EU unveils 'stockpiling strategy' to prepare for war
The 27-nation bloc has launched a broad readiness push to bolster its militaries and try to ensure it can defend itself by 2030.
"The goal is very simple to make sure that essential supplies that keep our societies running, especially the ones that save lives, are always available," EU crisis management commissioner Hadja Lahbib said.
"The more we prepare, the less we panic."
The EU says the new stockpiling plan is aimed at securing the continuity of key goods during a raft of crises "such as major energy blackouts, natural disasters, conflicts or pandemics."
It involves establishing a network between countries to better coordinate stocks, identifying gaps and bolstering "EU-level stockpiles".
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EU tells citizens to stockpile three days of supplies in case of attack or disaster
The levels of crisis preparedness among EU citizens vary markedly from country to country.
Member states, such as Finland, living under Moscow's shadow on the EU's eastern border, have long worked on having society ready for potential conflict.
"Of course, if you have a 1,000 kilometres border with Russia, you will feel threatened potentially by a war," Lahbib said.
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"But it is normal, that in Spain, they feel that wildfires are more likely to happen. There is no one size fits all."
Lahbib insisted that whatever the cause of a crisis -- be it conflict or natural disasters -- the impact on citizens such as energy blackouts can be similar.
"People are without energy, and that's why we need to stockpile items everywhere in the European Union," she said.
In March, as part of its efforts, the EU advised every household to have a three-day survival kit including water, food and flashlights ready in case of emergencies.
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Int'l Business Times
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DW
10 hours ago
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Germany updates: Protestors derail AfD leader's interview – DW – 07/20/2025
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DW
10 hours ago
- DW
Germany updates: Bundestag is a 'prime' target for hackers – DW – 07/20/2025
Bundestag President Julia Klöckner says Germany's lower house of parliament is consistently under attack by hackers. Meanwhile, a dispute dividing the country's ruling coalition will not go away. Follow DW for more. Bundestag President Julia Klöckner says Germany's lower house of parliament is under constant cyberattack. On Sunday, she called for beefed-up cyber defenses as well as expanded rights for parliamentary police when screening visitors. Meanwhile, Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil is pushing to revive a postponed Bundestag vote on law professor Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf's controversial nomination to Germany's top Weidel, one of the co-chairs of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), was due to give the big "summer interview" that the leaders of the country's main political parties traditionally give to public broadcaster ARD. However, as she was preparing to begin the question and answer session on a terrace in Berlin's government quarter, demonstrators arrived nearby. Breaking out into loud singing, dancing, and chanting, they made it extremely difficult for Weidel to hear the questions she was being asked. She pressed interviewer Markus Preiss to continue despite the difficulty, resulting in what Preiss described as an "acoustically difficult situation." "At points we really couldn't understand each other," he said afterward. The European Commission is preparing to ban combustion engine vehicles for company fleets and rental car providers starting in 2030 — a move that some in the industry say would hit Germany's auto market especially hard. According to , the plan would affect about 60% of all new vehicle sales across the EU, with only 40% of the market made up of private buyers. In 2023, 10.6 million vehicles were sold EU-wide. The Commission intends to present the proposal by late summer and launch the legislative process. Approval by both the EU Council and European Parliament will be required. 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Brosius-Gersdorf insists her opinions have been misrepresented, accusing the media of "inaccurate and incomplete, unobjective and non-transparent" reporting. Klingbeil framed the controversy as a test of principle. "It's a fundamental question of whether we yield to pressure from far-right networks that have smeared a highly qualified woman," he told the newspaper. Julia Klöckner also called for a new parliamentary police law to better protect the Bundestag and politicians against potential physical attacks — specifically when it comes to ID checks among visitors to the popular institution. Currently, says Klöckner, domestic security services cannot share information about an individual visitor's criminal records or threat potential with Bundestag police, a situation she blasted as "absurd." Germany's Bundestag is the most-visited parliament in the world according to Klöckner, with more than 2 million citizens attending sessions each year. 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"Defending ourselves against this has to do with the stabilization and resilience of our democracy," not only the protection of the parliament. The last overhaul of the system was prompted by a May 2015 cyberattack in which the computers of numerous parliamentarians — and even Chancellor Angela Merkel — were infected with spyware. Five years later, Merkel announced that an investigation had turned up "hard evidence" of Russian involvement. Russia was also accused of being behind a 2023 cyberattack on the email accounts of then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD). It remains unknown who was behind a 2024 cyberattack on the headquarters of Klöckner's own Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has warned the United States against escalating the tariff war with the European Union (EU). "This would lead to everything becoming more expensive for consumers in the USA," he told the newspaper. "The European Union is not defenseless." Wadephul insisted that EU member states were standing together and that he didn't fear an end to the resistance. "Indeed, there are states which are demanding more stringency and toughness than Germany thinks is right," he said. Wadephul reiterated the German government's belief that "the complete dismantling of all tariffs" is the preferred approach, and that "we can reach a positive agreement with the USA through negotiation." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video He said that Chancellor Friedrich Merz is heavily involved in the discussions, saying: "Germans can count on the fact that there is a chancellor standing up for our interests and European interests in Washington." After the new German government resumed deportations to Afghanistan this week, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has floated a similar approach for Syria – despite the current unrest in the war-torn country. "It's possible that, in future, Syrians who have committed criminal offenses [could be] deported," he told the newspaper. "I think that's possible in principle – provided the country develops in [the right] direction." Southern Syria has been rocked by violence again this week, with the new Islamist-led regime in Damascus struggling to prevent clashes between Druze and Bedouin factions in Sweida and powerless to stop Israeli intervention. Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed. "We are watching Syria with concern," said Wadephul, calling on the interim government under Ahmed al-Sharaa to ensure that all sections of the population and all religious groups can co-exist. "No-one should have to fear for life and limb," he said. 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"Jewish life is a part of us," wrote Merz on the messaging platform X, adding that the organization reminds everyone in the country of something "that should be obvious: Germany must be a safe space for Jews." Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also honored the day, saying that he was "deeply thankful" that the organization's first leaders had determined to "rebuild Jewish life in Germany in the aftermath of the Shoah ." Steinmeier said that beyond not letting Germany forget the crimes of its Nazi past and fighting antisemitism, the Central Council of Jews in Germany served as "an important driving force behind the democratic development of German society after 1945." The institution, which functions as Germany's main political, societal and religious representative for Jews in the country, was founded on July 19, 1950, in Frankfurt — just five years after the end of World War II and the industrial-scale murder of more than six million European Jews at the hands of Germany's Nazi dictatorship. Today the council comprises some 105 communities and associations, and 100.000 individual view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A majority of Germans have opposed banning the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), according to a new poll. The survey by the Allensbach Institute, published Saturday by , found that 52% of respondents reject a ban on the party, while 27% support it. In eastern Germany, two-thirds of those surveyed said they were against such a move. According to the researchers, one key reason is that many Germans know AfD supporters personally. In the West, 67% said they had AfD sympathizers in their social circles; in the East, that figure rose to 88%. While 54% of respondents described the AfD as far-right, only 5% viewed their acquaintances who back the party in the same way. Another factor behind the opposition to a ban is mistrust toward the parties advocating it. Many respondents suspect those parties are mainly trying to eliminate a political rival that has grown too strong. The idea of a ban is divisive within Germany's governing coalition. The center-left Social Democratic Party voted unanimously at its June 29 party congress to prepare proceedings and called for a federal-state working group. The center-right Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union has pushed back, citing steep legal hurdles and urging a focus on political argument. Two parties have been banned in (West) Germany, an openly neo-Nazi party in 1952 and the Communist Party (KPD) in 1956. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Around half of eligible voters in Germany have said they agree with the federal government's view that Russia poses a danger to the country, according to a new YouGov poll for Germany's DPA news agency. The survey found that 13% see a very serious military threat from Moscow, while 36% consider it a significant one. By contrast, 30% say Russia poses only a minor threat, and 14% see no threat at all. The divide is sharp along political party lines. Among supporters of the conservative CDU/CSU bloc, center-left Social Democrats, and the Greens, 58–62% view Russia as a major or very serious threat. About one-third of these party groups see little or no danger. The picture flips among far-right Alternative for Germany voters, where 65% say there is little or no military threat from Russia, while 29% see one. Among supporters of the populist left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, only 33% see a threat, while 51% do not. Supporters of the socialist Left party are evenly split — 48% see a threat, 47% do not. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video German consumers are paying more for meat — and prices are still climbing this summer. And while retail costs rise, producers of Germany's favorite meat, pork, face falling returns. According to the Agricultural Market Information Company (AMI) in Bonn, average discount supermarket prices for a 400-gram pack of minute steaks increased by 30 cents in early July, from €3.49 to €3.79 ($4.06 to $4.41). The price for coarse pork sausages rose from €2.59 to €2.89, and a 550-gram pack of chicken schnitzel went up 30 cents to €6.26. Meat and meat product prices have steadily risen in recent years. The Federal Statistical Office reports that, by June, they were on average 31.7% higher than in 2020. Poultry had risen by more than 45%, and minced beef by over 68%. The German Meat Industry Association cites several causes: general inflation, rising feed costs, wage increases, and energy policy impacts. Beef has become scarcer in Germany. According to the industry association, more farms are ending cattle production, citing regulatory pressure and uncertainty about future farming standards. The result has been shrinking herds. Meanwhile, poultry consumption is rising. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video German media have begun scrutinizing the government's latest deportation flights to Afghanistan, questioning whether the men truly fit the label of dangerous criminals. One of the 81 men deported on Friday was Haroon I., 27, who was escorted from a facility in Pforzheim under heavy police presence late on Thursday. Footage of the scene, obtained by , shows the emotional moment. The report said the man was a convicted cannabis dealer who had already served his sentence. People close to him say he had been rebuilding his life and was well on his way to integrating into German society. said that Haroon had strong German, was living with his partner, a German woman, had a job and was a member of his community. He also had little connection to Afghanistan with most of his family having left the country. The convoy was guarded by police in balaclavas who kept back friends and supporters. Pforzheim was one of the departure points for the new round of deportations to Afghanistan ordered by Germany's centrist coalition. A plane carrying the men left Leipzig airport early on Friday. The government has said it is delivering on a campaign pledge to deport people to Afghanistan and Syria, starting with criminals and people posing a perceived risk. After the deportations, the United Nations said no one should be returned to Afghanistan, regardless of their legal status.
