Europe | State of the nations

Macron and Merkel renew their vows

But underlying relations are troubled

“GENTLEMEN, NEVER forget that for France there can be no other alternative but friendship with Germany.” Half a century after Charles de Gaulle uttered these words to his ministers, the relationship between France and Germany remains the most important in Europe: an emblem of peace and reconciliation, and the foundation stone of European integration.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “State of the nations”

The mother of all messes

From the January 19th 2019 edition

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A baptism takes place at a Frat catholic youth camp in France.

France’s improbable adult baptism boom

A secular country returns to the church

Russian drone and missile strike in Kyiv

Russia is raining hellfire on Ukraine

New attacks push its air defences to saturation point


Illustration. A walled city of government and corporate buildings stands elevated, topped by a raised hand. Below, a crowd of people raises fists in protest.

Europe’s mayors are islands of liberalism in a sea of populists

City bosses are the functioning bits of increasingly dysfunctional polities


Poland’s election will cement or ruin its standing in Europe

Can Donald Tusk and Rafal Trzaskowski hold back the hard right? 

Donald Trump dashes any hope that he will get tough with Russia

He has nothing but kind words for Vladimir Putin

American threats push Greenland closer to Denmark

The fear of invasion is undermining the anti-colonial movement