In France, police violence has become systemic since Emmanuel Macron came to power
If you ask a French person if they are going to demonstrate - a commonplace act in any democracy - it is not uncommon for them to reply that they prefer not to take any risks, so virulent has the policing of demonstrations become.
Patrick Edery
Country report: Germany, July - How the German government tried to undermine parliament
The traffic light government consisting of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals had wanted to push the "heat turnaround" through the German parliament by brute force.
Marco Gallina
No Money For Caravaggio
Many would give their eye teeth for the genuine Caravaggio that hangs in the Sanssouci Picture Gallery. It is the famous depiction of Thomas grasping the wound of the Risen Christ.
Marco Gallina
The Leyen Question
How firmly is EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the saddle? If one follows official accounts, then everything speaks in favour of the German seeking a second term in office and having broad support for it.
Marco Gallina
The Worrying State of Pluralism in the French Media
The French press likes to give lessons on democracy, European values and the rule of law. Yet France is certainly one of the democracies where the lack of pluralism, the almost totalitarian unanimity of the media, is most worrying. French journalists are very concerned about press freedom in Poland, but in that country, 2/3 of the mass media are against the government and fire red-hot bullets at it every day.
Patrick Edery
Selling the bear’s skin before it’s hunted
Two weeks ago, Alberto Núñez Feijóo saw himself as President and clear winner of the general elections in Spain.
Álvaro Peñas
Corruption in Portugal: The never-ending story
Portugal’s political news is not free from the spectre of corruption. Of course, there have been other important news items, such as the adoption of euthanasia, mentioned at the end of this article, but the succession of corruption-related news items occupies the front page of all the newspapers.
Álvaro Peñas
Gonzalo de Oro: "If VOX does not defend the Catalans, no one else will"
Interview with Gonzalo de Oro, VOX councillor in Barcelona City Council and coordinator of the VOX municipal group.
Álvaro Peñas
Interview with Marie d’Armagnac
The protests that have shaken France in recent days have their roots in decades of flawed social and cultural policies that need to be investigated in order to understand how such a potentially explosive situation came about.
Francesco Giubilei
The Catholic Church in Germany is in a worse situation than in 1517
The Archbishop of Cologne is one of the most important representatives of the Catholic clergy not only in Germany, but worldwide.
Marco Gallina
'Don't Just Criticise, Create!': Interview with Andreas Lombard - Member of the Executive Board of the Thomas Hoof Group
Dear Mr Lombard, most readers undoubtedly still know you as the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Cato - Magazin für neue Sachlichkeit" (Cato - Magazine for New Objectivity), which you helped to achieve a real cult status in the German media landscape between 2017 and 2021.
David Engels
It's Not a Revolt, Sire, It's a Secession
At the beginning of July, we witnessed further rioting and looting across France. Although President Macron, with the nerve and arrogance only he is capable of, pretended to find this event surprising, everyone had been expecting it, at least since 2005 and the last large-scale riots in the suburbs.