Today in Germany: A roundup of the latest news on Thursday
Germany calls for greater armament in Europe, new child benefits scheme called into question, AfD members deny Russian propaganda claims, and more news from around the country on Thursday.
Record temperatures expected in coming days
As it nears closer to the weekend in Germany, temperatures and beginning to warm up. While the weather around Germany is still expected to be mild and rainy for most of Thursday, the mercury will reach the mid-20s Celsius by the weekend - and even hit 30C in some places, especially in southern Germany.
That's unusually hot for April. "This has never happened before," meteorologist Michaela Koschak told t-online.
The previous record for high April temperatures was set in 2018, which could now be surpassed.
This February and March already marked the warmest months in Germany in recorded history.
Germany among countries calling for greater armament in Europe
In light of Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland are calling for even greater armament in Europe.
"We must utilise the entire industrial potential of our continent to improve our military capabilities," wrote Annalena Baerbock, Stéphane Séjourné and Radoslaw Sikorski in a guest article on the news website Politico on Wednesday.
This permanent armament requires binding long-term contracts with clear timetables, a "certain level of ambition" and firm financial commitments as well as purchase guarantees from European governments, they wrote. Spending two percent of gross domestic product on defence could "only be a starting point".
On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic military alliance NATO on Thursday, the three foreign ministers of the so-called Weimar Triangle went on to write: "The USA has long shouldered more of the burden than the rest of our alliance. But collective defence is our joint effort."
Also on Thursday, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius is set to announce his decision for a reform of Germany's armed forces (Bundeswehr) in the afternoon.
READ ALSO: How can Germany meet NATO's two percent defence spending target?
FDP criticise new child benefits plan
The FDP is calling on the German Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) to draft a fundamentally revised bill on basic child benefits (Kindergrundsicherung), which is set to replace the Kindergeld scheme from 2025. Otherwise, it intends not to vote in favour in the Bundestag.
Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai criticised on Thursday in Bild that that Paus envisages 5,000 additional staff positions to handle the benefits scheme, aimed to make it easier for all families in Germany to access benefits and support for their children.
He added: "Mrs Paus' plans for basic child benefits are a bureaucratic monster, unrealistic and will hardly help any child out of poverty effectively. Without a fundamental revision, the law cannot be approved."
Djir-Sarai called on Paus to comprehensively amend the draft law herself. "If the minister wants to save her law, she must finally put something practical on the table."
READ ALSO: What families in Germany need to know about Kindergeld's replacement from 2025
A family in Germany. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-tmn | Mascha Brichta
German far-right politician denies Russian propaganda claim
A leading member of Germany's far-right AfD party on Wednesday denied he was paid to spread pro-Russian positions on a Moscow-financed news website.
"I have not accepted any money to advocate pro-Russian positions," Petr Bystron, a lawmaker and the Alternative for Germany's (AfD) number two candidate for the European elections, told the Funke media group.
The Czech government in late March revealed it had busted a Moscow-financed network that was using the Prague-based Voice of Europe news site to spread Russian propaganda across Europe.
The Denik N daily said some European politicians cooperating with the news site were paid from Russian funds, in some cases to fund their EU election campaigns.
It singled out the AfD as being involved.
Denik N and Germany's Der Spiegel magazine named Bystron and Maximilian Krah, the AfD's top candidate for the EU elections, as suspects in the case.
German travel group in Taiwan, originally thought to be missing, is found
Germany's Foreign Office says it has been in contact with a group of German travellers in the earthquake-stricken island republic of Taiwan.
A group of 19 people were originally thought to be missing, said a spokesperson for the Foreign Office in Berlin on Wednesday. He said that 18 of them were German and were doing well under the circumstances.
Earlier it had become known that two Germans had been rescued from a tunnel located in a popular national park on the east coast of Taiwan. They had been trapped in the tunnel for some time after the earthquake on Wednesday morning local time.
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Record temperatures expected in coming days
As it nears closer to the weekend in Germany, temperatures and beginning to warm up. While the weather around Germany is still expected to be mild and rainy for most of Thursday, the mercury will reach the mid-20s Celsius by the weekend - and even hit 30C in some places, especially in southern Germany.
That's unusually hot for April. "This has never happened before," meteorologist Michaela Koschak told t-online.
The previous record for high April temperatures was set in 2018, which could now be surpassed.
This February and March already marked the warmest months in Germany in recorded history.
Germany among countries calling for greater armament in Europe
In light of Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland are calling for even greater armament in Europe.
"We must utilise the entire industrial potential of our continent to improve our military capabilities," wrote Annalena Baerbock, Stéphane Séjourné and Radoslaw Sikorski in a guest article on the news website Politico on Wednesday.
This permanent armament requires binding long-term contracts with clear timetables, a "certain level of ambition" and firm financial commitments as well as purchase guarantees from European governments, they wrote. Spending two percent of gross domestic product on defence could "only be a starting point".
On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the North Atlantic military alliance NATO on Thursday, the three foreign ministers of the so-called Weimar Triangle went on to write: "The USA has long shouldered more of the burden than the rest of our alliance. But collective defence is our joint effort."
Also on Thursday, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius is set to announce his decision for a reform of Germany's armed forces (Bundeswehr) in the afternoon.
READ ALSO: How can Germany meet NATO's two percent defence spending target?
FDP criticise new child benefits plan
The FDP is calling on the German Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) to draft a fundamentally revised bill on basic child benefits (Kindergrundsicherung), which is set to replace the Kindergeld scheme from 2025. Otherwise, it intends not to vote in favour in the Bundestag.
Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai criticised on Thursday in Bild that that Paus envisages 5,000 additional staff positions to handle the benefits scheme, aimed to make it easier for all families in Germany to access benefits and support for their children.
He added: "Mrs Paus' plans for basic child benefits are a bureaucratic monster, unrealistic and will hardly help any child out of poverty effectively. Without a fundamental revision, the law cannot be approved."
Djir-Sarai called on Paus to comprehensively amend the draft law herself. "If the minister wants to save her law, she must finally put something practical on the table."
READ ALSO: What families in Germany need to know about Kindergeld's replacement from 2025
German far-right politician denies Russian propaganda claim
A leading member of Germany's far-right AfD party on Wednesday denied he was paid to spread pro-Russian positions on a Moscow-financed news website.
"I have not accepted any money to advocate pro-Russian positions," Petr Bystron, a lawmaker and the Alternative for Germany's (AfD) number two candidate for the European elections, told the Funke media group.
The Czech government in late March revealed it had busted a Moscow-financed network that was using the Prague-based Voice of Europe news site to spread Russian propaganda across Europe.
The Denik N daily said some European politicians cooperating with the news site were paid from Russian funds, in some cases to fund their EU election campaigns.
It singled out the AfD as being involved.
Denik N and Germany's Der Spiegel magazine named Bystron and Maximilian Krah, the AfD's top candidate for the EU elections, as suspects in the case.
German travel group in Taiwan, originally thought to be missing, is found
Germany's Foreign Office says it has been in contact with a group of German travellers in the earthquake-stricken island republic of Taiwan.
A group of 19 people were originally thought to be missing, said a spokesperson for the Foreign Office in Berlin on Wednesday. He said that 18 of them were German and were doing well under the circumstances.
Earlier it had become known that two Germans had been rescued from a tunnel located in a popular national park on the east coast of Taiwan. They had been trapped in the tunnel for some time after the earthquake on Wednesday morning local time.
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