Germany Looks to Buy Israeli or US Missile Defense System

FILE PHOTO: Eberhard Zorn, Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, attends a news conference on coronavirus containment measures supported by Bundeswehr in Berlin, Germany March 19, 2020. Michael Sohn/Pool via REUTERSREUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Eberhard Zorn, Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, attends a news conference on coronavirus containment measures supported by Bundeswehr in Berlin, Germany March 19, 2020. Michael Sohn/Pool via REUTERSREUTERS
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Germany Looks to Buy Israeli or US Missile Defense System

FILE PHOTO: Eberhard Zorn, Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, attends a news conference on coronavirus containment measures supported by Bundeswehr in Berlin, Germany March 19, 2020. Michael Sohn/Pool via REUTERSREUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Eberhard Zorn, Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, attends a news conference on coronavirus containment measures supported by Bundeswehr in Berlin, Germany March 19, 2020. Michael Sohn/Pool via REUTERSREUTERS

Berlin is considering buying a missile defense system from Israel or the United States to defend against threats including Russian Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, German weekly Welt am Sonntag reported on Saturday.

The Iskander missiles can reach almost all of western Europe and there is no missile shield in place to protect against this threat, Germany's chief of defense Eberhard Zorn told Welt am Sonntag in an interview published on Saturday.

"The Israelis and the Americans possess such systems. Which one do we prefer? Will we manage to establish an overall (missile defense) system in NATO? These are the questions we need to answer now," Zorn said, Reuters reported.

He did not specify the names of the systems but was most likely referring to Arrow 3 built by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the US system THAAD produced by Raytheon.

Russia said in 2018 it had deployed Iskander missiles to its Kaliningrad exclave, a slice of Russia wedged between Poland and Lithuania. A mobile ballistic missile system, the Iskander replaced the Soviet Scud missile and its two guided missiles can carry either conventional or nuclear warheads.

In a landmark speech days after Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Berlin would hike its defense spending to more than 2% of its economic output by injecting 100 billion euros ($110 billion) into the military.

Zorn belongs to a group of high-ranking officials consulting with Scholz on how to spend this money.

"So far, only one thing is clear: We have neither the time nor the money to develop these (missile defense) systems on our own because the missile threat is known to already be there", Zorn said.

Referring to Germany's lack of a short-range missile defense, which can be used to protect troops on the move or under threat while deployed, he said Berlin had started looking into the purchase of such systems and it now had to make a decision.

Beyond this, the Bundeswehr will have to invest 20 billion euros by 2032 to replenish its ammunition storages, Zorn added.



Venezuela's Maduro to Be Sworn in for Third Term as Opposition Leader Vows to Return

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a celebration with the Three Kings in Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on January 6, 2025. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a celebration with the Three Kings in Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on January 6, 2025. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
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Venezuela's Maduro to Be Sworn in for Third Term as Opposition Leader Vows to Return

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a celebration with the Three Kings in Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on January 6, 2025. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a celebration with the Three Kings in Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on January 6, 2025. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose nearly 12 years in office have been marked by a deep economic and social crisis, is set to be sworn in for a third term on Friday, staying in power despite a six-month-long dispute over a July election and international calls for him to stand aside.
Maduro, president since 2013, was declared the winner of July's election by both Venezuela's electoral authority and top court, though detailed tallies confirming his victory have never been published, Reuters said.
Venezuela's opposition says ballot box-level tallies show a landslide win for its former candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, who is recognized as president-elect by several governments including the United States. International election observers said the vote was unfair.
The months since the election have seen Gonzalez's flight to Spain in September, his ally Maria Corina Machado going into hiding in Venezuela, and the detentions of high-profile opposition figures and protesters.
Gonzalez, who has been on a whistle-stop tour of the Americas this week, has said he will return to Venezuela to take up the mantle of president, but has given no details.
The government, which has accused the opposition of fomenting fascist plots against it, has said Gonzalez will be arrested if he returns and offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
Both Gonzalez and Machado are being investigated by the attorney general's office for alleged conspiracy, but only Gonzalez has a public warrant out for his arrest.
Machado's first public appearance since August at an anti-government march in Caracas on Thursday was marred by a brief detention.
Her Vente Venezuela political movement said guns were fired and Machado was knocked off the motorcycle on which she was leaving the event. She was then held and forced to film several videos, it said.
"I am now in a safe place and with more determination than ever before to continue with you until the end!" Machado - who was barred from running in the election - said in a post on X after her release.
The government scoffed at the incident and denied any involvement, saying the opposition had orchestrated it to generate support for Machado.
REPRESSION AND SANCTIONS
The opposition, non-governmental organizations and international bodies such as the United Nations have for years decried increasing repression of opposition political parties, activists and independent media in Venezuela.
US President-elect Donald Trump has said the country is being run by a dictator.
Meanwhile the government has repeatedly accused the opposition of plotting with foreign governments and agencies including the Central Intelligence Agency to commit acts of sabotage and terrorism.
The government said this week it had detained seven "mercenaries," including a high-ranking FBI official and a US military official.
Venezuela's economy has experienced a prolonged crisis marked by triple-digit inflation and the exodus of more than 7 million migrants seeking better opportunities abroad.
Many of Machado's supporters, among them retired Venezuelans who would like to see their children and grandchildren return to the country, say jobs, inflation and unreliable public services are among their top concerns.
The government, meanwhile, has employed orthodox methods to try and tamp down inflation, to some success, and has blamed economic collapse on sanctions by the United States and others, especially restrictions on the nation's key oil industry.
Maduro and his allies have cheered what they say is the country's resilience despite the measures, and Maduro said this month that the economy grew 9% last year.
His first act of his new term will be to call for a constitutional reform, Maduro said on Wednesday, though he provided no details.
About 2,000 people, including teenagers, were arrested at protests following the election. The government said this week it has released 1,515 of them. Gonzalez, 75, said his son-in-law was kidnapped on Tuesday while taking his children to school.