Thomas Wiegold schreibt über die Bundeswehr, über Verteidigungs- und Sicherheitspolitik. Die Truppe hat er schon lange im Blick: 1993 berichtete er aus Somalia und seitdem aus fast allen Einsatzgebieten der Bundeswehr.Audio file: Merkel/Karzai presser in Berlin (in English)
For my (few?) international readers: Here’s the audio file of the press conference given by German chancellor Angela Merkel and Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai on Wednesday in Berlin. Most important remark by Merkel: Germany will contribute 150 million Euros annually after 2014 to support the Afghan security forces.
(I choose the English version throughout to be prepared for possible questions and remarks in Dari, so also the Chancellor’s remarks are dubbed in English.)
EUNAVFOR’s Potts: Put pressure on the pirates everywhere (Audio)
British Rear Admiral Duncan Potts, operations commander of EUNAVFOR, the European Union’s anti-piracy operation Atalanta off Somalia, was in Berlin today to brief members of the German parliament on the planned expansion of the Atalanta mandate: as decided by EU defense and foreign ministers last week, EUNAVFOR’s warships will soon have permission to attack the pirates’ logistics ashore in Somalia.
Germany is one – and not the only – country weary of this expansion, so Potts had a tough job convincing the parlamentarians that Atalanta needs this expanded mandate. Main reason, the Admiral told lawmakers, is to put pressure on the pirates not only at sea, but also where they have their lairs and logistics – in order to make their business model less profitable.
After the briefing, I had the opportunity to ask Potts some questions; here’s the audio:
(Note to my German readers: German version to follow)
U.S. Congressmen meet Afghan Northern Alliance reps in Berlin (update)
Now that’s something I’m not sure what to make of: The German foreign ministry confirmed today that U.S. Congressmen and representatives of the Afghan Northern Alliance have met in Berlin. As a foreign ministry spokesman officially said (here’s my quick&dirty translation, see original in German below):
The foreign ministry (Auswärtiges Amt) is aware that yesterday and today, on invitation by the Aspen Institute, representatives of the U.S. Congress and representatives of the Afghan Northern Alliance have met in Berlin. This event took place in the sole responsibility of the Berlin Aspen Institute. The German government has not been part of these talks.
At the Bonn Conference on December 5, 2011, the international community has committed itself to a political solution for Afghanistan; the peace and reconciliation process and its results have to be based on the principles laid down in article 18 of the conclusions of said conference. Based on this international consensus, the German government does not share diverging demands of conference participants.
So far, I haven’t seen any reports on the Berlin meeting – and not quite sure what this means. Maybe there’ll be some more info later…
(Here’s the original foreign office statement:
Dem AA ist bekannt, dass auf Einladung des Aspen Instituts in Berlin gestern und heute Gespräche zwischen Abgeordneten des US-Kongresses und Vertretern der afghanischen Nord-Allianz stattgefunden haben.
Die Veranstaltung wurde in eigener Verantwortung durch das Aspen-Institut Berlin vorbereitet und durchgeführt. Vertreter der Bundesregierung haben an diesem Meinungsaustausch nicht teilgenommen.
Die internationale Gemeinschaft hat sich auf der Bonner Afghanistan-Konferenz am 05. Dezember 2011 im Konsens zur Notwendigkeit einer politischen Lösung für Afghanistan bekannt, wobei der Friedens- und Versöhnungsprozess und sein Ergebnis auf den in Paragraph 18 der Konferenzschlussfolgerungen genannten Prinzipien beruhen müssen. Auf der Grundlage dieses internationalen Konsenses teilt die Bundesregierung die hiervon abweichenden Forderungen der Konferenzteilnehmer nicht.)
Update: Meanwhile, my readers are adding some info (thanks a lot!):
Here (from the comments) links to pics from a press conference with Representative Dana Rohrabacher:
However, for the moment can’t find any news story with these pics…
Also interesting is the official reference to the Aspen Institute. Indeed there’s a conference going on in Berln, co-hosted by the Aspen Institute and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (which has close ties to Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union); on the list of speakers is the German government’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Michael Steiner. But then, neither the U.S. Congressmen nor the Northern Alliance representatives can be found on the list of participants… So the Aspen Institute seems to have chaired a separate conference at the same time? (Maybe we’ll read about it, as journalists from Der Spiegel, Deutschlandradio, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung had been invited to the Aspen/Konrad Adenauer Foundation conference…)
Update 2: Now here’s the Reuters story on this meeting.
Update 3: Rohrabacher’s web site has this info.
A journo’s question: Reports on post-2014 Karzai still single source, right?
I have to admit that I really have no idea which version is the correct one. Is Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai ready to retire after 2014, as he told Spiegel magazine? Or is he willing to use tricks to extend his grip on power as a leaked documents by Germany’s intelligence service Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) allegedly suggests?
But there’s one thing I know from a journalist’s point of view: When the German tabloid Bild reports on the secret BND document, and then the British Telegraph reports its reporter has seen the BND document – that makes it still one BND document both papers are reporting. So it still would call this single source. Let’s look for a second one.
Angela Merkel’s government jet now flying in Iran
A former German government jet used by German chancellors and ministers for the last 20 years is now flying in Iran after it had been taken out of air force service and sold by the German government, according to an airline industry website. The Airbus 310, former Luftwaffe tail no. 22+10, had been Chancellor Angela Merkel’s means of transport until the Luftwaffe upgraded its fleet of government jets this year.
The website skyliner-aviation.de which is monitoring sales of airliners around the world mentioned in its list of plane transfers on Nov. 20 the delivery of the plane to Tehran:
| Airbus A310 | -304 | 499 | EP-VIP | Mahan Air | delivery 18nov11 KBP-THR | ex 10+22 |
To break down the code: According to this list, an Airbus A310, former registration 10+22, had been delivered from Borispol Airport (KBP) in Ukraine to Mehrabad Airport (THR) in the Iranian capital Tehran. The plane now is operated by Mahan Air, an Iranian airline that insists that it’s a private airline.
I’m no aviation expert, but I’d assume a plane with VIP interior and registered as EP-VIP won’t be used for regular commuter service…
The plane had been parked for months in the Ukraine after it had been sold.
(Photo courtesy Igor Lesiv/spotters.net.ua)
The service in Iran adds a last irony to the history of this Airbus. Originally, the plane had been ordered by the East German government only a short time before the Berlin Wall came down in late 1989. After German unification in 1990 it was put into service with the – former West German, then German – Luftwaffe as a government jet. Flying in Iran, a country which officially faces sanctions by the West, ist just the latest twist…
