Israel's Defense Minister Barak shakes hands with German counterpart Jung in Tel Aviv

BERLIN, March 21 (UPI) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel in her three-day visit to Israel sounded in a new era in German-Israeli relations -- one that may not exactly be of help to the Middle East peace process, observers say.

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- European Union defense ministers Friday discussed a possible security force in Kosovo and ways to keep this week's clashes from spreading.

MOSCOW, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Germany's defense minister said Saturday NATO should be committed to cooperating with Moscow because global solutions need Russia's help.

BERLIN, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- The German government fears a Democratic U.S. president will increase the pressure on Germany to send more troops into Afghanistan.

LONDON, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged European governments Wednesday to keep as a NATO priority troop deployment to Afghanistan.

BERLIN, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Germany will not send more soldiers or allow its troops to be deployed in southern Afghanistan, Defense Minister Franz-Josef Jung said Friday.

BERLIN, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- It looks like Germany has succumbed to international pressure and will now send battle forces to Afghanistan.

BERLIN, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Germany is not presenting exit strategies for its stability missions in Lebanon and Afghanistan and Lebanon, despite worsening security in the region. The German public, it seems, will have to get used to several more years of military contributions in the region.

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- An end of the German naval mission off the coast of Lebanon is not in sight.

BERLIN, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- The European Union should plan to send far more people to Afghanistan to train the military and police, German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said.