubles for Russian energy, Germany is now ready to pull the trigger on an embargo.

It’s another major Berlin U-turn happening in tandem with the decision to send heavy weapons to Ukraine. The Wall Street Journal is citing Berlin government officials who say “Germany is now ready to stop buying Russian oil.”

The WSJ underscores that this “clears the way” for a wider EU ban on Russian oil imports, given that Germany’s resistance was the chief holdout to imposing an embargo before this point.

Further the report indicates that an embargo now seen as “imminent” but it remains that no target date has been set yet, or at least hasn’t been disclosed publicly. While events earlier in the week made clear that this was coming, preparing markets, oil began surging on the news.

Which is not good news for President Biden as gas prices at the pump are already on the rise.

Germany appears to have lifted its objection based on prior negotiations to implement a phased-in Russian oil embargo, similar to the phased approach regarding the coal ban.

Additionally, other countries particularly in eastern Europe have lately appeared willing to step up in taking the pressure off Germany supply – for example Poland says it’s ready to supply a German refinery via Gdansk which is owned by Rosneft.

https://www.zerohedge.com

NEW REFORMATION – Over 100 Catholic Priests “Come Out” As Homosexual, Demand Everyone Bow Down To Gay Agenda

Mark Van der Veen – January 26, 2022

In Germany and the United States, parishes and ministers also began blessing same-sex unions in lieu of marriage, with growing calls for bishops to institutionalize gay marriage.

However, in response to formal questions from a number of dioceses on whether the practice was allowed, the Vatican’s doctrinal office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) made clear it wasn’t, ruling: “negative.”

In Germany, gay Roman Catholic priests are coming out, literally, and demanding that it is time for the world to see the ‘true diversity’ of the Roman Catholic church, and to demonstrate that the Body of Christ is ‘wonderfully queer’.

More than 120 LGBT priests, teachers, and Church volunteers in Germany have launched an initiative – OutInChurch – and demanded that Catholic higher-ups toss away their long-standing disdain for homosexual relationships and grant them greater freedoms within the Church.

The members of the church community published seven demands on social media under the “OutInChurch” initiative. These demands range from queer people saying they should be able to live without fear and have access to all kinds of activities and occupations in the church without discrimination.

They said their sexual orientation must never be considered a breach of loyalty or reason for dismissal from their occupation. They ask the church to revise its statements on sexuality based on “theological and human-scientific findings.”

Besides asking for equal rights, employees also put down demands that the church takes accountability for their discrimination against people of the community throughout history, calling on the bishop to take responsibility on behalf of the church.

https://www.rightjournalism.com

Polish Deputy Prime Minister Accuses Germany of Using EU to Create ‘Fourth Reich’

Chris Tomlinson – December 26, 2021

Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of the country’s governing ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), has accused Germany of trying to create a “Fourth Reich” by pushing for a European Union federal state.

Mr Kaczyński made his comments this week during an interview with Polish media, explaining that the term “Fourth Reich” was not so much a reference to the Third Reich of National Socialist Germany as to the “First Reich” of the Holy Roman Empire.

The Polish conservative added that if his fellow countrymen were to agree to further federalisation of the European Union “we would be degraded in various ways” and said that such a change to the EU would amount to a “modern subjugation” of the Polish people, Kronen Zeitung reports.

The comments come after the new German left-green-liberal coalition government agreed to push for further federalisation of the European Union as part of the “traffic light coalition” deal that was agreed upon earlier this month.

Last week, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz made his first visit to Poland to meet with Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, with the latter noting his opposition to a centralised EU superstate and saying such a move would be “bureaucratic centralism” and adding that “Europe will be strong if it is a Europe of sovereign states.”

Scholz did, however, express support for Poland’s ongoing migrant crisis engineered by Belarus, with Scholz agreeing that it was a form of “hybrid warfare” during his visit.

“I described to the Chancellor the changed tactics that the [Alexander] Lukashenko regime is now using in this artificially triggered migration crisis, the use of people as living shields, as weapons,” Prime Minister Morawiecki said.

https://www.breitbart.com

Germany, 4 EU states launch military reaction force initiative — report

DW – October 21, 2021

Germany and four members of the European Union have launched an initiative to establish a bloc-wide rapid reaction force for future military crises, the German news agency dpa reported on Thursday.

The initiative, which also draws in Finland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Slovenia, aims to expand the existing EU battle groups, which are multinational military units of 1,500 personnel each on standby to respond to crises.

The new force is expected to include space and cyber capabilities, along with special forces and air transport.

The five countries said recent events in Afghanistan have shown that the EU must be able to act swiftly, according to a document cited by dpa.

To this end, the availability, readiness, deployability and competence of the forces had to be improved, the document added.

In order to provide greater flexibility, the five states also proposed using Article 44 of the EU Treaty, which has never been activated before.

The article allows coalitions of willing member states to carry out security activities with the permission of other non-participating countries.

The plan also calls on EU member states to utilize more regional cooperation arrangements. It does not, however, make any specific proposals on the size of the force in terms of personnel.

https://www.dw.com

NATO Hawks Raise Their Voice as Swedish Defence Minister Speaks Against EU Army

– September 3, 2021

Sweden has often been called “non-aligned in the name only” due to its growing cooperation with NATO, despite not formally joining the treaty. Calls to formalise the relationship are heard every now and then, spurred by the current situation.

Swedish Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist has once again re-affirmed Swedish scepticism toward a united EU force, which has been floated anew in the wake of the Afghanistan crisis.

Among others, the idea of creating a large-scale European task force has been suggested by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, to the joy of the French, as President Macron has repeatedly advocated for a “true European army”.

By contrast, Hultqvist has been more reserved about the proposal.

“I don’t see that as the main line for solving these problems,” Peter Hultqvist told Swedish Radio.

Instead, the defence minister lifted up cooperation with the US and the transatlantic link as crucial for Europe’s defence.

“This link must hold because it is very important for the balance in our part of the world, especially considering what is happening in Russia,” Hultqvist said, once again using the “Russian threat” as a rhetorical tool.

https://sputniknews.com