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Analyses | | Aleksandra Kozaczyńska

The Bundestag adopts a tax relief package for business

The central element of the new investment programme in Germany will be tax incentives for companies. Between 2025 and 2027, these will take the form of declining-balance depreciation of movable fixed assets, and, starting in 2028, a…
Analyses | | Kamil Frymark

Germany post-election reckoning in the SPD

At the extraordinary SPD congress in Berlin (27–29 June), the party elected new leadership. Lars Klingbeil – Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister of Finance – assumed the role of co-leader for the third time. Although he ran unopposed, he…
OSW Commentary | | Piotr Szymański

NATO summit in The Hague Trumps return and a two-component 5 of GDP on defence

The NATO summit in The Hague (24–25 June) – the first chaired by new Secretary General Mark Rutte – was minimalist in both form and content. It concluded with a record-low five-point declaration. This approach to a meeting of NATO heads of…
Analyses | | Krzysztof Nieczypor, Piotr Żochowski

Russian advances in Sumy Oblast Day 1210 of the war

Analyses | | Andrzej Wilk, Piotr Żochowski

Personnel reshuffle at the top of the Ukrainian army Day 1203 of the war

Analyses | | Lidia Gibadło

Friedrich Merzs foreign policy – opening protocol

In the first weeks of his term, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) undertook eight foreign trips. He also hosted the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, and the Israeli President, Isaac Herzog, in Berlin, among other politicians. This…
Analyses | | Kamil Frymark

Germany border returns ruled unlawful

On 2 June, the administrative court in Berlin ruled that the return of three Somali nationals – who had been sent back from Frankfurt (Oder) to Poland in early May after expressing their intention to seek asylum in Germany – was unlawful.…
Analyses | | Kamil Frymark

Friedrich Merz elected Germanys Chancellor in the second round of voting

On 6 May, in the second round of voting, the Bundestag elected Friedrich Merz (CDU) Germany’s Chancellor, with the support of 325 out of 630 MPs. The repeated vote was necessary, as for the first time in German history a chancellor…
Analyses | | Kamil Frymark

Germany counterintelligence designates the AfD as an extremist party

On 2 May, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) officially designated the Alternative for Germany (AfD) as a far-right extremist party, following a four-year review process. In its statement, the BfV highlighted…
OSW Commentary | | Kamil Frymark

Germany a significant drop in the number of asylum applications

In 2024, a total of 230,000 first-time asylum applications were submitted in Germany – a 30% decrease compared to 2023. This trend deepened in Q1 2025, when 36,000 applications were lodged, representing a year-on-year drop of 45%. The most…