John Kampfner
13 February 2025
The fatal timidity of the centre left
Politicians like Starmer and Scholz govern while looking over their shoulders. Rightists like Trump are more adept at concentrating power and using it
Read the full article05 February 2025
The woman Musk wants to rule Germany
The tech bro’s ally Alice Weidel spouts fake facts and demonises Muslims – and she is getting closer to becoming German chancellor
Read the full article10 January 2025
Musk’s German ally takes the extreme mainstream
Alice Weidel spouts fake facts and demonises Muslims - and she is getting closer to becoming Germany’s chancellor
Read the full article18 December 2024
How Volkswagen stalled
Like its most famous car maker, German industry has been left behind. And with Trump in the White House, things could get a lot worse
Read the full article20 November 2024
How Berlin got under my skin
My first Berlin adventure began at Checkpoint Charlie. My second began in Islington
Read the full article17 July 2024
Labour has taken Britain back to the world
David Lammy is keen to make Britain a good global – and European – citizen again. But how can he do it?
Read the full article11 June 2024
The danger at Europe’s door
Amid faint glimmers of hope, the European elections showed that a politics the world hoped was long gone is back on the march
Read the full article05 June 2024
Giorgia on their minds
This week’s European elections could leave Italy’s right wing PM as the continent’s biggest power-broker
Read the full article12 July 2023
Macron’s new global dilemma
In his rush to participate in geopolitics, has the president forgotten about strife-torn France itself?
Read the full article21 June 2023
How are relations between the UK and EU these days? Closer.. but no cigar
Our diplomats are working quietly to reconcile with the EU. Just don’t expect Britain to rejoin any time soon
Read the full article17 June 2023
There’s danger at the door for Spain
After local election humiliation, Spain’s PM Pedro Sánchez is risking everything on a national poll that could usher in Isabel Díaz Ayuso and the alt-right
Read the full article31 May 2023
Memorial or stigma? Germany’s statue debate
The fate of Wittenberg’s antisemitic sculpture on the wall of the town church remains in dispute
Read the full article17 May 2023
Orbán’s iron grip is rusting
All roads in Hungary still lead to its populist PM – but after missteps over Ukraine and EU funding, for how much longer?
Read the full article10 May 2023
Ukraine’s greatest danger is not defeat … it is the concept of Cold Peace
The window of opportunity for victory against Russia is open. If Zelensky does not succeed, pressure for a deal will grow
Read the full article19 April 2023
Schisms in Slovakia may be bad news here and abroad
The consequences of a new divide in Slovakian society will extend far beyond the country's borders
Read the full article13 April 2023
Austria’s life in the neutral zone
The country’s longstanding neutrality faces scrutiny as far-right MPs walk out on Volodymyr Zelensky’s address
Read the full article07 April 2023
Big trouble ahead in little Italy
Two-thirds of Argentinians are descended from the old country.. and the two nations share some of the same problems
Read the full article16 February 2023
State of denial
Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has brought shame on Russia, yet there is still no big internal push for his removal. Will the anniversary change that?
Read the full article09 January 2023
A danger at the heart of Europe
Buoyed by a court victory, populist Andrej Babiš could now seize the Czech presidency and destabilise unity over Ukraine and Russia
Read the full article01 January 2023
Where does Europe go from here?
After Covid, Europe has just about dealt with another global crisis over Ukraine. Yet competing visions mean its own future is uncertain
Read the full article14 December 2022
Germany’s old ghosts and a very modern putsch
An alleged coup attempt by the obscure Reichsbürger movement reflects growing belief in conspiracy theories among Germany’s far right
Read the full article08 December 2022
Volodymyr Zelensky: The defiant one
Volodymyr Zelensky, the unlikely hero who faced down a tyrant, is the New European’s European Of The Year
Read the full article22 November 2022
Scholz is doing it his way
Quiet, a bit boring and he rose without trace – but is the German chancellor turning out to be quite good?
Read the full article27 October 2022
Belittled Britain
Another Tory farce has diminished the UK’s standing in the world. But could better times be ahead?
Read the full article06 October 2022
Putin’s rotten state
Whatever comes next for Russia, it will not be liberal democracy
Read the full article01 September 2022
Hitler’s grand designs for a Berlin that never was
In the north of Berlin, on the site of a little-visited former garden, lies one of the city’s best-kept historical secrets
Read the full article25 August 2022
How Robert Habeck became Germany’s Green giant
Robert Habeck is the country’s most popular politician. But a hard autumn and winter are coming...
Read the full article28 July 2022
Will Germany step up or sit back?
Humiliated over its Ukraine response, the country is again debating its position in Europe and the wider world
Read the full article16 June 2022
Boris Johnson is making war with Europe to save his skin
Boris Johnson is safe... for now. So Europe is braced for more conflict from a PM eager to revive Brexit wars in order to restore his lost lustre
Read the full article09 June 2022
A PM running out of friends
The defeat of ideological twin Scott Morrison in Australia is yet another blow to beleaguered Boris Johnson
Read the full article09 May 2022
Putin’s May 9 WWII obsession shows he’s closer to Britain than he might think
The UK and Russia – albeit in vastly different ways – seem unable to move on from the events of eight decades ago
Read the full article28 April 2022
Ukraine needs a new Berlin airlift
The Allies beat a Russian blockade in 1948. Now it is incumbent on Germany to help lead a new wave of aid
Read the full article