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Scholz: Europe Must Remain Strong, Discuss How Best to Work With Trump

07 November 2024, Berlin: Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to participants at the Deutsche Telekom AG forum following the breakdown of the traffic light coalition. Photo: Carsten Koall/dpa
07 November 2024, Berlin: Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to participants at the Deutsche Telekom AG forum following the breakdown of the traffic light coalition. Photo: Carsten Koall/dpa
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Scholz: Europe Must Remain Strong, Discuss How Best to Work With Trump

07 November 2024, Berlin: Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to participants at the Deutsche Telekom AG forum following the breakdown of the traffic light coalition. Photo: Carsten Koall/dpa
07 November 2024, Berlin: Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks to participants at the Deutsche Telekom AG forum following the breakdown of the traffic light coalition. Photo: Carsten Koall/dpa

European leaders will continue to work well with the US president in future, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday, adding that the European Union must remain strong in light of conflicts in Europe and the Middle East.
"We will continue to work well with the future American president. And the question of how this can be achieved has been the subject of our discussion," Scholz said after talks with other leaders in Budapest.
"One question is quite clear. Together as the European Union, as Europeans, we must do what is necessary for our security," the German leader said, after Republican Donald Trump was reelected to the White House.

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Bullets Purchase from Israel Rattles Spain’s Leftist Coalition

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez leaves after a press conference after a cabinet meeting held at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, 22 April 2025. (EPA)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez leaves after a press conference after a cabinet meeting held at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, 22 April 2025. (EPA)
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Bullets Purchase from Israel Rattles Spain’s Leftist Coalition

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez leaves after a press conference after a cabinet meeting held at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, 22 April 2025. (EPA)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez leaves after a press conference after a cabinet meeting held at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, 22 April 2025. (EPA)

A decision by Spain's Socialist government to backtrack on a promise to cancel a contract to buy bullets from an Israeli firm drew a rebuke on Wednesday from its junior coalition partners, with some allies threatening to withdraw support.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's minority government has struggled to pass legislation since securing a new term by cobbling together an alliance of left-wing and regional separatist parties in 2023.

On Tuesday, Sanchez angered far-left junior partner Sumar after unveiling a plan to boost defense spending.

Spain, a long-time critic of Israel's policies in the Palestinian territories, pledged in October 2023 to stop selling weapons to Israel over its war with Hamas in Gaza and last year widened that commitment to include weapons purchases.

Sumar, a platform of left-wing parties that controls five ministries led by deputy premier Yolanda Diaz, said on Wednesday the ammunition purchase was "a flagrant violation" of the agreement it had made with the Socialists to form a coalition.

"We demand the immediate rectification of this contract," it said in a statement.

The Interior Ministry said last October it was canceling a contract worth 6.6 million euros ($7.53 million) to buy more than 15 million 9-mm rounds from Guardian LTD Israel.

On Wednesday it said it been advised by the state attorney that breaking the contract would have meant paying the full amount without receiving the shipment.

Guardian LTD Israel did not immediately comment on the decision.

Izquierda Unida (United Left) lawmaker Enrique Santiago, whose party is part of Sumar, suggested there were legal grounds to cancel the contract without paying but that even "a breach of contract of only about six million (euros) will be applauded by the whole country".

Asked if IU could abandon the coalition government, he told reporters: "We are currently considering all scenarios."

Before the news of the ammunition contract broke, Diaz had said her group disagreed with the increase in defense spending, particularly a plan to procure more weapons, but that the coalition was in good health and would see out the legislative term ending in 2027.