Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, embarks on a diplomatic mission to strengthen ties with France and Poland, balancing contentious issues such as illegal migration and defense financing. Merz ...

• Why France and Germany may be all smiles on the surface, but deeply divided on the future of European defence and diplomacy ...

Mr Merz’s commitment to restoring a long-absent German voice to European and international debates is not in doubt, and he ...

Merz intends to make the German Army "the most powerful conventional army in Europe," he announced Wednesday at the Bundestag podium, and "the federal government will provide all the financial ...

BERLIN — Friedrich Merz made his world-affairs debut Wednesday as Germany’s new chancellor, with plans to immediately team up ...

Merz pays first visit to Brussels ... he covers NATO and the European Union and leads a pan-European team of reporters focused on diplomacy, defence and security. A journalist for almost 30 ...

Merz won in a second round of voting after failing to secure an absolute majority in an earlier round.

Merz, who took power last week, also pledged Berlin would build up its military to become "Europe's strongest conventional army" and play a greater role in NATO and the EU in the standoff with Moscow.

At the urging of U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would go to Turkey for talks with Russia. He challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to show up in ...