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Saturday marked the 30th anniversary of Germany’s (second) unification. The changes were dramatic for the country itself, perhaps most visibly symbolised when the seat of government shifted from Bonn to Berlin. Read more

For political tragics, Wednesday was a feast day. First, the US Presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Read more

Few political decisions have weakened the European Union as much as Angela Merkel’s opening of her country’s borders in 2015. Back then, the German Chancellor unilaterally decided to allow millions of refugees stranded in Hungary to move into the bloc, triggering severe tensions between EU members. Read more

Last week’s UNICEF report on child wellbeing gets one big thing very right. Important parts of government policy are failing children. Read more

When you think of Sweden, does Abba come to mind? What about meatballs or furniture stores? Read more

Some countries have clear advantages during a pandemic. For instance, New Zealand is surrounded by a thousand-kilometre moat. Read more

Cartography geeks might remember the isochronic maps of the late 19th and early 20th century. Covid’s time-warp is making them relevant again, and possibly for rather longer than we might hope. Read more

Unless you closely follow German politics, the name Karl Josef Laumann would mean nothing. And even if you are vaguely familiar with German federal politics, you also will not know much about the Health Minister in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW). Read more

Turkey is not the country you might expect to read about in a series of columns called “Spotlight on Europe.” Of course, you could make a geographical argument. A small part of Turkey, East Thrace, is European. Read more