Olaf Scholz will be confronted with an extraordinary array of troubles on the international stage that will test his mettle quickly.
Author: KATRIN BENNHOLD
Germany Meets Its Post-Merkel Government
Olaf Scholz will be the first center-left chancellor in 16 years. But how much change he can deliver as the leader of a three-way coalition is unclear.
Vaccinated vs. Unvaccinated: Europe’s Covid Culture War
In pockets of Europe, vaccine resistance has become the long tail of the populist nationalist movements that shook up European politics for a decade.
Germany’s Fourth Covid Wave: ‘A Pandemic of the Unvaccinated’
Germany once set an example for how to manage the coronavirus. Now, deep pockets of vaccine resistance are helping drive daily infections to new heights.
Merkel’s Likely Successor to Join Her for G20 Summit Talks
Olaf Scholz, who would have attended the G20 summit as finance minister, will also join Angela Merkel for talks with world leaders.
Fake Polls and Tabloid Coverage on Demand: The Dark Side of Sebastian Kurz
The downfall of Austria’s onetime political Wunderkind put a spotlight on the cozy, sometimes corrupt, relationship between right-wing populists and parts of the news media.
Austrian Political Scandal Leaves Europe’s Conservatives in Need of New Path
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz was young, adept at social media and unafraid to borrow from populists, but in his downfall, some see “the collapse of a new narrative” for European conservatives.
Germany’s Coalition Dating Game Starts to Get Serious
The Social Democrats and two other parties took the first step toward forming the first three-party coalition since the 1950s, but resolving their differences will be hard.
Olaf Scholz is a Winner but Not Chancellor — Yet.
Olaf Scholz, the leader of the center-left Social Democrats, narrowly won the night. But now the hard part begins — building a durable governing coalition.
German Election Heralds Messier Politics and Weaker Leadership After Merkel
Preliminary results indicated an outcome so tight that it could take months of talks to form a new government at a critical moment for Europe.