President Zelenskyy’s address last night was his most damning in weeks, following the war crimes seen after Russians retreated from Bucha, near Kyiv. Speaking in Russia to the mothers of Putin’s troops, Zelenskyy asked:
“I want every mother of every Russian soldier to see the bodies of those who have been killed in Bucha, in Irpin, in Hostomel. What did they do? Why were they murdered? … Why were women strangled after their earrings were ripped out of their ears? How could women be raped and murdered in front of their children? Their bodies tortured even after their deaths?”
“Even if you raised looters, how did they also become butchers?”
Satellite images of the town show a 45 foot-long mass grave…
Zelenskyy also used the opportunity to pour scorn on the leaders of Western Europe, inviting former German and French presidents Merkel and Sarkozy to Bucha to:
“see what the policy of concessions to Russia has led to in 14 years. To see with their own eyes the tortured Ukrainian men and women.”
Meanwhile Zelenskyy’s said the UK has “agreed on new defensive support for Ukraine. New package. Very, very tangible support,” adding “Thank you Boris for the leadership! Historical leadership. I’m sure of it”.
Social Democrat Olaf Scholz has been elected Chancellor of Germany, with 395 lawmakers in the German parliament officially voting him in this morning. Merkel’s 16-year reign comes to an end…
Germany is set to introduce a full, nationwide lockdown for all unvaccinated citizens as of this afternoon, with masks also reintroduced in schools and nightclubs shut down for everyone – including the double-jabbed – in areas with the highest infection levels. Which means Germany now joins Austria and the Netherlands in pushing forward with Christmas lockdowns…
Merkel and her incoming successor Olaf Scholz have met with regional leaders to thrash out the details, with the unvaxxed to be banned from virtually all hospitality venues, including restaurants, pubs, and non-essential shops. Vaccines will also become mandatory for all from February. Meanwhile Ursula von der Leyen continues mulling EU-wide mandatory vaccinations…
German politicians have finally reached a post-election agreement between the social democratic SPD party, the Greens and the Liberal Democratic FDP party, an agreement that will kick the centre-right CDU out of government for the first time since 2005. The deal will be presented later today and will make Olaf Scholz the new Chancellor, replacing Angela Merkel. If all parties approve, Scholz will be elected Chancellor the week starting December 6th.
After essentially leading Europe for over a decade-and-a-half, the European Council has given Merkel a fitting gift to mark the important geopolitical departure. Can you tell what it is?
That’s right, it’s a model of the Europa building in Brussels – just what Angie presumably wanted. As ConservativeHome’s Mark Wallace guessed, it looks closer to “a rejected Star Trek prototype for a Borg’s nippleclamp.” What is the German for ‘did you keep the receipt?’
The Sausage War is coming to an end. Following a meeting with Chancellor Merkel, Boris claimed the disputes over chilled meats shipped to Northern Ireland under the NI protocol are now over, with Merkel saying “pragmatic solutions” can be reached on the issue. Wúnderbar.
Boris added:
“Imagine if bratwurst could not be moved from Dortmund to Dusseldorf because of the jurisdiction of an international court – you’d think it was absolutely extraordinary…I’m sure, as Angela says, with goodwill and with patience we can sort it out…hopefully, as we said at our bilateral, when it comes to chilled meats the wurst is behind us, as I think Angela said, or maybe I said that…”
Looks like the whole thing was hammed up…
