Germany in Brief
February 21, 2003
German politician speaks out in "Washington Post"
German opposition leader Angela Merkel travels to the United States on February 23rd to meet senior US officials amid a new row between her and the government over the Iraq crisis, her party said Friday. Merkel caused controversy with a critical letter to the Washington Post. Entitled "Schröder Doesn't Speak for All Germans", the letter published Thursday hit out at Chancellor Gerhard Schröder for his decision to rule out the use of force against Iraq. Merkel's article was a "defamation for the German government," said Franz Müntefering, head of the parliamentary group of Schröder's ruling Social Democrats. Germany has said it would not vote for military action against Iraq at the UN Security Council. Schröder said earlier this week that force would only be acceptable when all other means had been exhausted and if military action was unavoidable.
3,000 German students protest against Iraq war
Some 3,000 students marched peacefully through the streets of Nuremberg in southern Germany Friday in protest against an impending war on Iraq, police said. The students blew whistles and carried banners, some marked with "War is No Solution", in a march organized under the motto "Student Alliance Against War". Classrooms in many schools were empty Friday and city authorities said some of the students could be punished for truancy. Around half a million people marched through Berlin last Saturday to protest against a possible US-led war in Iraq, one of the biggest post-war demonstrations ever seen in Germany, police and organizers said. Similar rallies were held elsewhere across Germany and more than eight million people are estimated to have turned out worldwide.
German Gold at Skiing World Championships
German nordic skiiers captured two gold medals at the Nordic World Skiing in Val die Fiemme, Italy on Friday. Axel Teichmann, 23, surprised the field with a first place finish in the 15 kilometer cross-country skiing race. Estonian Jaak Mae and Norwegian Frode Estil came in second and third. Teichmann's victory came 29 years after Gerhard Grimmer won the first gold medal for Germany ever in the competition. In the Nordic combined, 25-year old Ronny Ackermann from Oberhof is the first German to win the world championship since Hermann Weinbuch. The Nordic Combined coach team coach won his championship in 1985.