German Lutherans

By Rainer Buergin, Birgit Jennen & Arne Delfs

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is trying to head off a potential revolt from as much as a third of her bloc's lawmakers as she tries to up line support for a compromise deal with Greece, party officials said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out war reparations to the Greek state. Instead, she is in favor of joint projects through a “fund with the future”. The program will have an annual budget worth 1 million euros as a gesture of atonement for Nazi atrocities in Greece during World War II.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel weighed in, convincingly in fact, on Tuesday against stereotypes in Europe, speaking at a high school in Berlin where many of the students are from an immigrant background, particularly Turks.
“Namely, one suddenly saying ‘Oh, the Bulgarians, the Greeks, we know what they’re like’,” she said, adding: “We can’t ever say that.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras spoke to each other on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the German government said on Friday, without giving any further details.

"This week they were in contact several times, including on Wednesday," Christiane Wirtz said at a news conference in Berlin.

Angela Merkel spoke in Bremen on Friday, and clearly stated that aid cannot be given, either on immigration issues or financial problems, if terms are not met.

Germany's Foreign Minister pledged Berlin's strong support for Montenegro's strategic foreign policy goals of EU and NATO membership, hailing the country as "a success story in the region.

"I would like to see more examples like Montenegro," Steinmeier said on Wednesday after a meeting in Berlin with the Montenegrin Prime Minister, Milo Djukanovic.

Berlin has distanced itself from recent statements by German President Joachim Gauck, who voiced support for Athens?s demands for reparations for the Nazi occupation of Greece during World War Two.

German DM: European army is "long-term goal"

BERLIN -- The creation of a European army is our long-term goal, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen has said.

She mentioned the example of the German-Dutch military cooperation in a joint interview with her Dutch colleague Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert given to the daily Bild am Sonntag.

The veteran leader of Montenegro is to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel during his official visit to Berlin on Wednesday, mainly to discuss the country's prospects of joining  NATO and the EU.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel touched upon on a subject that is taboo for the German people during her message for the 70-year anniversary since the end of World War 2 on May 8. Speaking about the dark pages of German history and the Nazi atrocities during WWII, Merkel underlined that nobody should draw a segregational line with Germany’s past.