Germany is to get rid of the lèse-majesté law protecting heads of state or government from being publicly offended. The decision came after last spring the law was evoked by Turkish President Erdogan who tried to sue a German comedian for a satirical poem he found too insulting. [...]

Austrian police have arrested eight people in anti-terrorist raids conducted in Vienna and Graz, the country’s APA news agency reports. According to the local Kronen Zeitung newspaper, all of those detained were from the former Yugoslavia. [...]

Austria remains in favor of border controls and an upper limit on refugees, Interior Minister Wolfgang Subotka told German newspaper Die Welt. Having imposed controls at its border with Germany in September 2015 at the height of Europe's migrant crisis, Austria wants to continue with them indefinitely, Interior Minister Wolfgang Subotka told German newspaper Die Welt on Friday. [...]

Women in several cities have reported sex attacks committed during New Year's Eve celebrations, the Austrian press reports. The number female victims of sex attacks in the Austrian city of Innsbruck has risen to 19 after the parents of several teeenage girls reported the crimes to police, Austrian media reported on Tuesday. [...]

About 1,000 protesters participated on Saturday in a demonstration against NATO bases in the city of Vicenza, located in northeastern Italy. "The problem of the presence of NATO in Italy is a problem felt all around Italy. If you want to have an image of what NATO means in Europe, you have to think about Spartan troops in Athens in ancient times," the journalist told Sputnik. [...]

“Trump or no Trump, Europe needs to build a defense system of its own,” the center-right presidential candidate, said in an interview with Le Monde. François Fillon wants to make Europe less dependent on the United States and favors the idea of a European-Russian conference to discuss new security provisions in Europe. [...]

As Russian producers reap the rewards of import substitution, Austrian exporters are ruing the EU's decision to impose sanctions. Imposing sanctions against Russia was a mistake which has cost Europe as much as Russia, Vienna's former trade ambassador to Moscow Dietmar Fellner told Austria's Kurier newspaper. [...]

How will US-EU relations develop, and what changes could we expect as Donald Trump takes office? RT discussed with some European politicians. The EU’s relationship with Donald Trump will see “a huge shift,” says Beatrix von Storch MEP, deputy leader of the Alternative for Germany party. [...]

US President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that NATO is an obsolete organization since it is not much engaged in fighting terrorism and its members are not contributing enough. In an interview with Sputnik Germany, German politician Tobias Pflueger commented on Trump's statements and his position toward the military alliance. [...]

French presidential candidate and leader of the right-wing National Front party Marine Le Pen is gaining more support, leading with 25 to 26 percent of the vote, according to the latest Ipsos Sopra Steria survey, carried out for Cevipof and Le Monde. [...]

The European Union should maintain a “strong” and “independent” approach in foreign and domestic policy, regardless of who the current US President is, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz told RT. The official spoke following a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in which they discussed ties between the EU and Moscow. [...]

A senior Crimean official has told reporters that residents of the region would welcome a visit by French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, as well as other politicians who support Crimeans’ choice of reunification with Russia. [...]

A military security system, which would include Russia, should be set up instead of NATO, Sahra Wagenknecht, leader of the German Left party said in an interview, echoing Trump’s recent statements on NATO. [...]

A human rights spokesperson for Chancellor Merkel’s CDU is quitting the conservative party citing sharp discontent with the government’s “political will” to let thousands of unidentified refugees in, despite the risk of terrorists slipping through as well. [...]

Austria needs an “effective law banning political Islam,” said Heinz-Christian Strache, the head of the Austrian far-right Freedom Party (FPO), adding that the Alpine country should also stop accepting new migrants and refugees. [...]

The new chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has said he seeks to improve relations with Russia, as there can be no "positive developments" on the continent with the current punitive approach. Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said his country, Austria, will work to "gradually" ease sanctions imposed by the West against Russia in connection with Ukra [...]

[Elite_video_player id="11"]   Although Austria’s right-wing presidential candidate was defeated in a close election, his success has sent ripples of panic across the EU. As anti-establishment politicians gain momentum across the bloc, many predict a political storm gathering in Europe. With the victory of Donald Trump in America’s presidential election emboldening right-wing pol [...]

Angela Merkel's CDU party is working on a policy paper that advocates a tougher stance towards Russia. Commenting on the issue, former State Secretary of the German Ministry of Defense Willy Wimmer told Sputnik that Merkel's politics have completely moved away from the foundations that it had in the past. [...]

A group of German activists have carried out a study which found that rates of sexual offenses increase significantly in the vicinity of asylum reception centers, Germany's Journalistenwatch news portal reported. [...]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has squandered the inheritance of the old Federal Republic, German political scientist Jurgen Dittberner writes, referring to Merkel's inconsistent domestic policies and the deterioration of Russo-German relations. In the period from 1945 to 1990 it seemed that Germany could become a country that had learned a lesson from its previous arrogance and militarism, ab [...]

Far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPO) presidential candidate Norbert Hofer has called for a ban on naturalization of Turkish residents in Austria until dual citizenship issues are resolved and said that his country could still leave the EU if Turkey joins the bloc. [...]

Vladimir Putin’s popularity in the Czech Republic has surged and could now be higher than that of Angela Merkel, who has seen steadily falling ratings, German mass media report, referring to data from recent opinion polls. Die Welt newspaper reported that just a year ago more than 70 percent of Czechs said they trusted the German chancellor. [...]