In the years since her husband was captured by the Russians, Olha Kurtmallaieva has done whatever she could to speed his return. She has organized rallies to support prisoners of war, pleaded with government officials and read books to understand the psychological trauma that her husband is likely to experience. Even though she is in … Read more
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia took the stage in Sochi, Russia, last fall, two days after Donald J. Trump won the U.S. presidential election, and spoke of the dawn of a new world order. “In a sense,” Mr. Putin said, “the moment of truth is coming.” It may have already arrived. After three years … Read more
Germany is getting a new chancellor. Its current leader is heading out of power, but his party probably will stick around in a diminished capacity. And the Trump administration’s efforts to influence the vote don’t seem to have done much. Sunday’s election, which came months ahead of schedule after the country’s governing coalition crumbled late … Read more
Germans voted for a change of leadership on Sunday, handing the most votes in a parliamentary election to centrist conservatives, with the far right in second, and rebuking the nation’s left-leaning government for its handling of the economy and immigration. Early returns and exit polls almost certainly mean the country’s next chancellor will be Friedrich … Read more
Germans voted for a change of leadership on Sunday, with historically reliable exit polls from a parliamentary election showing centrist conservatives in the lead and the far right in second. The results amounted to a rebuke of the nation’s left-leaning government for its handling of the economy and immigration. That almost certainly means the country’s … Read more
Now that the votes are cast, the real work in Berlin can begin. While reconstituting parliament is relatively easy and must be done in the next three weeks, no party is expected to get enough votes to govern alone and outright. That means Germany is likely headed for a coalition government — and the process … Read more
Germans voted for a change of leadership on Sunday, handing the most votes in a parliamentary election to centrist conservatives, with the far right in second, and rebuking the nation’s left-leaning government for its handling of the economy and immigration. Early returns and exit polls almost certainly mean the country’s next chancellor will be Friedrich … Read more
Germany’s next government will almost certainly be a coalition of multiple political parties, to form a majority in Parliament. But one party will almost certainly be excluded from that coalition, no matter how well it ultimately performs: the hard-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD. While early exit polls on Sunday showed the AfD in second … Read more
Friedrich Merz, the man favored by early exit polls to be Germany’s next chancellor after elections on Sunday, is a conservative businessman who has never been a minister and was forced out of government years ago in a power struggle with Angela Merkel. The leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, Mr. Merz earned his … Read more