Ever since the Berlin Wall fell and the country reunited, Germans could be expected to keep budget deficits relatively low, military spending even lower, and politics at a plodding pace. The next German government is smashing all those traditions before it even takes office. Friedrich Merz, the leader of the center-right Christian Democrats and the…
During his first term in office, President Trump described the European Union “as a foe,” established “to hurt the United States on trade.” He repeated the charge at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, but in more vulgar terms: “The European Union was formed in order to screw the United States. That’s the purpose of it,…
The president of Germany’s central bank, which on Tuesday reported an annual loss for the first time in more than 40 years, said that Germany faced another year of economic stagnation, more gloomy news for a country that is struggling to grow. “It is not possible to rule out a third year consecutive calendar year…
Three and a half decades after reunification, a line runs through Germany where the Iron Curtain once stood. Instead of barbed wires and dogs, that line now divides Germans by measures like income and unemployment — and increasingly by the willingness to vote for extremist parties. If East Germany were still its own country, the…
Friedrich Merz and his center-right Christian Democrats emerged victorious in Germany’s election on Sunday, but the celebrations may be short. The next government, almost certainly led by Mr. Merz as chancellor, faces a stagnant economy, President Trump’s threat to put tariffs on the country’s crucial export industries and a fourth year of war in Ukraine….
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will be replaced by conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz whose party, Christian Democratic Union (CDU), came out on top while Social Democrats slumped to a heavy loss in Sunday’s national elections. His party bagged the biggest vote share in Germany’s general elections, defeating Scholz’s centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD). The bloc…
Germans voted for a change of leadership on Sunday, handing the most votes in a parliamentary election to centrist conservatives, with the far right in second, and rebuking the nation’s left-leaning government for its handling of the economy and immigration. Early returns and exit polls almost certainly mean the country’s next chancellor will be Friedrich…
Germans voted for a change of leadership on Sunday, handing the most votes in a parliamentary election to centrist conservatives, with the far right in second, and rebuking the nation’s left-leaning government for its handling of the economy and immigration. Early returns and exit polls almost certainly mean the country’s next chancellor will be Friedrich…
Now that the votes are cast, the real work in Berlin can begin. While reconstituting parliament is relatively easy and must be done in the next three weeks, no party is expected to get enough votes to govern alone and outright. That means Germany is likely headed for a coalition government — and the process…
When Vice President JD Vance criticized his German hosts last week for sidelining far-right parties, he did not mention by name the Alternative for Germany, known as the AfD. But soon after his speech at the Munich Security Conference, in which he stunned the room by comparing democracy in today’s Europe to Soviet-era totalitarianism, Mr….