KIEL/OTTAWA (our own report) – The German warship builders ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) have secured the biggest contract in the company’s history. It will supply a total of twelve submarines to the Canadian Navy for, potentially, around 20 billion euros. As Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Monday, the TKMS 212 CD submarine was chosen ahead of the KSS-III model, which is produced by the South Korean group Hanwha Ocean and had also been under consideration by Ottawa as part of its procurement plans. The deal with TKMS means that the naval forces of Germany, Norway and Canada will in future operate the same type of submarine. In an effort to counter the Russian Navy in the North Atlantic and the Arctic, this group of countries will command an unprecedented fleet of twenty-four Type 212 CD submarines. In addition, TKMS is preparing reciprocal sweetener deals, known as offsets, worth probably tens of billions of euros. They will include the purchase of Canadian liquefied natural gas and the construction of launch facilities for German launch vehicles in eastern Canada. Building a base for carrier rockets in Canada is intended to give Ottawa independence from US launch systems in the space sector. TKMS’ has a huge order book also thanks to major procurements by the German Navy. Indeed, the marine systems group is working on the F127 frigate, understood to be the most expensive project in the history of the German Navy. Read more

BRUSSELS/BERLIN/THE HAGUE (our own report) – German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and senior NATO generals report rapid progress in “Europeanising” NATO. As confirmed by NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, US General Alexus Grynkewich, the European NATO member states have, in just a short while, managed to find replacements for a significant number of US military aircraft, warships and military units that Washington decided to “withdraw” from NATO at the beginning of June. European forces are now on standby for any potential deployment, having filled the gaps left by US units. Last week, Pistorius inaugurated the 1st German-Netherlands Corps in Valga, Estonia, for use as the tactical headquarters for all NATO operations in Estonia and Latvia. It now operates in parallel with the German-Polish-Danish Multinational Corps North-East in Szczecin, which will still serve as the headquarters for operations in Poland and Lithuania. The development of a “European NATO” is attracting praise from Washington. At the Pentagon there is talk of the need for a “NATO 3.0”, a structure which is intended to relieve the burden on the US and enable American operations elsewhere. Washington is also happy to see German taking the lead in war preparations. Read more

BRUSSELS/BEIJING (our own report) – The European Union is refraining, for the time being at least, from imposing punitive tariffs on imports from China or taking other restrictive trade measures. Brussels is keen to reach a settlement with Beijing by October that could resolve its dispute over the bloc’s growing trade deficit with the People’s Republic. This was confirmed by European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič on Monday following intensive talks in Brussels with China’s Minister of Commerce, Wang Wentao. The dispute stems from the fact that China’s exports to the EU are still rising, while the export performance of Germany and the EU is flagging. However, a study by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) shows that Germany’s deteriorating trade balance with China is primarily due to a lack of investment in innovation in Germany. This contrasts with the government’s claim that the German economy is the victim of unfair Chinese subsidies and a massively undervalued Chinese currency. Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently threatened to introduce tough measures against China. But experts warn that this would trigger an economic war that EU would probably lose. This is the conclusion of a recent table-top simulation of an escalating trade conflict and the options available. The study shows that the EU’s decision to back off from imposing punitive tariffs is a predictable sign of weakness. Read more

KHARTOUM/ABU DHABI/BERLIN (own report) – Human rights organisations and foreign policy experts are levelling strong criticism at Germany and the EU for their failure to act over the genocidal war being waged by the RSF militia in Sudan. Civilians are currently facing the threat of another massacre by the Rapid Support Forces. This militia, which has been fighting the regular Sudanese armed forces for more than three years, has a history of major human rights violations and is closing in on the town of Al Obeid, strategically situated between the Nile Valley and the western Sudanese region of Darfur. Previously, whilst seizing towns in Darfur, they had deliberately targeted and murdered sub-Saharan Africans. Most recently, during the capture of Al Fashir, they may have massacred between 60,000 and 100,000 people, selected for killing on the basis of their skin colour. Backed by money from the United Arab Emirates, the RSF is dependent on Abu Dhabi for its weapon supplies. The UAE has been supporting these militias for geostrategic reasons. Experts argue that European and North American countries are perfectly capable of exerting sufficient pressure on the Emirates to make them cease backing the RSF. This move could finally bring the war to an end. However, critics of those in power in Western Europe say they have effectively failed to act. They prioritise unhindered cooperation with the oil-rich Emirates over the prevention of genocidal massacres. Read more

LUANDA/LUSAKA/BRUSSELS (our own report) – In southern Africa, competition between China, the US and the EU for access to strategic raw materials is hotting up. A key role is played by the Lobito Corridor, a rail and logistics link planned to run from the ‘copper belt’ of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Angolan port of Lobito on the Atlantic. This major infrastructure project is regarded as one of the most important initiatives under the European Global Gateway strategy. Both Brussels and Washington, which is also investing in the scheme, are desperate to reduce dependency on China for critical minerals. In future, copper, cobalt, lithium and other raw materials required for the production of batteries, electric vehicles, digital technologies and defence equipment are to be transported westwards along this route. The initiative builds on infrastructure that was originally constructed during the colonial era to get hold of African raw materials and ship them to Europe. Critics argue that the upgrading of the Lobito Corridor now perpetuates a longstanding pattern of extractivist colonialism under a new guise. Read more

LONDON/PARIS/BRUSSELS (our own report) – A new movement against the unprecedented militarisation across Europe is gaining momentum as international protests widen and anti-war conferences set the resistance agenda. On 14 June, some 12,000 people took to the street in Brussels under the banner ‘Welfare, not Warfare!’ in response to massive rearmament programmes. Social welfare systems are being dismantled across Europe to finance militarisation. The Brussels demonstration was followed on Saturday by a major international anti-war conference in London, attended by nearly 3,000 people from Europe, North America and the Middle East. The discussion highlighted the West’s brutal war policies and the dramatic collapse of healthcare, education and pensions. “Austerity and militarisation” are “two sides of the same coin”, declared the president of the British food industry union, the BFAWU. Further Europe-wide protests are planned for the coming autumn, including a day of action by dockworkers. But the upturn in protest has been accompanied by increased repression. Journalists, for example, are being targeted with EU sanctions on the grounds that they are allegedly collaborating with an enemy power – Russia. In this way, the EU is putting in place a flexible system of punishment that operates outside the rule of law in order to safeguard its war policy from criticism. Read more

BERLIN/PARIS (own report) – Over the next fifteen years, Germany is set to become an internationally leading aviation nation. The German government is pushing for the aerospace industry to take leading role, above all, in the military sector. This is spelled out in a new aviation strategy recently adopted by the Federal Government. The strategy document emphasises the value of developing independent European and German aerospace capabilities. Crucially, the approach taken is, for the first time, centred on closer collaboration between civil and military aviation development. Policymakers are putting resources into the goal of rapidly advancing German drone capabilities. The plan is ambitious: Germany should in future be “a European leader” – “in the research, development and production of cutting-edge military aviation technologies.” With this independent strategic thrust in mind, Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced at the start of last week that the longstanding project to build a Franco-German sixth-generation fighter jet (Future Combat Air System, FCAS) had finally been terminated. The French conglomerate Dassault had held the industrial and technological lead in that project. Eight German companies are now set to take its place. Working alongside (European) Airbus, they include most importantly Hensoldt and Diehl Defence. Read more

BERLIN (our own report) – In the event of war, conscientious objectors are to be integrated into civilian support for troop movements and other military operations. And wider population should be enabled to independently “cope with extreme or protracted emergency situations”, says the German Fire Services Association in a position paper. The German government seeks even closer integration of civilian disaster relief and protection organisations in war planning – specifically for a future military confrontation with Russia. This is evident from a recent paper on the key points of civil defence issued by the Federal Interior Ministry. According to Federal Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, that paper contains “nothing less than the biggest drive for modernisation of civil protection and civil defence in decades.” Ten billion euros have been earmarked for the implementation of these plans. Civil disaster relief workers must now get used to the idea that they may be called up by the Bundeswehr to provide support services in a war scenario. Read more

BERLIN/KYIV (our own report) – At an arms conference in Berlin on Monday, representatives of German drone start-ups and military personnel from Ukrainian units that revere Nazi collaborators came together to discuss future developments in high-tech warfare and weapon systems manufacturing. The New Age Defence conference was attended by some eight-hundred people. Participants included members of brigades in the Ukrainian National Guard that openly use Waffen-SS symbols and celebrate members of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), a fascist organisation of Ukrainian Nazi collaborators active preceding, during and immediately after World War Two. German arms companies are working closely with the Ukrainian military, including these ultra-right battle-hardened elements, in order to draw directly on frontline experience with weaponry. These companies are rapidly developing and upgrading their UxS products on the battlefield. UxS is the abbreviation for Unmanned Systems, with the x standing for all the diverse system categories, namely in the air (drones), on land (robots) or at sea (sea drones). The conference organisers of New Age Defence have described their objective as bringing together arms manufacturers, armed forces and policymakers, and blending Ukrainian frontline experience with German industrial know-how. What is important here is not so much the production of huge numbers of weapons as the creation of production capacities. In the event of war, these capacities can then be released to turn out the advanced military hardware needed at that stage of warfare evolution. Read more

WASHINGTON/BERLIN (our own report) – The initial public offering of Elon Musk’s SpaceX threatens to create serious problems for the German and EU economies. The record-breaking flotation, scheduled for 12 June, is expected to raise $75 billion dollars and boost the company’s market value to a massive $1.75 trillion. Currently, SpaceX is still incurring heavy losses, but has high hopes of making future profits. It is mobilising unprecedented sums of money by rolling out new AI-related technologies such as solar-powered data centres based in space. The design of Musk’s IPO is somewhat unusual. The company is offering German and other European investors particularly favourable access, and this is triggering concerns about a potential flight of capital from Europe. SpaceX’s subsidiary Starlink, with its low signal latency, poses a threat to the conventional terrestrial mobile communications market. By investing in this segment, Starlink could outcompete companies like Deutsche Telekom and its subsidiary T-Mobile. Meanwhile, two German defence and technology companies, Rheinmetall and OHB, have been given the green light for their planned satellite joint venture. The idea is to create a sovereign German equivalent to Starlink by investing billions of euros out of Germany’s huge defence budget. Read more