Something important happened in Germany yesterday, says Eugyppius. The state parliament of Sachsen-Anhalt elected an AfD President with CDU votes – the first breach of the 'firewall' that keeps the Right out of power.
The post Firewall Falls: German State Parliament Elects AfD President With CDU Votes appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
The Alfa Watan, a ship sailing under the flag of Togo, and the Able, a vessel flying the flag of Palau, were targeted by naval and aerial drones on Tuesday (6 October) morning in the Black Sea near the Bulgarian coast.
The Alfa Watan sank, and rescuers at the scene found only an overturned boat, life jackets, and fragments of the ship’s equipment, according to Bulgarian prime minister Rumen Radev.
The 18-member crew of the Able caught fire, but was successfully evacuated to the port of Varna.
“This is an unacceptable attack in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone,” Radev said after an emergency government meeting on Tuesday.
Bulgaria had discussed the drone attack inside the EU and Nato, he added.
It came after a drone also sank a Turkish-owned grain ship, the Royad Mammadov, killing two sailors, on Monday.
But even though Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky was quick to blame Russia, the perpetrators have not been formally identified yet, in a grey-zone conflict in which deniability is a tactic.
Russia and Ukraine have been escalating attacks on ships for several months in an effort to disrupt each other’s export economies.
And Moscow’s attacks have largely halted Ukraine’s maritime exports of agricultural products, while Kyiv’s attacks have forced Russia to seek alternative routes for exports.
“The situation in the Black Sea is increasingly concerning,” said EU Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen on X on Tuesday.
Ukraine has “proposed concrete steps to de-escalate the situation”, also said Zelensky.
But for all his good will, the attacks were just part of a broader deterioration in Europe’s security environment, covering also Nato’s eastern and southern borders.
‘Shadow war’
For Czech president Peter Pavel, speaking to Czech daily Deník N on 22 September, the most imminent danger came from a false-flag attack in Estonia or Latvia, to test Nato’s resolve.
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The EU should not accept any cuts to the proposed allocation of funds to defence and security in the next long-term EU budget, German MEP Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann said in Strasbourg on Wednesday.
“Without security, we have no discussion anymore about anything,” the chair of the European Parliament’s committee on defence and security (SEDE) told the European Newsroom (enr) on the sidelines of Parliament’s plenary session.
The European Commission has proposed €131 billion for investment in defence, security and space under the European Competitiveness Fund in the EU’s 2028–2034 budget. This represents a five-fold increase compared with the current budget period.
Asked what compromise she would accept on the size, funding or allocation of defence spending to secure a budget agreement, Strack-Zimmermann said: “We need everything without compromises.”
The next long-term budget requires unanimous agreement among EU member states and the European Parliament’s consent.
Strack-Zimmermann accused Russia of trying to deter European leaders from visiting Kyiv and undermine their support for Ukraine following attacks during German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s visit last Sunday.
Asked about accelerating deliveries to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia’s war of agression, Strack-Zimmermann said funding was available but action required approval from national governments.
Ukraine needed humanitarian, military and economic assistance, including money to produce more weapons to protect its people, she said.
Strack-Zimmermann urged countries to move faster on joint defence procurement, backing the EU’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument.
SAFE provides up to €150 billion in competitively priced loans to member states aimed at accelerating large-scale investment in critical capabilities.
“We have more than 150 different weapons systems and to protect Europe we need this SAFE program,” the German politician said.
She said the programme had attracted interest both within and outside the EU. According to the European Commission, 19 EU member states have submitted defence investment plans, such as France, Italy and Poland, but not Germany.
The first non-European country to participate in SAFE was Canada, which concluded an agreement with the EU in June.
German radar maker Hensoldt has signed a memorandum with Ukraine's Defense Ministry for more large-scale radar deliveries, the company said on 5 October. Ukrainian defense outlet Defense Express reads it as a step toward fitting Hensoldt's TRML-4D, already in Ukrainian service, into FREYJA, a planned shield against ballistic missiles.
Ballistic missiles remain the hardest threat in Russia's air war. After Russia's overnight barrage on 7 October, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine is still searching daily for Patriot missiles. The only other system Ukraine can use against them is the Franco-Italian SAMP/T, which fires Aster 30 interceptors made in small numbers. That gap is why Fire Point is reworking its FP-7 missile into a Patriot-like interceptor. Such an interceptor still needs radars to find its target first.
Hensoldt CEO Oliver Dörre signed the document on the sidelines of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's visit to Ukraine. Beyond deliveries, it covers further development of radar capabilities. The partners will also study options to deploy and jointly operate TRL-4D LR long-range radars. Hensoldt said this expands cooperation already agreed on in ballistic missile defense.
The TRL-4D LR is the land-based version of a long-range radar Hensoldt also builds for the German Navy, German outlet Sicherheit & Verteidigung reported. The outlet cited Germany's defense procurement office as giving the naval version a range of more than 400 km (250 miles) against air targets. That, it concluded, puts the range well beyond the TRML-4D's.
"The Ukrainian air defence forces urgently need our high-performance radars to help protect infrastructure such as bridges," Dörre said.
Defense Express, describing the same memorandum, tied both the mass deliveries and the joint-operation plan to the TRML-4D. Hensoldt's release names no model for the deliveries and links joint operation to the TRL-4D LR.
Hensoldt and Fire Point signed a memorandum on FREYJA at the Eurosatory arms show in Paris in June, with the TRML-4D to play a key role, Hensoldt announced. Fire Point is set to act as prime contractor and hold design authority. Hensoldt is to produce, test, and deliver the radars.
Defense Express expects any study of deployment options to focus on how well the radar detects ballistic missiles and relays that data. Hensoldt has its own unit in Ukraine to work closely with operators, the outlet noted. Earlier, the company began setting up a local hub so Ukraine can service and repair the TRML-4D itself.
Ukraine's military uses the TRML-4D both standalone and as the built-in radar of the IRIS-T SLM medium-range air defense system, Defense Express noted. Hensoldt lists an instrumented range of 250 km (155 miles) at altitudes up to 30 km (19 miles). Defense Express, citing the manufacturer, gives track ranges of more than 120 km (75 miles) for fighter jets and more than 60 km (37 miles) for supersonic missiles.
More radars give earlier warning of ballistic strikes, but they cannot stop them. Until the FP-7.X makes its first ballistic intercept, planned for mid-2027, that job stays with Patriot and SAMP/T missiles. Partners delivered three times fewer air defense missiles in the first half of 2026 than a year earlier, Zelenskyy said on 5 August.
After yesterday’s vote in the Saxony-Anhalt Landtag, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) now holds the office of state parliament president for the first time in any German state. After winning the role, which is similar to a speaker position, 35-year-old Tobias Rausch sent shockwaves through the German political establishment when he confirmed he won with the support of Christian Democratic Union (CDU) votes. The backing of four CDU lawmakers could be one of the most concrete signs that the political firewall against the AfD is crumbling.
The newly elected president of Saxony-Anhalt’s state parliament said Wednesday that members of the conservative CDU voted for him. Perhaps even more importantly, he said that four CDU lawmakers have agreed to back the AfD’s candidate for state premier in December, which means Ulrich Siegmund could soon be the first AfD politician leading a state government.
Rausch gave a direct “yes” when Nius editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt asked on “Nius Live” whether CDU deputies had helped elect him. Asked whether Tuesday’s result signaled that AfD candidate Ulrich Siegmund would safely take office as minister-president in December, Rausch replied, “That is to be assumed.”
BREAKING NIUS: Bei NIUS Live bestätigt AfD-Landtagspräsident Tobias Rausch, dass er von CDU-Abgeordneten ins Amt gewählt wurde. Es habe dazu klare Absprachen zwischen AfD und CDU gegeben, und die vier CDU-Abgeordneten werden im Dezember auch für Ulrich Siegmund als Ministerpräsident stimmen und ihm damit die notwendige Mehrheit sichern.
— Julian Reichelt (@jreichelt) October 7, 2026
He told the German press agency dpa that there were agreements with four CDU members of parliament for Siegmund’s election.
He added that more might become clear at a CDU state party conference on Dec. 5, but declined to elaborate. Acting state premier and CDU floor leader Sven Schulze did not comment on the claims when asked by dpa.
Rausch was elected Tuesday in the constitutive session of the 83-seat Landtag in Magdeburg with 48 votes, 29 against and five abstentions. It was the first time the AfD, parts of which are classified as extremist by German domestic intelligence, has held the presidency of a state parliament since the party was founded in 2013.
The AfD holds 39 seats after winning 43.8% of the vote in the Sept. 6 state election, three short of a majority. The five lawmakers of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance had said in advance they would support Rausch, accounting for 44 votes. The additional four came in a secret ballot. SPD, Green and Left lawmakers had said they would vote no. The CDU leadership had recommended that its members abstain; 14 of the party’s 15 deputies were present, but only five abstentions were recorded in the chamber.
The speaker chairs sessions, oversees the parliamentary administration and represents the Landtag externally, including at ceremonial events.
However, the far more consequential vote is expected in December, when lawmakers choose a minister-president. Siegmund needs at least 42 votes, and so far, the BSW has not committed to supporting him for that post.
Meanwhile, Schulze of the CDU remains acting premier until a successor is chosen.
Later Tuesday, AfD lawmaker Hans-Thomas Tillschneider was elected a vice president with 44 votes to 38, even though the BSW said its members would not support him because of statements he had made on armaments policy.
CDU lawmaker Carsten Borchert was chosen as another deputy president with 64 votes in favor and 17 against. SPD candidate Armin Willingmann received 33 votes and failed.
AfD national co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla congratulated the party and described the result as an end to the “firewall” that mainstream parties have maintained against cooperation with the AfD.
However, the national CDU is not happy about the outcome in Saxony-Anhalt. CDU/CSU parliamentary group chairman Thorsten Frei said, “The fact that this is the case is, in my view, extremely concerning and worrying.”
The post Germany: After AfD politician wins state speaker position in historic vote, he confirms he won with the help of the CDU appeared first on Remix News.
The economic model that transformed Central and Eastern Europe after EU accession is losing momentum, according to the International Monetary Fund, which is warning governments that structural reforms are needed if the region is to continue narrowing the income gap with Western Europe.
Carlos Mulas-Granados, the IMF’s regional representative, said on Tuesday that medium-term growth potential across Central and Eastern Europe had declined to around 2.5 per cent, compared with roughly 5 per cent before countries in the region joined the European Union.
The slowdown does not mean that every economy is stagnating. Poland continues to grow faster than much of Western Europe, while the Czech economy has recovered from recent shocks. The concern is instead about the underlying rate at which these economies can expand once temporary fiscal stimulus, EU funding and post-crisis recoveries are stripped out.
Several of the forces behind the region’s earlier success are becoming weaker.
EU accession opened access to the single market, attracted foreign investment and integrated Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary deeply into European industrial supply chains. German manufacturers in particular moved production eastwards, taking advantage of lower labour costs, skilled workforces and geographic proximity.
That process generated rapid gains in productivity and incomes. It cannot simply be repeated.
Demographics are one of the most immediate constraints. Working-age populations are shrinking across much of the region while ageing increases spending requirements for pensions, health care and social support.
The IMF’s country assessments illustrate the problem. Its assessment of Poland says demographic pressures are mounting even as labour productivity remains comparatively strong, and calls for higher labour participation, better skills and deeper capital markets.
In Slovakia, the Fund expects growth of only 0.9 per cent this year and says adverse demographics and weaker productivity are weighing on the medium-term outlook. The economy remains particularly exposed to manufacturing and the automotive industry.
The Czech Republic faces a similar structural constraint. The IMF estimates its medium-term potential growth at around 1.8 per cent, with population ageing and modest productivity gains limiting further convergence.
External conditions have also changed.
Germany, the region’s principal industrial partner, has experienced prolonged weakness in manufacturing. Central European producers therefore face softer demand from the market around which many of their supply chains were originally built.
At the same time, China has moved from being primarily a source of imports and components to a direct competitor in sectors where Central Europe has substantial industrial exposure, including cars, batteries, machinery and electrical equipment.
That combination is particularly difficult for economies built around export-oriented manufacturing.
The problem overlaps with the wider European competitiveness debate. EU Today reported in July that only 15.7 per cent of the reforms recommended in Mario Draghi’s competitiveness report had been fully implemented at that stage, with important work still outstanding on capital markets, energy and investment.
For Central Europe, progress on those issues has a direct bearing on growth. Smaller national capital markets make it harder for companies to finance expansion. Fragmented energy systems add to industrial costs, while limited access to venture capital can restrict the development of businesses outside established manufacturing sectors.
There are significant differences between countries. Poland’s larger domestic market gives it more insulation from industrial weakness elsewhere and the IMF expects relatively strong growth. Hungary has faced a different combination of weak investment and fiscal constraints, while Slovakia’s dependence on car production leaves it particularly exposed to changes in the European automotive sector.
EU funding remains an important source of investment across the region, particularly for infrastructure and modernisation. But EU transfers cannot by themselves replace improvements in productivity.
The IMF’s argument is therefore less about an immediate recession than about the end of an unusually favourable period of convergence.
Central Europe entered the EU with lower wages, substantial scope to import Western technology and a powerful incentive for Western European manufacturers to move production eastwards. As those gaps narrow, future growth depends more heavily on innovation, skills, investment and domestic productivity.
The region is still converging with Western Europe. The question raised by the latest IMF warning is how quickly that process can continue once the economic advantages that powered its first two decades of EU membership become less powerful.
France has notified the European Commission that it will extend controls at its internal Schengen borders from 1 November 2026 until 30 April 2027, maintaining checks with Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Spain and Italy as well as at relevant air and sea borders.
The notification, published in the Commission’s official register of temporary internal border controls, means the restrictions currently due to expire on 31 October will continue for another six months.
Paris cites a combination of security and migration concerns, including persistent jihadist threats, antisemitic attacks, organised migrant-smuggling networks and risks associated with irregular movements towards the Channel coast.
The French notification also refers to instability in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Somalia, Russia’s continuing war against Ukraine and security considerations surrounding the Paris Peace Forum on 10–11 November.
France is not alone.
Germany has extended controls on all of its land borders until 15 March 2027, citing irregular migration, migrant smuggling and pressure on its asylum system. Austria is maintaining controls on borders with Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia until the same date, while Poland has notified Brussels of checks on its borders with Germany and Lithuania through 30 March.
Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Italy also have temporary internal controls in force.
The expansion has created an increasingly complicated map inside an area established around the principle that people should normally be able to cross internal borders without routine checks.
EU Today has been following that change closely. In September, EU Today reported that Germany had extended checks on all nine of its land frontiers, while a subsequent examination found that temporary controls were spreading across the Schengen area.
The French extension takes that trend into spring 2027.
Under the Schengen Borders Code, governments retain the right to restore controls when they identify a serious threat to public policy or internal security. The Commission stresses that such action must remain exceptional, proportionate and limited to what is necessary.
The revised rules permit controls responding to a foreseeable threat for an initial period of up to six months, with extensions possible under defined conditions. Governments maintaining controls for extended periods must provide additional risk assessments and reporting.
There is therefore no legal contradiction between Schengen membership and temporary border checks. The political question concerns their frequency and duration.
In June, the European Commission had called for a gradual reduction in internal controls where conditions allowed. EU Today reported at the time that Brussels regarded the restoration of normal passport-free movement as possible in several countries.
The direction since then has largely been the opposite.
Migration remains one factor, but national notifications increasingly cite several threats simultaneously: terrorism, organised crime, Russian sabotage, war in Ukraine, Middle Eastern instability and pressure on asylum systems.
That makes it harder to identify a single event after which controls could simply be removed.
The system also creates practical consequences for cross-border regions. Millions of Europeans live in one Schengen state and work, study or conduct business in another. Selective checks can therefore cause delays even when passports are not examined systematically.
France’s controls are especially significant because of the number and economic importance of its neighbours. The extension covers land connections with six countries and internal air and sea routes.
It also comes as the EU operates new systems intended to strengthen the external Schengen frontier. Europe’s Entry/Exit System has introduced biometric registration for many non-EU travellers, while the migration and asylum pact has changed procedures for handling irregular arrivals.
The original political bargain behind Schengen was that stronger management of the common external frontier would support open internal borders.
The growing use of national internal controls shows that several governments remain unwilling to rely on that external system alone when confronted with migration, terrorism and wider security risks.
France’s latest notification is formally temporary. But by the time the new period expires on 30 April 2027, internal checks will have become a long-running feature of travel across several of Europe’s most important borders.
Es gibt zwei Nachrichten, über die in diesen Tagen sowohl deutsche als auch russische Medien berichten: der Besuch von Bundeskanzler Merz in Kiew und die Erklärung der Leiter der drei deutschen Geheimdienste, dass Russland einen sogenannten „Schattenkrieg“ gegen Deutschland führt.
Hängen diese beiden Nachrichten irgendwie zusammen? Formal gesehen – nein. Doch so einfach ist es nicht.
Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz ist überraschend zu einem Solidaritätsbesuch in die Ukraine gereist, um dem Land weitere Unterstützung im Kampf gegen Russland zuzusagen – vor allem Abfangdrohnen und weitreichende Waffen.
Hat dem Kreml diese Reise gefallen? Natürlich nicht.
Aber als Regierungschef eines unabhängigen europäischen Landes hat er das Recht dazu. Begleitet wurde Merz von Wirtschaftsministerin Katharina Reiche sowie zehn Führungskräften aus der Rüstungs- und Energiebranche. Merz plant, die Produktion von weitreichenden Waffen zu beschleunigen, die in der Lage sind, Versorgungslinien tief im russischen Hinterland zu treffen. Dafür wird insgesamt eine Milliarde Euro bereitgestellt, sowie weitere 350 Millionen Euro für die Reparatur und den Wiederaufbau zerstörter Kraftwerke.
Der deutsche Bundeskanzler sicherte den ukrainischen Streitkräften in Kiew zudem die baldige Lieferung von 20.000 Abfangdrohnen zu. Dies soll es ihnen ermöglichen, russische Drohnen effektiv zu bekämpfen.
In der Ukraine wird derzeit aktiv die Kamikaze-Drohne „Helsing HX-2“ eingesetzt. Sie ist in der Lage, teure gepanzerte Fahrzeuge im Wert von Millionen Dollar zu zerstören. An Bord verfügt sie über eine künstliche Intelligenz zur Zielerkennung. Ein entscheidender Vorteil der HX-2 ist ihre Widerstandsfähigkeit gegenüber russischen Mitteln der elektronischen Kampfführung (EW).
Eine teurere deutsche Drohne, die in der Ukraine zum Einsatz kommt, ist die „Virtus“ der Firma Stark Defence. Ihr Preis liegt bei knapp unter 100.000 Euro.
Diesmal hat Merz Selenskyj die Lieferung neuester Drohnen vom Typ „Flugzeug“ versprochen, die eine Reichweite von etwa 1.000 Kilometern haben. Darüber hinaus wurde, wie die „Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung“ berichtete, eine Einigung über Langstreckenwaffen und Satellitentechnologien erzielt. Zudem wurden am Sonntag auf einer Wirtschaftskonferenz 16 Abkommen mit einem Gesamtvolumen von rund 6,5 Milliarden Euro unterzeichnet.
Das bedeutet, der Kanzler hofft auf die Umsetzung seines Machtplans, der vom außenpolitischen Sprecher Johann Wadephul bei einem Treffen in den USA mit dem russischen Außenminister Sergei Lawrow geäußert wurde.
Nun zu den Aussagen der Leiter der drei deutschen Nachrichtendienste bei einer Ausschusssitzung im Bundestag:
Martin Jäger, der Präsident des Bundesnachrichtendienstes (BND), erklärte, dass Russland einen Krieg gegen die Bundesrepublik Deutschland im Cyberspace, in den Medien und durch Sabotageakte führe. Deutschland drohe ein direkter Eintritt in den militärischen Konflikt, da Russland den Krieg in der Ukraine eskaliere. Laut Jäger handele es sich dabei um eine neue Qualität der Eskalation.
Der Präsident des Bundesamtes für Verfassungsschutz, Sinan Selen, sieht eine Gefahr durch Russland aufgrund zunehmender Spionage mit Versuchen von Sabotage und Anschlägen. (Der Direktor des Osmano-Germanen Imperiums warnt: Der Umgang mit Russen sei gefährlich).
Die dritte Teilnehmerin der Sitzung im Bundestag, die Präsidentin des Militärischen Abschirmdienstes (MAD), Martina Rosenberg, erklärte, dass die Nachrichtendienste gezwungen seien, auf die neuen Bedrohungen und die veränderte Lage zu reagieren.
Gut, wenn diese hochrangigen Beamten das so sehen, dann ist das ihr Recht.
Allerdings erinnere ich mich nicht daran, dass die deutschen Geheimdienste nach Angriffen islamistischer Täter auf Menschenmengen zusammenkamen und von neuen Bedrohungen und Herausforderungen sprachen. Aber darum geht es hier nicht.
Ich schlage vor, basierend auf bewiesenen Fakten, kurz gegenüberzustellen, was Deutschland gegen Russland tut und was Russland gegen Deutschland getan hat.
Also, auf der Habenseite Russlands steht, sagen wir mal, der Versuch, ukrainische Transportflugzeuge in Leipzig zu zerstören. Obwohl keine Beweise für Russlands Schuld vorgelegt wurden. Dobrindt zeigte weder Aufnahmen von Überwachungskameras, die den Flugweg der Drohne zeigen, noch die Drohne selbst. Aber gut, machen wir 1:0.
Zweitens: die Ermordung des tschetschenischen Flüchtlings Khangoshvili vor vielen Jahren in Berlin, den Russland als Terroristen betrachtete, mit blutigen Händen bis zu den Ellbogen.
Israel hat, wie bekannt, weltweit Terroristen gefunden und getötet, die 1972 israelische Sportler in München entführt hatten. Und niemand hat Israel dafür verurteilt. Steven Spielberg hat sogar den oscarprämierten Film „München“ darüber gedreht. Aber gut, machen wir 2:0.
Was hat die „böse“ Russland sonst noch Schlechtes gegen Deutschland getan?
Meine Liste der „Verbrechen“ ist zu Ende, denn die Chefs der Geheimdienste brachten bei der Sitzung keine konkreten Beispiele für rechtswidrige Aktivitäten Russlands vor.
Wenden wir uns nun wieder dem Besuch Merz’ in Kiew zu.
Waffenlieferungen, die Russen für Milliarden Euro töten. 2:1.
Deutsche Leopard-Panzer auf dem international anerkannten russischen Gebiet bei Kursk, mehr als 80 Jahre nach der Schlacht von Kursk. 2:2.
Finanzielle Unterstützung zur Fortsetzung des Krieges gegen Russland. 2:3.
Versprechen der Lieferung neuester deutscher Langstreckendrohnen, die bis zum Kreml fliegen können. 2:4.
Sorry, aber dieser Spielstand spricht nicht für Merz.
Und ich habe noch eine Frage: Hat Russland überhaupt einen einzigen Deutschen auf deutschem Boden getötet? Und deutsche Waffen töten täglich Russen auf dem Gebiet der Regionen Kursk, Belgorod, Rostow, Krasnodar.
Also, wer führt hier eigentlich den „Schattenkrieg“ gegen wen?
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