What's happening in the German economy?

Well it's clearly slowing down, quite significantly. There are a number of structural and short-term factors for it. There's a Brexit uncertainty. There's a trade uncertainty and Germany is a big exporting nation. And there are question marks about the future of the car industry, which is highly significant. These are temporary but also structural factors. And the Brexit factor will come in, depending on what happens there.

Is socialism on the rise in Europe?

No, we don't really see that. We see the social democratic parties being in a fairly critical situation in most countries. There are exceptions. Portugal is clearly an exception. But apart from that, not very much. The politics of Europe has entered a phase where there is less ideology and more identity politics. And that explains a lot of what you are seeing.

More For You

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and businessman Jared Kushner, along with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and otherEuropean leaders, pose for a group photo at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, December 15, 2025.
Kay Nietfeld/Pool via REUTERS

The European Union just pulled off something that, a year ago, seemed politically impossible: it froze $247 billion in Russian central bank assets indefinitely, stripping the Kremlin of one of its most reliable pressure points.