U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have signed a treaty that pledges to tighten defense ties.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has accepted US accusations that Europe was doing too little to fund its own defence and security, but now believes they are on the same page. "We know we have to do more on our own and we have been free-riders in the past," he told the BBC's Today Programme, "they're asking us to do more and we are doing more."

Germany’s new government imposed border checks to demonstrate toughness on migration, though crossings started slowing years ago.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz revealed his top priorities for the next three years and delivered sharp criticism to the EU. View on euronews

Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden oppose European Union joint borrowing despite mounting global challenges, while Denmark is sceptical, finance ministers from those countries said on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Durban,

These and a thousand other memorials and rituals are expressions of Germany’s Erinnerungskultur, a “memory culture” built up over decades. Lately they have been overlaid by a more familiar sight: the markers of bitter rows over Gaza.

The boss of insurer Allianz has warned that Germany risks becoming the “sick man of Europe” and predicted its social security system could collapse within a decade unless the government cuts spending.

Germany's Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt and five European counterparts agreed on a set of goals on Friday to tighten asylum rules in the bloc, including allowing deportations to Afghanistan and Syria.

Germany has rejected the European Commission’s proposal for a significantly expanded €2 trillion ($2.3 trillion) budget, just hours after it was announced by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels.

Berlin is awaiting a final call by the Trump administration to honor a Biden-era agreement under which U.S. missiles are to bolster Germany’s deterrence.