Germany’s New Leader Leaps Into a World of Crises

Germany’s New Leader Leaps Into a World of Crises

Two decades ago, before Friedrich Merz came back from the private sector to win the German chancellorship, he accepted an invitation to a gathering of the French Foreign Legion in Corsica. At the last moment, the organizers asked him to arrive on the parade ground not by road or rail, but by parachute. Mr. Merz, … Read more

Meet Germany’s Far-Right Leader, a Study in Contradictions

Meet Germany’s Far-Right Leader, a Study in Contradictions

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. … Read more

German Chancellor Rebukes Vance for Supporting Party That Downplays Nazis

German Chancellor Rebukes Vance for Supporting Party That Downplays Nazis

Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany on Saturday accused Vice President JD Vance of unacceptably interfering in his country’s imminent elections on behalf of a party that has played down the atrocities committed by the Nazis 80 years ago. A day after Mr. Vance stunned the Munich Security Conference by telling German leaders to drop their … Read more