https://www.scmp.com/rss/512463/feed Olaf Scholz began his tenure as the chancellor of Germany on 8 December 2021; a member of the Social Democratic Party, he previously served as vice-chancellor under his immediate predecessor, Angela Merkel, and as federal minister of finance from 2018 to 2021. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Reuters Reuters Jurgen Habermas, best known for his theory of political consensus-building, shaped the discourse of post-war ⁠Germany more than any other popular intellectual. He died on Saturday, aged 96, in Starnberg, ⁠Germany, the publisher Suhrkamp said. Over the course of seven decades, his public interventions – from searing critiques of fascist thought in the 1950s to more recent warnings against resurgent militarism and nationalism in Germany – steered the country at critical junctions. Not only his... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3346630/jurgen-habermas-philosopher-who-shaped-germanys-post-war-conscience-dies-96?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3346630/jurgen-habermas-philosopher-who-shaped-germanys-post-war-conscience-dies-96?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 18:30:03 +0000 dpa dpa Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares on Wednesday accused German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of failing to show “solidarity” with Madrid in the face of criticism from US President Donald Trump. Albares told broadcaster RTVE that he had communicated his “surprise” over the chancellor’s response to Trump’s tirade against Spain in a White House meeting on Tuesday. “When you share a currency, a common trade policy and a common market with another country, you expect the same solidarity that... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3345459/germanys-merz-lacked-solidarity-amid-silence-during-trump-attacks-spain?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3345459/germanys-merz-lacked-solidarity-amid-silence-during-trump-attacks-spain?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2026 12:42:30 +0000 Zhang Tong Zhang Tong New Tsinghua University data this week reveals a nearly 20 per cent rise in graduates joining the manufacturing and energy sectors, signalling a major shift in career pursuits in China. The sharp rise seen in Tsinghua’s class of 2025 indicates a renewed interest in traditional industrial sectors among top-tier talent as well as the pull of national strategic priorities. As some of China’s brightest minds enter these fields, the country is poised to intensify its competitive challenge to Western... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3345299/manufacturing-talent-boom-why-chinas-smartest-students-are-factory-bound?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3345299/manufacturing-talent-boom-why-chinas-smartest-students-are-factory-bound?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2026 04:00:14 +0000 Sebastian Contin Trillo-Figueroa Sebastian Contin Trillo-Figueroa German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who heads to Beijing this week, had warned last year in relation to China that economic dependencies make Germany “susceptible to blackmail”. As chancellor, he confronts an export model under strain, a deteriorating transatlantic environment and the fiscal reality that moral posturing does not sustain an industrial economy. Merz has never been shy about stating where he stands. As chairman of the non-profit Atlantik-Brucke from 2009 to 2019, he boosted the view... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3344239/germanys-outreach-china-signals-reckoning-rather-shift?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3344239/germanys-outreach-china-signals-reckoning-rather-shift?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Feb 2026 13:07:33 +0000 Thomas O. Falk Thomas O. Falk There are moments in statecraft when a government reveals its strategic character. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s new administration has shown one such moment – and it was encouraging. On Ukraine, Berlin has moved with a decisiveness long thought beyond its political metabolism. Weapons are flowing. Defence production is expanding. Germany is anchoring Nato’s eastern flank and, for the first time in decades, speaking like a country prepared to bear the burdens of European security. On China,... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3333715/stumbling-germany-needs-clear-strategy-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3333715/stumbling-germany-needs-clear-strategy-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Nov 2025 12:30:09 +0000 dpa dpa Germany will lift its partial embargo on weapons exports to Israel as of November 24, reversing a decision taken in August in response to Israel’s military operations in Gaza. Government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said that the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which has been in effect since October 10, was a key reason for lifting the ban. Kornelius said the ceasefire had “stabilised in recent weeks”. The spokesman also cited efforts to achieve a lasting peace... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3333126/germany-lift-curbs-arms-exports-israel-reversal-foreign-policy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3333126/germany-lift-curbs-arms-exports-israel-reversal-foreign-policy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Nov 2025 11:54:23 +0000 dpa dpa Germany is moving to the right again. This was not only made evident by February’s election results, but it’s also becoming more visible among ordinary folks, especially young people. February’s snap vote, brought after the collapse of a centre-left administration, saw the conservative bloc come out on top ahead of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD), which garnered its best-ever result in a federal vote amid discontent over immigration and the economy. The soaring... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3319826/being-nazi-hip-germanys-youth-increasingly-embrace-far-right-ideology?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3319826/being-nazi-hip-germanys-youth-increasingly-embrace-far-right-ideology?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Jul 2025 07:52:17 +0000 Thomas O. Falk Thomas O. Falk In an era when diplomacy often postures as virtue signalling and foreign policy has grown allergic to nuance, Germany’s new Chancellor Friedrich Merz has executed a move of startling clarity and daring. He called President Xi Jinping, not to lecture him on human rights or wave the banner of Western liberalism but to propose a deal: help end the war in Ukraine. Merz’s appeal, couched in the anodyne language of international cooperation, was anything but soft. He told Xi that Russia’s war of... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3312480/why-germanys-leader-called-chinas-over-ukraine-and-why-it-matters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3312480/why-germanys-leader-called-chinas-over-ukraine-and-why-it-matters?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Jun 2025 21:30:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Berlin will help Kyiv develop new long-range weapons that can hit targets well inside Russian territory. Both countries’ defence ministers later signed a memorandum of understanding for the production of long-range weapons systems, but without revealing technical details or naming the manufacturers involved. “There will be no range restrictions, allowing Ukraine to fully defend... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3312178/germany-ukraine-jointly-produce-long-range-weapons?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3312178/germany-ukraine-jointly-produce-long-range-weapons?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 May 2025 13:49:42 +0000 dpa dpa Russia rebuked Germany on Monday after Chancellor Friedrich Merz suggested Ukraine could now employ longer-range weapons in its defence against Moscow. These were “quite dangerous decisions, if they have been made,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. He was referring to an earlier statement by Merz, who said there were “no longer any range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine, neither by the British, nor by the French, nor by us, nor by the Americans”. It was unclear whether Merz’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3311948/russia-warns-germany-over-signal-long-range-weapons-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3311948/russia-warns-germany-over-signal-long-range-weapons-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 May 2025 06:38:11 +0000 Syed Munir Khasru Syed Munir Khasru In recent elections across the world, many right-wing politicians echoed US President Donald Trump’s political style, policies and even rhetoric, reflecting a rise in populism. But the tide is turning and in several instances, Trumpism has backfired. In Canada and Australia, an “anti-Trump bump” was in effect as voters rejected chaos and Trump-style protectionism in favour of stability and centrism. Thanks to the Trump effect, political parties previously expected to lose reversed their... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3309459/trumpism-waning-leaders-still-need-address-voter-frustrations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3309459/trumpism-waning-leaders-still-need-address-voter-frustrations?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 May 2025 12:30:09 +0000 Brian Rhoads,Raymond Ma Brian Rhoads,Raymond Ma Chinese President Xi Jinping voiced support for closer ties with Germany, and the wider European Union, as he congratulated Friedrich Merz on becoming the European nation’s 10th post-World War II chancellor. “I am ready to work with the chancellor to … consolidate political mutual trust, deepen exchanges and cooperation, and open a new chapter in the all-round strategic partnership between China and Germany, so as to guide China-EU cooperation in the right direction,” Xi said, according to state... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3309565/xi-seeks-deeper-eu-ties-congratulating-germanys-merz?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3309565/xi-seeks-deeper-eu-ties-congratulating-germanys-merz?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 May 2025 09:00:42 +0000 Reuters Reuters German conservatives under Friedrich Merz agreed a coalition deal with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) on Wednesday, aiming to revive growth in Europe’s largest economy just as a global trade war threatens recession. The deal caps weeks of haggling between chancellor-in-waiting Merz and the SPD after he topped elections in February but fell well short of a majority, with the far-right Alternative for Germany surging into second place. Pressure to reach a deal has taken on new urgency as... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3305882/germanys-merz-gets-coalition-deal-eyes-reviving-growth-global-trade-war-looms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3305882/germanys-merz-gets-coalition-deal-eyes-reviving-growth-global-trade-war-looms?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Apr 2025 12:48:42 +0000 For decades, Germany prided itself on fiscal restraint, wielding the Schuldenbremse, or debt brake, as both shield and creed, a safeguard against excess and a symbol of post-war prudence. But in an era of resurgent Russian aggression and global upheaval, that restraint has become a liability. Now in a historic pivot, Germany has shed its self-imposed shackles, embracing power and reshaping Europe’s security order for generations to come. The Bundestag last week took a step that reverberated... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3303612/why-germany-cant-afford-not-spend-billions-defence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3303612/why-germany-cant-afford-not-spend-billions-defence?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Mar 2025 12:30:08 +0000 In 1938, British prime minister Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich brandishing a signed document from Hitler and declaring a “peace for our time”. Less than a year later, World War II began. US President Donald Trump, who has pledged to “end wars” and bring world peace, is at risk of echoing Chamberlain’s experience as he negotiates for peace with Russian President Vladimir Putin. More accurately, we are all at risk, because the consequences will affect everyone. A forced Ukrainian... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3301964/appeasing-russia-and-forcing-ukraine-peace-deal-will-breed-chaos?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3301964/appeasing-russia-and-forcing-ukraine-peace-deal-will-breed-chaos?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Mar 2025 12:30:08 +0000 After German voters sent the opposition conservatives led by Friedrich Merz to victory in their national election on Sunday, conventional wisdom would suggest that China brace for fraught relations with the largest and most populous economy in Europe. Merz, set to become the next chancellor but still facing coalition talks, had regularly labelled China an increasing threat to German security and advocated for better coordination with European allies to counter Beijing. But recent pressures on... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3300121/germanys-ties-china-sacrosanct-no-matter-leaders?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3300121/germanys-ties-china-sacrosanct-no-matter-leaders?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Feb 2025 00:30:15 +0000 Berlin police used force to break up a protest taking place inside a bus on Sunday in front of the far-right Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) national headquarters. A very loud siren was heard from the bus, a police spokesman said. Many residents were unsettled and made emergency calls and complaints to the police, the police said in a post on social media. The department said it had established the identity of three people involved in the incident. The bus is well-known as being part of protest... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3299839/police-berlin-break-protests-front-far-right-afds-headquarters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3299839/police-berlin-break-protests-front-far-right-afds-headquarters?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Feb 2025 22:57:52 +0000 Germany’s conservatives won the national election on Sunday but a fractured vote handed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) its best result in second place and left conservative leader Friedrich Merz facing messy coalition talks. Merz, who has no previous experience in office, is set to become chancellor with Europe’s largest economy ailing, its society split over migration and its security caught between a confrontational US and an assertive Russia and China. After the collapse of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3299831/german-conservatives-win-election-far-right-afd-surges-exit-polls-show?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3299831/german-conservatives-win-election-far-right-afd-surges-exit-polls-show?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Feb 2025 17:38:47 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Germans began voting on Sunday in a pivotal election, with the conservatives the strong favourites after a campaign rocked by a far-right surge and the dramatic return of US President Donald Trump. Germany’s electoral system rarely gives any party an absolute majority and opinion polls suggest no party is anywhere near one this time. Two or more parties will most likely form a coalition in the coming weeks. Front-runner Friedrich Merz wants to rid his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3299780/germanys-polls-could-reshape-europe-conservative-merz-aims-lead-amid-far-right-surge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3299780/germanys-polls-could-reshape-europe-conservative-merz-aims-lead-amid-far-right-surge?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Feb 2025 01:24:26 +0000 When Ulrich Ackermann started working for the German machinery industry in 1986, the country’s watchmaking sector had been eaten up by Japanese competition. Advanced equipment makers were sure they were next. “The watch industry almost completely disappeared from Germany, and there was a fear that this could also happen to the machinery industry. That hasn’t happened but now we have a new situation – China Shock 2.0. “I think China is a different story. You can’t compare China to Japan,” said... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3299750/why-post-election-shift-germanys-china-policy-no-longer-sure-bet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3299750/why-post-election-shift-germanys-china-policy-no-longer-sure-bet?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:00:50 +0000 Top European leaders will be shuttling next week between Brussels, Kyiv, Paris, London and Washington in an effort to shore up embattled Ukraine and its leader and figure out European security policy under very changed circumstances. On Monday, the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will mark that solemn anniversary with a visit to Kyiv. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3299525/eu-head-kyiv-macron-visit-trump-bid-shore-support-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3299525/eu-head-kyiv-macron-visit-trump-bid-shore-support-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Feb 2025 22:11:06 +0000 European leaders meeting in Paris for emergency talks on Monday called for higher spending to ramp up the continent’s defence capabilities but remained split on the idea of deploying peacekeepers to Ukraine to back up any peace deal. The leaders also agreed it would be dangerous to conclude a Ukraine ceasefire without a peace agreement at the same time, and that they were ready to provide security guarantees to Ukraine “depending on the level of American support,” a European official said. “We... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3299063/european-leaders-warn-against-ukraine-ceasefire-without-peace-deal-official-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3299063/european-leaders-warn-against-ukraine-ceasefire-without-peace-deal-official-says?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Feb 2025 23:42:55 +0000 At least 1,500 Russians came to the grave of Alexei Navalny in Moscow on Sunday, risking reprisals and braving freezing temperatures to pay their respects to the opposition leader on the first anniversary of his death in prison. Navalny – Vladimir Putin’s main opponent declared “extremist” by Russia – died on February 16, 2024 in Penal Colony Number Three in Kharp, above the Arctic Circle. Agence France-Presse saw hundreds come to Navalny’s grave at Borisovsky Cemetery, leaving flowers and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3298895/navalny-supporters-risk-reprisals-memorial-events?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3298895/navalny-supporters-risk-reprisals-memorial-events?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Feb 2025 11:26:38 +0000 Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday rejected foreign interference in German elections after US Vice-President J.D. Vance told Europe to open the door to far-right parties. Speaking on the same stage at the Munich Security Conference, Scholz pushed back against Vance’s blistering speech from the previous day and defended Germany’s taboo against including the far-right in government coalitions. Scholz, whose country is holding elections on February 23, said that “we will not accept outsiders... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3298838/us-interference-german-election-unacceptable-scholz-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3298838/us-interference-german-election-unacceptable-scholz-says?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Feb 2025 10:41:42 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday accused election rival Friedrich Merz of having broken his word by accepting support from the far-right AfD to push an anti-immigration motion through parliament. In their first and only one-on-one live TV debate ahead of the February 23 vote, centre-left Scholz – who is hoping for a late comeback amid poor poll ratings – went on the offensive against the conservative Merz. He charged that Merz’s tactic of accepting votes from the Alternative for Germany... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3298013/scholz-vs-merz-german-chancellor-candidates-clash-election-tv-debate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3298013/scholz-vs-merz-german-chancellor-candidates-clash-election-tv-debate?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Feb 2025 03:44:58 +0000 Germany’s conservative opposition leader, the favourite to be the next chancellor, said on Saturday a new government should be in place within two months of federal elections on February 23. CDU leader Friedrich Merz said he hoped a new coalition could be formed “by Easter”, were he and his party to come first in the poll. The goal was “ambitious”, Merz said, with Easter Sunday falling on April 20, exactly eight weeks after Germans go to vote. “We need to make a few decisions by the summer break... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3297904/german-chancellor-hopeful-urges-quick-coalition-talks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3297904/german-chancellor-hopeful-urges-quick-coalition-talks?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Feb 2025 10:00:17 +0000 Reuters Reuters Germany’s parliament rejected on Friday an opposition draft law on tightening immigration policy, averting the prospect of a law passing for the first time in modern German history thanks to the backing of the far-right. On Wednesday the Bundestag lower house passed a non-binding motion on migration proposed by the opposition conservatives with the support of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), breaking a taboo against cooperating with the far-right party, which is under surveillance by Germany’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3296991/german-migrant-bill-backed-far-right-fails-blow-election-front-runner-merz?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3296991/german-migrant-bill-backed-far-right-fails-blow-election-front-runner-merz?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Jan 2025 18:08:46 +0000 As the world remembers Auschwitz, the German far-right has pushed back against the country’s tradition of Holocaust remembrance, now with backing from US tech billionaire Elon Musk. “I think there’s too much of a focus on past guilt and we need to move beyond that,” the ally of US President Donald Trump told an Alternative for Germany (AfD) rally in a video discussion at the weekend. “Children should not be guilty for the sins of their great grandparents,” he told supporters of the AfD, an... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3296508/german-holocaust-remembrance-under-fire-far-right-elon-musk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3296508/german-holocaust-remembrance-under-fire-far-right-elon-musk?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Jan 2025 16:54:24 +0000 US tech billionaire Elon Musk doubled down Thursday on his full-throated support for the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), promoting its leader Alice Weidel during a livestream on X in his latest intervention in European politics. “Only AfD can save Germany, end of story,” the Tesla and SpaceX boss and ally of US President-elect Donald Trump said during the discussion with Weidel. “People really need to get behind AfD, otherwise things are going to get very, very much worse in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3294144/musk-promotes-german-far-right-leader-weidel-latest-european-intervention?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3294144/musk-promotes-german-far-right-leader-weidel-latest-european-intervention?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Jan 2025 01:51:11 +0000 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday dismissed speculation from an opposition lawmaker about a possible trip to Moscow ahead of elections on February 23. “This is a false claim,” said Scholz in Berlin. “It is profoundly indecent, there is no basis for it.” “I believe honest people are allowed to be outraged when false claims are being used,” Scholz added. Scholz’s comments came after Roderich Kiesewetter of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) posted on X on Saturday: “We must prepare for an... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3293520/germanys-scholz-outraged-over-indecent-moscow-visit-speculation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3293520/germanys-scholz-outraged-over-indecent-moscow-visit-speculation?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Jan 2025 18:04:25 +0000 German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday dissolved the country’s lower house of parliament to pave the way for snap elections on February 23 following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-way coalition. “Especially in difficult times, like now, stability requires a government capable of acting, and reliable majorities in parliament,” which was why early elections were the right way forward for Germany, Steinmeier said in Berlin. After the elections, problem-solving must... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3292501/germany-set-february-23-snap-election-after-president-dissolves-parliament?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3292501/germany-set-february-23-snap-election-after-president-dissolves-parliament?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:21:46 +0000 A man suspected of ploughing a car through crowds at a German Christmas market in an attack that killed five people and injured scores faces multiple charges of murder and attempted murder, police said on Sunday. The suspect, a 50-year-old doctor originally from Saudi Arabia who has lived in Germany for nearly two decades and had permanent residency, is in pre-trial detention and is also charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm. The suspect held strongly anti-Islam views and was angry with... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3291861/saudi-suspect-deadly-christmas-market-car-attack-railed-against-islam-and-germany?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3291861/saudi-suspect-deadly-christmas-market-car-attack-railed-against-islam-and-germany?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Dec 2024 18:32:48 +0000 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday visited the site of a deadly car-ramming attack on a crowded Christmas market that shocked the nation, to pay tribute to the victims. Five people were killed and more than 200 were wounded, Saxony-Anhalt state premier Reiner Haseloff said on Saturday, updating the toll. Scholz, who was with him to pay respects in the eastern city of Magdeburg, voiced special concern for some 40 critically injured people and condemned the “terrible catastrophe”. Police... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3291805/dozens-hurt-car-attack-german-christmas-market?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3291805/dozens-hurt-car-attack-german-christmas-market?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Dec 2024 20:37:34 +0000 Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote in the German parliament on Monday, putting the European Union’s most populous member and biggest economy on course to hold an early election in February. Scholz won the support of 207 lawmakers in the 733-seat lower house, or Bundestag, while 394 voted against him and 116 abstained. That left him far short of the majority of 367 needed to win. Scholz leads a minority government after his unpopular and notoriously rancorous three-party coalition... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3291070/germanys-scholz-faces-confidence-vote-expected-lead-february-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3291070/germanys-scholz-faces-confidence-vote-expected-lead-february-election?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Dec 2024 14:39:38 +0000 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expects he’ll find alignment with president-elect Donald Trump on how to end Russia’s war against Ukraine, playing down concerns a shift in US leadership risks splitting Kyiv’s biggest backers. “I am confident that we can develop a joint strategy for Ukraine,” Scholz said in an interview published by German media group Funke on Saturday. “I have already spoken to the future US president at length on the phone, and we are also in direct contact with his advisers on... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3289800/germany-aims-align-trump-end-merciless-ukraine-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3289800/germany-aims-align-trump-end-merciless-ukraine-war?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Dec 2024 03:55:07 +0000 Economic activity needs to be on a “a level playing field” and difficult geopolitical issues should not be ignored, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Chinese leader Xi Jinping as the two met on sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil on Tuesday. Xi also spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron and Argentine leader Javier Milei on the final day of the gathering. According to Reuters, Scholz told Xi it was important for China and Germany to talk about difficult topics such as trade. “It is... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3287262/chinese-president-xi-jinping-meet-german-chancellor-olaf-scholz-g20-sidelines?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3287262/chinese-president-xi-jinping-meet-german-chancellor-olaf-scholz-g20-sidelines?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Nov 2024 11:20:15 +0000 Several world leaders at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro seized the opportunity to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who returned to the global stage after skipping last year’s gathering in India. Before attending the group’s scheduled meetings at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Xi held bilateral talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Xi met Albanese months after the Australian leader visited Beijing in an attempt to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3287122/g20-xi-jinping-and-anthony-albanese-discuss-improved-china-australia-trade-relations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3287122/g20-xi-jinping-and-anthony-albanese-discuss-improved-china-australia-trade-relations?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Nov 2024 20:50:20 +0000 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to engage in peace talks with Ukraine, in the first call between the leaders in almost two years. In the call, Scholz “condemned Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and called on President Putin to end it and withdraw troops”, the chancellor’s spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said. The German leader “urged Russia to show willingness to negotiate with Ukraine with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace”,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3286831/germanys-scholz-urges-ukraine-talks-first-call-russias-putin-2022?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3286831/germanys-scholz-urges-ukraine-talks-first-call-russias-putin-2022?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Nov 2024 17:20:47 +0000 Emmanuel Macron warned that Europe risks getting divided by Donald Trump’s economic policy and being thrown into a simultaneous trade war with Washington and Beijing. The next US administration “will continue to protect the market very strongly, at the risk of dismantling value chains between Europeans and Americans”, the French president said on Wednesday while speaking on a panel about European competitiveness. “We’re clearly entering a world of tariff wars.” Trump has floated the idea of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3286465/trump-could-send-eu-hurtling-toward-tariff-war-both-us-and-china-macron-warns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3286465/trump-could-send-eu-hurtling-toward-tariff-war-both-us-and-china-macron-warns?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Nov 2024 22:06:52 +0000 Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election ushers in an America that will swashbuckle through the world like brawny sailors on shore leave. We can expect his administration to be an emotional whirlwind of guttural, visceral attacks hurled spontaneously, rather than four years of measured, calculated approaches anchored in deeply grounded ideas about the workings of statecraft and a rules-based international order. “America first”, he swears, is his lodestar. His last term as... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3286120/trumps-rise-signals-end-us-global-leadership?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3286120/trumps-rise-signals-end-us-global-leadership?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Nov 2024 14:30:08 +0000 Germany is set to head to the polls on February 23 following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s centre-left coalition, sources said on Tuesday. Parliamentary leaders from the country’s largest political parties – Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) and the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) – have reached an agreement on a timetable to call the election, sources from both sides said. Scholz is expected to table a vote of confidence in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, on... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3286265/germany-set-early-elections-february-23-after-olaf-scholzs-coalition-falls?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3286265/germany-set-early-elections-february-23-after-olaf-scholzs-coalition-falls?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Nov 2024 11:30:58 +0000 In a remarkable political comeback, Donald Trump was re-elected president of the United States with help from, among others, tech tycoon Elon Musk. The victory of Trump, a convicted felon, symbolises America’s repudiation of its exceptionalism as a “shining city upon a hill” distinct from the Old World – the dashing of the nation’s long-held moral conceit amid voters’ willingness to succumb to self-interest, even though Trump was described as a “fascist” during his campaign by his own former... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3285575/trump-20-will-usher-post-american-world-order?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3285575/trump-20-will-usher-post-american-world-order?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Nov 2024 21:30:08 +0000 German opposition leader Friedrich Merz said Chancellor Olaf Scholz should submit to a vote of confidence by early next week at the latest, paving the way for fresh elections as soon as mid-January. Social Democrat Scholz brought an end to his three-party alliance with the Greens and the Free Democrats late Wednesday when he sacked FDP Finance Minister Christian Lindner. The chancellor called for the next scheduled election to be brought forward from September to March but Merz and his... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3285496/germanys-olaf-scholz-fires-finance-minister-bringing-ruling-coalition-chaotic-end?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3285496/germanys-olaf-scholz-fires-finance-minister-bringing-ruling-coalition-chaotic-end?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Nov 2024 21:37:04 +0000 This article has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Get faster notifications on the latest updates by downloading our app. The European Union is planning for talks with Donald Trump’s transition team as it seeks to head off a major economic and political shock after his convincing victory in Tuesday’s US presidential election. High on their wish list will be keeping the tap open for US funds to flow to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3285492/eu-has-wish-list-trump-support-his-tough-china-agenda-will-be-expected?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3285492/eu-has-wish-list-trump-support-his-tough-china-agenda-will-be-expected?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Nov 2024 18:41:32 +0000 A short trip to Germany instead of the planned state visit. A four-way meeting in the Chancellery instead of the conference in Ramstein to coordinate future aid for Ukraine with some 50 participating states, including numerous heads of state and government. With Hurricane Milton in Florida preventing US President Joe Biden from adhering to his planned itinerary, the entire European political scene was thrown off course. There is no other way to describe the events of the past 14 days. Worse yet,... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3284266/europeans-cold-war-nostalgia-are-no-help-ukraine-or-themselves?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3284266/europeans-cold-war-nostalgia-are-no-help-ukraine-or-themselves?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Oct 2024 06:30:10 +0000 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will embark on a three-day visit to India from Thursday to hold talks on defence and economic ties which are likely to deepen engagement between the two countries over the strategic Indo-Pacific region. Scholz, who succeeded Angela Merkel as chancellor in December 2021, has consistently signalled his intent to forge ties with New Delhi against the backdrop of the West’s China plus-one strategy on trade and amid geopolitical tensions. The German chancellor visited... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3283402/bid-deeper-ties-germanys-scholz-visit-india-defence-economy-mind?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3283402/bid-deeper-ties-germanys-scholz-visit-india-defence-economy-mind?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Oct 2024 10:00:19 +0000 US President Joe Biden said it was important for Ukraine’s Western allies to “sustain our resolve” in supporting the country as he held meetings Friday with European partners, with the coming US presidential election casting a long shadow over his visit to Germany. Biden met Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, Ukraine’s second-biggest military supplier after the US. They were joined by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for discussions that were also... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3283004/biden-says-western-allies-must-keep-aiding-ukraine-he-meets-european-leaders?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3283004/biden-says-western-allies-must-keep-aiding-ukraine-he-meets-european-leaders?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Oct 2024 14:40:39 +0000 The United States is sanctioning two Chinese companies it says are cooperating with Russian entities to design, build and ship long-range attack drones, in the latest round of punitive action against firms supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine. A senior official in US President Joe Biden’s administration said on Thursday that the weapons – part of Russia’s Garpiya series of long-range combat unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – are jointly designed with a sanctioned Russian entity, produced in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3282809/us-sanctions-2-chinese-companies-over-drones-used-russia-against-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3282809/us-sanctions-2-chinese-companies-over-drones-used-russia-against-ukraine?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Oct 2024 16:38:35 +0000 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pitched his “victory plan” to European leaders on Thursday, urging them to back his call for an immediate invitation to join Nato to deal a “decisive” blow to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Addressing leaders of the European Union’s 27 member countries at a summit in Brussels, Zelensky also called for more military aid for Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion. “An immediate invitation to Ukraine to join Nato would be decisive. Putin just must see that... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3282785/zelensky-pitches-victory-plan-eu-leaders-steps-call-ukraine-join-nato?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3282785/zelensky-pitches-victory-plan-eu-leaders-steps-call-ukraine-join-nato?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Oct 2024 11:16:33 +0000 European Union officials are bracing for an onslaught of retaliatory trade actions after a team of Chinese officials tasked with resolving an EV tariff row were hauled back to Beijing over the weekend. The bloc’s punitive import tariffs of up to 35.3 per cent on Chinese electric vehicles are set to kick in by the end of the month, capping a year-long anti-subsidy investigation that China fought ferociously. Talks aimed at reaching a deal have continued in the background, but negotiators remain... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3282235/eu-braces-chinese-trade-blows-aftermath-ev-tariff-vote?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3282235/eu-braces-chinese-trade-blows-aftermath-ev-tariff-vote?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Oct 2024 03:58:21 +0000