Merz can’t win with Trump. So why try?
Trump’s disdain for ‘Good old Germany’ is well known. Will the chancellor hold his own on his first official trip to the White House?
Visiting Spain – but in France
The charming town of Llivia, a Spanish exclave in France, thrives with Catalan investment, in sharp contrast to its forgotten French surroundings
Letters: Europe has a tech problem. Here’s how to fix it
The continent lacks tech giants due to fragmented capital markets – a true single market also needs fiscal union
Geert Wilders: the fall of an extremist
Hard right populists can get thrown out of power – just look at the Netherlands
The charlatans are clearly here to stay
Both Europe and America are being forced to face the populist right and they aren’t going to vanish all by themselves
Karol Nawrocki, Poland’s MAGA president
Yet another had right opportunist has exploited the opening in European politics that the left continues to ignore
The country desperate for EU membership
Unfortunately for Edi Rama, Albania’s prime minister, the country’s place in the EU will be secured not by optics, but by its democratic credentials and right now, those are being tested
Letters: Resounding silence greets Starmer’s reset
The new UK-EU deal has annoyed all the usual suspects, so Keir Starmer must be doing something right
Eating my way through Europe with the Eagles
Crystal Palace’s first-ever European campaign offers fans the opportunity of a gastronomic adventure too
Gerhard Schröder isn’t doing himself any favours
The 81-year-old former chancellor claimed it prevented him from attending a parliamentary inquiry in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern over his role in the Nord Stream 2 saga
Here’s how Orbán could be ousted
Don’t discount the role of Gergely Kovács, head of the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party (MKKP), if Hungarians vote to remove Orbán from power next year
La Liga needs a Nou direction
As in the Scottish Premiership, Spain’s Primera División is dominated by the same two clubs every season. And it’s getting boring
In Kyiv, my app told me: You are about to be bombed
What it’s like to be in the centre of one of Putin’s airstrikes
The new Greek minister’s war on refugees
Makis Voridis, Greece’s new minister for migration and asylum, and his ultra-nationalist links are catastrophic for refugees
Am I welcome in Britain?
I’m one of those people who’s lived in more than one country and has now settled in the UK. Is that really so unreasonable?
The House of Hohenzollern, a dynasty fit for a Netflix drama
After 99 years, the German authorities and the Hohenzollern family have decided to bury the hatchet
Robert Fico goes to Moscow
Just like Putin, Slovakia’s prime minister is cultivating a carefully crafted image of strength
In Belgium, even the dogs protest against Trump
In Brussels, Americans are distancing themselves from Trump’s policies – and they’re taking their dogs with them
Romania’s narrow political escape
Nicușor Dan, the pro-European presidential candidate, emerged victorious in the most emotional and consequential election in Romania’s post-communist history
Letters: Labour needs to stop apeing Reform and start being positive
Following Farage means inching towards him as he inches further right – doing this has already left the Conservatives in ruins
Père-Lachaise: Where Paris goes to die
The cemetery, opened by Napoleon, was unpopular at first. But then the VIPs came – followed by the ghosts
Alastair Campbell’s Diary: The Pope vs JD Vance
Robert Prevost may have been born American, but his experience, views and values are as far from Trumpian as were his predecessor’s
Bertrand Russell: lessons from a pacifist prophet
Many secular philosophers have opposed war and particular wars, but Russell stands in a class apart
Nic Aubury’s 4-line poem: White Smoke
The Eurovision troll contest
Estonian Tommy Cash’s Espresso Macchiato mocks Italians. Is he a prankster, or a racist?
Eurovision’s performers without borders
A Finnish comedy trio are among the bookies’ favourites to win the song contest… for Sweden
Letters: Virginia Giuffre was betrayed by society
What happened to her as a 17-year-old was appalling, but was it down to the failings of a brainwashed society obsessed with celebrity?
What happened when the lights went out in Spain
A major power outage across the Iberian peninsula caused panic and unexpected joy as people rediscovered simplicity, resilience and community
French movie cool goes under the hammer
A newly discovered, signed script for Jean-Luc Godard’s first and greatest movie, Breathless, could fetch more than £400,000 at auction
How Merz can build his coalition
Scholz’s successor will exceed expectations – but only as the bar for the chancellor-designate has been set so low
Jerzy Kosiński, the writer whose last act was to plagiarise himself
However his works might have been assembled and whatever dissembling he did when talking about his life, Jerzy Kosiński was a master storyteller
Goodbye Mr Globalism
Klaus Schwab, the man who founded the Davos summit, had a vision for the world. But things haven’t turned out the way he wanted
Meeting fascists in the graveyard
Spain is still mourning its civil war dead. But not everyone sees the nation’s history in quite the same way
Who makes the Pope’s coffin?
Deep inside the Vatican, in a highly secret location, a group of carpenters were tasked with creating a very special casket
How populism gives youth wings
Bitter at the old politics, young Germans saw the far-right AfD as a revitalising tonic. How can the left get that taste out of their mouths?
Why you should visit Heligoland
Eighty years ago, the island was nearly wiped off the map. Today it relies on wind-farm crews more than tourists
The downside of living the Italian dream
Expats must learn that smaller rural Italian communities run on gossip
The papal succession
Pope Francis came close to anointing his heir. But the conclave will consider a range of cardinals, from progressives to Trump fans
Europe’s explosive history with the bomb
Britain and France both have atomic weapons. Now that the US is no longer a reliable ally, how should Europe deploy its nuclear deterrent?
When Switzerland gave Trump the finger
The Swiss are famously moderate – but when an image from a Basel carnival went viral, it led to a period of national self-examination
The sweet sound of ‘Brexit betrayal’
The Brexit reset deal will fix some of the mess made by Boris Johnson and Lord Frost. No wonder the latter is already moaning about it
Totò, the unlucky actor who took it on the chin
That he remained upbeat despite his many misfortunes was amazing. That he managed to make his home country laugh for over half a century borders on the miraculous
Vive la France, à bas JD Vance!
If Trump and his vice-president have a genius for anything, it’s global media dominance
Merz’s honeymoon is over
Thanks to the SPD, expectations of the soon-to-be chancellor are now so low he can hardly fail to impress once in office
The bridge at the end of Europe
Across the river from Russia, the Estonian city of Narva is part of the European Union. But Vladimir Putin is watching and waiting
Misan Harriman: A lens on a world in protest
The photographer’s images command attention – whether capturing the fiery passion of an activist rallying a crowd or the powerful, expressive gaze of a lone protester
Attacked by the regime’s hooligans
Serbia has seen five months of student protest and now the country is at breaking point
When Istanbul’s cafes fell silent
The opposition in Turkey has been reluctant to use protests as a tool against Erdoğan. But the arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul, has changed everything
Greenland knows what it wants, and it’s not JD Vance
If the vice-president wishes to return to the country, he may want to be better prepared
The bus ride that sums up France’s poverty and plenty
Provence conjures up images of lavender fields and honey-coloured villages… but the reality of the périphérique is somewhat different