The Western response to the Salisbury poison attack on ex-Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal is clear, but not unanimous. Austria, alongside some other European countries, has refused to expel Russian diplomats, though Vienna expressed "unqualified solidarity with the UK." The British ambassador to Austria repeatedly expressed a demarche to Vienna because of the Austrian side's refusal to [...]

The opposition Alternative for Germany (AfD) party criticized Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to expel Russian diplomats without obtaining firm proof of Russian involvement in the Skripal poisoning first. The opposition party rebuked Merkel's government for its decision to expel Russian diplomats over Russia's alleged involvement in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in S [...]

Vienna chose not to expel Russian diplomats as a response to the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal, saying it wants to keep dialogue with Moscow open. Some European opposition figures say the move will only create problems. Despite more than a dozen European nations expelling Russian diplomats over the Skripal case, not every nation or politician is on board. Dissenting voices are starting [...]

Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Germany, France, Denmark, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Canada, Romania, Finland, Croatia, Albania, Sweden, Spain and the US have decided to expel Russian diplomats amid the Skripal case. "We express a decisive protest over the decision taken by a number of EU and NATO countries to expel Russian diplomats. [...]

Lt. Gen. Karl Müller, head of the Luftwaffe, is on his way out the door primarily as a result of his vocal stance that Germany should buy the F-35 Lightning II. Sputnik previously reported that Müller was on thin ice with German political leaders who apparently preferred that Germany's air force replace its Panavia Tornado fleet with more European-built fighter jets. [...]

SIMFEROPOL (Sputnik) - The suggestion of Ukrainian Ambassador to Berlin Andriy Melnyk to ban German nationals from visiting Crimea is nonsense and an act of interference in Germany's internal affairs, Andreas Maurer, the head of Die Linke party group of the Quakenbruck parliament, told Sputnik. [...]

This is not the first episode involving the attaché, who has been summoned by Austria's Foreign Ministry, as he had previously posted a photo of his grandfather in a Nazi uniform with a swastika on social media. Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl has summoned Juergen-Michael Kleppich, an attaché from the country's embassy in Israel, "to clarify the circumstances and to submit to a legal pr [...]

If Russian natural gas exports to Italy stop, the country will have only 15 days before the emergency situation, according to La Stampa. What is the scale of European dependence on the Russian gas? Can the US replace it? In Italy, the share of Russian gas imports is about 37 percent. [...]

The new economy and energy minister Peter Altmaier made it clear before a meeting between German and US officials in Washington that the EU would take a strong stand against the new steel and aluminum tariffs proposed by US President Donald Trump. The economy and energy minister of Germany’s new grand coalition government Peter Altmaier has warned the US government that if a trade war with th [...]

KASSEL (Germany) (Sputnik) - Moscow was Berlin's only foreign partner that provided Germany with additional natural gas during the cold period in early March, Mario Mehren, the CEO of the Wintershall energy company, said. [...]

For Markus Bergfeld, whose children were allegedly taken away from the family and poisoned with psychotropic drugs, Russia is the last resort, the ex-German officer told the Russian newspaper Daily Storm. [...]

Three countries agree with Britain that "it was highly likely that Russia was responsible for the attack." President Donald Trump has consistently refused to punish Russia for its attacks on the United States and around the world — but that changed somewhat today. [...]

Central banks around the world have been building up their gold stockpiles to make sure they are stored on soil they can trust. The National Bank of Hungary (MNB) says it is bringing back three tons of the country’s gold reserves stored at the Bank of England in London, Gold Seek reported. The move to repatriate 130 million dollars’ worth of gold from Budapest previously stored on Britis [...]

France has undermined Theresa May’s attempts to garner support for punitive action against Russia, saying it wants more proof Moscow was behind the Salisbury poisoning. It accused the PM of engaging in “fantasy politics.” On Wednesday, May announced the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats and the suspension of bilateral talks. [...]

Former NSA employee and whistleblower Edward Snowden speculated on Twitter that the nominee for CIA director, Gina Haspel, could face arrest if she sets foot in the European Union because she allegedly was involved in a torture program at a secret CIA prison. "Interesting: The new CIA Director Haspel, who ‘tortured some folks,' probably can't travel to the EU to meet other spy chiefs without fac [...]

The coverage of a gang rape case, in which a woman was subjected to sexual abuse for 10 hours, has triggered a scandal in the Nordic nation, after the alleged perpetrators were portrayed as "victims" by national broadcaster SVT. A woman in the Malmö district of Lindängen was drugged and gang raped for several hours in early February. [...]

European and Chinese officials are firing shots across America’s bow over plans by the Trump administration to impose protectionist tariffs on its steel and aluminum imports. A trade war looms as a result. President Donald Trump is expected to set tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum this week. [...]

The Russophobic hysteria that gripped the West during recent years appears to be veering into the irrational, as even destructive weather phenomena are being blamed on the Kremlin’s machinations, according to the Russian foreign minister. Speaking at a press conference held during his visit to the African nation of Namibia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that recently certain countr [...]

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) congratulated Italy’s Lega party on achieving great results in the election, expressing hope that both parties would succeed in closing the Brenner Pass on the Italian-Austrian border, a migrant route in the eastern Alps, Roman Haider, the FPO’s foreign policy spokesman, told Sputnik on Monday. [...]

Last week, US President Donald Trump had threatened to impose a tax on European cars and to introduce 25 percent import tariffs on steel and 10 percent tariffs on aluminum. "It is important in this context that the European Union reacts swiftly and proportionately within the WTO and in respect to the WTO," French President Emmanuel Macron told journalists. [...]

Europe should be rebuilt around people, not bureaucracy, said Matteo Salvini, the leader of the Euroskeptic Lega Nord party, after the group made considerable gains in the country’s general election. Salvini’s party won over 18 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election, according to preliminary results. [...]

German car maker Porsche continues to impress and is mulling a new way to create a vehicle which would be able to easily navigate around any potential gridlock on city highways. In an interview with the German magazine Automobilwoche, Porsche sales chief Detlev von Platen said that it did not rule out the creation of a flying passenger vehicle by Volkswagen's sports car maker. [...]