10 h. ago Berlin film festival 2025 roundup – a new boss, a flawless fairytale and Ethan Hawke’s finest hour

At a snowy Berlinale, against a backdrop of political divisions, this year’s standouts include Lucile Hadžihalilović’s The Ice Tower, Richard Linklater’s Broadway biopic of Lorenz Hart, and intensely sexual romance starring Jessica ChastainBerlin can be a touch inhospitable in February; this year was no exception, with visitors to the film festival enduring heavy snow, treacherous pavements and a two-day, city-wide transport strike. But the Berlinale itself is contending with a frosty climate. Traditionally a hub for film-makers of forthright, oppositional persuasions, it must now attempt to flourish in the face of Europe’s swing to the right, with Germany’s elections imminent and the troubling rise of the extremist AfD party.Every new festival head faces the challenge of reinventing the event they have inherited, and in the Berlinale’s 75th year, the bar was set especially high given the scrutiny the festival has received. Last year’s closing night brought controversy, with some Ge...

Society

13 h. ago A train through Germany: is Europe’s powerhouse going off the rails?

In the run-up to Sunday’s crucial election, the Guardian took a long journey through Europe’s heartland to talk to votersCreaking, overcrowded, neglected, Germany’s railways, once a source of national pride, have taken a battering to their image in recent years. Amid wider concerns about the health of Europe’s stagnating largest economy, the state of its trains has become something of a metaphor for a more general sense of malaise.On Sunday Germans will go to the polls in one of the most important elections in recent times, with an emboldened far right hoping to more than double its share of votes. In the run-up, the Guardian travelled more than 850 miles on trains across Germany to hear what its citizens have to say about the state of their nation. Continue reading...

Politics

24 h. ago Germany’s Merz says Europe can no longer rely on US protection

Frontrunner for chancellor suggests possible nuclear co-operation with the UK and France

Politics

31 h. ago How do we defend free speech – without falling prey to extremism? | Kenneth Roth

JD Vance says Europe should not shun far-right parties. He seems to have forgotten 1933, but hits a key conundrumIn his speech last week at the Munich Security Conference, JD Vance pressed European leaders to stop excluding extremist parties from government. Alluding in particular to Germany’s neo-Nazi Alternative for Germany, or AfD, he accused European leaders of “running in fear of your own voters”. The US vice-president underscored the point by then meeting with the AfD candidate for chancellor.In his view, these extremist parties should be welcomed into the mainstream because they reflect voters’ concern about migration. He evidently was not troubled that the AfD also has a history of using Nazi rhetoric, making racist and antisemitic comments and plotting to overthrow the German government. Continue reading...

Politics

32 h. ago Elon Musk wants the far right AfD to win the German election

Germany’s leading political figures say Musk will face consequences for his endorsement of the country’s far-right party, Tom Watling and Alicja Hagopian write

Politics

32 h. ago Germany voters head to the polls this weekend – here is what to expect

German voters go to the polls on Sunday to elect a parliament that will hold power for four years

Politics

35 h. ago The ‘west’ is over. In the Trumpian era, Europe is on its own | Alexander Hurst

Trump and JD Vance are clear: the US is no longer an ally, but an antagonist to democratic valuesIn 1966, after years of friction with the US over whether France should have its own independent nuclear deterrent, the French president, Charles de Gaulle, withdrew his country from Nato’s integrated command (not, however, from the alliance itself – a common misconception) and asked all US forces stationed in France to leave. In response, the US secretary of state, Dean Rusk, asked de Gaulle: “Does that include the dead Americans in military cemeteries as well?”In a single weekend, JD Vance’s direct attacks on European democracy at the Munich Security Conference and his meeting with far-right, anti-European political forces in Germany, have given de Gaulle his historic vindication.Alexander Hurst is a Guardian Europe columnist Continue reading...

Politics

56 h. ago Why you should visit this German city packed with Cold War curiosities and oddball festivals

It’s not somewhere that’s often in tourists’ plans, but Chemnitz is hoping for some attention as a European Capital of Culture this year – James March explores the unorthodox yet charming destination

Events

58 h. ago Hold your breath and look to Germany: its election could decide the fate of Europe – and the UK | Martin Kettle

If the country holds out against the Trump-assisted AfD, it shows rightwing populism can be resisted in Europe’s heartlandEven in less stressed times, Britain always pays too much attention to the US and too little to Germany. In today’s torrid circumstances, that imbalance is perhaps excusable. After all, Donald Trump, it now turns out, really means it. He is more interested in US plunder and profit from places like Gaza, Ukraine and Greenland than in upholding a just peace or good order.Even so, the inattention towards Germany needs to end. Britain’s politicians, like German politicians, are rewiring their worldviews amid a political gale. But Germany, though no longer a great power, is nevertheless a great nation. Indeed, it may be more than ever the essential European nation now, after the Trump administration’s very public trashing of the entire Atlantic alliance seemed to leave Europe to its own devices. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Europe is looking to Germany for leadership – but these elections will dash its hopes again | Cas Mudde

The CDU is a big player in the European parliament, but its predicted win this Sunday won’t change Germany’s inward focusWhat a difference four years makes. In 2021, the world watched the German elections to see who would succeed the EU’s uncrowned “queen”. Angela Merkel had become a symbol of liberal democracy in the era marked by the first Trump administration. In Germany, two colourless figures explicitly vied to replace her. Deep down everyone knew that German leadership in Europe was coming to an end. But no one could have foreseen how steep the fall would be.Today, Germany is a country struggling with itself, increasingly sidelined in Europe and the world. The second Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 largely destroyed Merkel’s rosy legacy, exposing her opportunistically soft approach to authoritarian leaders such as Vladimir Putin and the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán. Under Merkel’s Social Democratic party (SPD) successor, Olaf Scholz, the country has become as pal...

Politics

4 d. ago Europe CAN'T go it alone on Ukraine peacekeeping without US backing, minister admits

Heidi Alexander, the Transport Secretary, said it was 'absolutely essential that any security guarantee is done in partnership with the US'.

Politics

4 d. ago Europe at war over Starmer's Ukraine peace plan: Germany's Scholz storms out of crisis summit and slams UK's 'completely premature' troops pledge

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz left a crisis summit in Paris between European leaders early and a 'little irritated' labelling the premier's calls as 'highly inappropriate'.

Events

4 d. ago No decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine, Poland’s Tusk insists, as Germany says Europe and US must not be split – Europe live

European leaders call for unity and discuss defence spending at emergency summit sparked by US plans for UkraineSwedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson told Reuters that deploying Swedish troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force is “absolutely a possibility.”His comments build on earlier declaration from Swedish foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenegard (9:40). Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago European defence stocks rise by €18bn to record high ahead of Ukraine peace talks – business live

Shares in BAE Systems, Rheinmetall and Saab soar, as Keir Starmer offers to put British ‘boots on the ground’ in UkraineUK firms mull biggest layoffs in a decade as business confidence slumpsHere’s Bloomberg on the jump in Rheinmetall’s share price this morning:Rheinmetall AG’s shares surged the most in more than two years as European officials contemplate a major new package to increase defense spending and support for Ukraine.The German manufacturer’s stock rose as much as 11% in Frankfurt. The shares have more than doubled over the past year as military orders increased, especially from Germany. If Europe moves to increase spending further, it could push Rheinmetall to accelerate plans to increase its production capacity. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago European defence stocks soar by £10bn ahead of Ukraine peace talks – business live

Shares in BAE Systems, Rheinmetall and Saab soar, as Keir Starmer offers to put British ‘boots on the ground’ in UkraineUK firms mull biggest layoffs in a decade as business confidence slumpsHere’s Bloomberg on the jump in Rheinmetall’s share price this morning:Rheinmetall AG’s shares surged the most in more than two years as European officials contemplate a major new package to increase defense spending and support for Ukraine.The German manufacturer’s stock rose as much as 11% in Frankfurt. The shares have more than doubled over the past year as military orders increased, especially from Germany. If Europe moves to increase spending further, it could push Rheinmetall to accelerate plans to increase its production capacity. Continue reading...

Economics

5 d. ago European defence stocks surge to record high; UK economy ‘quite static’, says Bank of England’s Bailey – business live

Shares in BAE Systems, Rheinmetall and Saab soar, as Keir Starmer offers to put British ‘boots on the ground’ in UkraineUK firms mull biggest layoffs in a decade as business confidence slumpsHere’s Bloomberg on the jump in Rheinmetall’s share price this morning:Rheinmetall AG’s shares surged the most in more than two years as European officials contemplate a major new package to increase defense spending and support for Ukraine.The German manufacturer’s stock rose as much as 11% in Frankfurt. The shares have more than doubled over the past year as military orders increased, especially from Germany. If Europe moves to increase spending further, it could push Rheinmetall to accelerate plans to increase its production capacity. Continue reading...

Economics

5 d. ago German elections: How austerity and the debt brake opened the door to the far

With a general election looming on Sunday, Germany is wondering how to revitalise its flagging economy

Politics