Stephan Israel

Correspondent for European and Nato affairs at

[A von Beckerath @vBeckerath]

It has been an honour to serve as EU Ambassador to Serbia. Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey.

As I conclude my mandate, I wish Julian Vassallo every success as he takes over as Chargé d’Affaires. 🇪🇺 🇷🇸

[Stephan Israel @StephanIsrael]

@DWPAussie93 @kadmitriev 🤖🤖🤖

[Jürgen Nauditt 🇩🇪🇺🇦 @jurgen_nauditt]

German government deems hosting Ice Hockey World Championship with Russia "practically impossible"

The German federal government has effectively ruled out the possibility of hosting the Ice Hockey World Championship next May if the Russian national team is permitted to participate.

Due to widespread opposition from other nations, as well as from business and media partners, "hosting the tournament becomes practically impossible from both a sporting and an economic perspective," stated government spokesperson Steffen Cornelius. He made these remarks at a press conference following consultations between Berlin, the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB), the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), and the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB).

According to Cornelius, serious threats of a boycott from several countries—including the reigning world champions, Finland—indicate that "the international ice hockey community does not accept Russia’s return, even in light of the ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)." Furthermore, several sponsors of the World Championship have indicated that they would withdraw their support should the Russian team take part.

Meanwhile, DEB board chairman Frank Lutz has acknowledged the possibility that Germany might relinquish its status as the tournament's host. "Our goal is to hold the tournaments as planned. However, if Russia is admitted and boycotts ensue, that becomes practically impossible," Cornelius noted. "Therefore, we now intend to explore options through negotiations that might still allow the tournament to take place."
DW.

[Stephan Israel @StephanIsrael]

@DWPAussie93 @kadmitriev You shouldn’t ride a lame duck

[Naomi O'Leary @NaomiOhReally]

A year ago I made a big database of odd incidents in Europe, like hacks, arson, airport disruption, sabotage, weird inflammatory pranks involving pigs’ heads and so on, that were confidently and publicly linked to Russia by investigators https://t.co/RPOF1OfzVK

[Michael McFaul @McFaul]

I'm less impressed by how @ossoff speaks (though he's terrific at that too) and more impressed by what he says.

This 2-minute clip is the best explanation of Trump corruption that I've ever heard. His explanation of the Russian dirty deals is so accurate and so clear. He knows the facts cold. And he explains them better than I can.

[Deniz Yücel @Besser_Deniz]

Kaum beachtet von der internationalen Öffentlichkeit erlebt das Erdoğan-Regime eine seiner größten Krisen. Der Grund: eine gigantische Börsenmanipulation, der Raub von ca. 18 Mrd. Euro im Ponzi-Schema, an dem ranghohe Vertreter des Regimes bzw. deren Kinder beteiligt waren. /2

[Elisa Mosini 🇪🇺🇮🇹 @MosiniElisa]

A double blow for Fico in just a few hours: his governing coalition loses its parliamentary majority, while Slovakia’s Constitutional Court strikes down parts of a Fico government law restricting public protests.

The wind Is changing.
Good news for Slovakia 🇸🇰

[Terje Helland @terjehelland]

🇬🇪 On 3 November, in Brussels, PM Kobakhidze was asked why Georgia still wants to join the EU. “Because we are optimistic that EU will change.”
Next day the Commission called Georgia a candidate in name only. A day on, Kobakhidze called the EU ambassador a tragic figure.
1/15

[Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum]

The First Lady welcomes a regime that is murdering civilians, torturing prisoners and assassinating its own dissidents, every day

[Jorge Liboreiro @JorgeLiboreiro]

Foreign Minister Sikorski: "You cannot leave Eastern Europe and Scandinavia out of the conversation. We are about 120 million people. Finland borders Russia; Norway borders Russia; the Baltics border Russia; and Poland borders Russia and Ukraine."

[Joerg Lau @joerglau]

Eine russische Desinfo-Operation mitten im Bundestag, finanziert mit Steuergeldern.

[Paneuropa Österreich 🇦🇹🇪🇺🇺🇦 @paneuropa_at]

Schon heftig, wie dieser Mann dort gepusht wird.

Ein Mann, der offen Kriegsverbrecher lobt, offen Refime unterstützt, Massaker leugnet, mit einem Regime-Propagandisten kooperiert, der Ertränken von Kindern fordert,...

Was erwartet sich ein Fernsehsender eines großen Konzerns davon, mit solchen Leuten assoziiert zu werden?

[Matthäus Wehowski @MattheusWehowsk]

#Trump kann in den letzten 2 Jahren seiner Amtszeit noch viel Schaden anrichten. Aktuell steht ein "Deal" mit #Russland über die Köpfe der Ukraine u. Europas im Raum. Putin will die gesamte Sicherheitsarchitektur nach 1989 beseitigen u. sich "Einflussphären" schaffen. Kritisch/

[Stuart Dowell @StuartDowell_]

Jared Kushner seems to be saying here that the United States is prepared to put NATO's military presence in Eastern Europe on the negotiating table as part of a deal to end the war in Ukraine.

It means that that Putin's long-standing demands to demilitarise NATO's eastern flank could become part of the bargaining.

This has been coming for some time. Russia has demanded restrictions on NATO's military presence in Central and Eastern Europe for years.

And when Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg last month, he said, according to Putin, that discussions about a new European security architecture should be part of the agenda.

This is alarming for Poland and eastern flank countries.

They will be asking what Washington might actually be prepared to concede in negotiations with Moscow.

Poland is currently negotiating with Washington over a permanent American military base on its territory.

[Stephan Bischoff 🇪🇺🇺🇦 @stephanbischoff]

Was für ein Wahnsinn! Die russichen Kriegstreiber nutzen das Weiße Haus als Kulisse für ihren Informationskrieg. Weil der korrupte Trump-Clan sie einlädt.

Die humanitäre Situation in Oleschky bleibt WEGEN DER RUSSEN währenddessen weiter katastrophal.

[Constanze Stelzenmüller @ConStelz]

👇👇👇

[Terje Helland @terjehelland]

🇬🇪Georgia’s Constitutional Court is deciding whether to ban every party that won a seat against Georgian Dream in 2024.
Two years of continuous nightly protest, 91 political prisoners and a frozen EU path lead to this.
We need to look at Georgia now!

[Jorge Liboreiro @JorgeLiboreiro]

The Ukrainian Ombudsman had to sit there and watch this, by the way.

[Viktor Giacobbo @viktorgiacobbo]

Die Schweizer Neutralität wird zum Synonym für die Unterstützung von Putins Angriffskrieg. Wem haben wir das wohl zu verdanken?