Opinion

Spending 2.5% of GDP on defence is a good start – but it’s not enough

A vote at the United Nations made it very clear what he thinks of America’s former allies across the Atlantic

The braggart in the White House claims to have record high approval ratings – but polls show he actually has the worst among modern American presidents

Despite the CDU achieving one of its worst results ever, the party has managed to keep the AfD out of power – for now

US support is gone forever. What kind of Europe will emerge from the wreckage?

Right wing politicians and media have made themselves look ridiculous with flimsy attacks on the chancellor

Friedrich Merz is Germany’s new chancellor. But the far right are rising – and waiting for a moment of weakness

It’s only 30 years since a genocide took place in the heart of Europe, but already some are trying to rewrite history

Donald Trump is cuddling up to Putin while telling Ukraine: “First pay me, then feed your children”

While many cities in Spain struggle to cope with the effects of mass tourism, Benidorm’s sustainable model allows it to flourish

The UK needs to cut red tape and boost growth - but despite hope over a youth mobility scheme, Brussels does not see a new deal as a priority

A YouTuber’s remark about Rishi Sunak caused a social media storm - but it says a lot about the impact of racism on non-white Brits

The UK is finally ready to do a reciprocal deal with the EU - but growth will only come with a return to full freedom of movement

Budapest endured Nazi rule, the Holocaust and then Stalin – how can anywhere recover from that?

Experts say the military alliance may become ‘dormant’ - and a European army remains just a pipe dream

Ukraine and tariffs mean the EU’s bandwidth is receding - now Starmer must act fast

Trump has shafted Ukraine. Now he threatens the security of the west

The normally talkative party have little to say on America’s abandonment of Zelensky and the western alliance. Why?

The hard right in the US and UK rely on deception and outright lies to make their case. It is time to weaponise the truth – before it’s too late

Education reform is the neglected piece in Labour’s growth agenda and central to the fight against far right populism. Keir Starmer should make it a priority

By palling up with populists and parroting their talking points, the leader has taken the Tories down a slippery slope to extremism

JD Vance’s rant against a British law banning protests outside abortion clinics is pure hypocrisy - and nothing at all to do with free speech

Two new books on the current threat to western democracy come to very different conclusions about who’s to blame and what to do about it

The six-foot-six Friedrich Merz tends to look down on people - but his tenacity could be just what a troubled country needs

In a new book, the author argues that faced with multiple global crises, western civilisation is under threat – from the inside

Irmin Schmidt on the hypnotic chemistry of Can, Europe's most influential band

The country’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk wants forgotten victims released and war criminals punished. But those hopes seem further away than ever

Solitude and flatlining social mobility are shuttering millions into a network of conspiracies and grievance. We need new strategies to break them out

Another worthwhile intervention on youth mobility from London’s mayor will be ignored by his own party

A new poll shows opinions shifting on whether the US can still be seen as an ally

How can the chancellor afford increased defence spending without tax rises or public service cuts? There is one way out

Undoing the damage done by leaving the EU is like crossing a fast-flowing stream. It must be done in one jump