Angela Merkel

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) won the elections in Thuringia the central part of Germany, according to exit polls.

In Saxony, where elections also took place, the party is trailing behind the CDU.

In the Bulgarian village of Staro Zhelezare, walls and fences have long served as an open-air gallery, showcasing an eclectic mix of art that draws visitors from across the country.

"I've never been more angry than at the way the Greek crisis was covered by the German media. It was so cheap. Imagine if foreign media covered Germany in the same way. That wasn't journalism, it was filth. Pure incitement of hatred. 'Sell your islands' might sound like an attractive headline, but it's sheer propaganda.

"I tried to provide solutions in the way I could," said Panagiotis Pikrammenos, reflecting on his time as caretaker prime minister during the Greek debt crisis.

Pikrammenos made the comment during a conversation with Tom Ellis, editor in chief at Kathimerini English Edition, at the "50 Years of the Metapolitefsi" conference in Athens on Thursday.

Before the tumultuous year of 2015, Greece actually came close to leaving the eurozone in 2012, following the election of Antonis Samaras as prime minister. Chancellor Angela Merkel was notably apprehensive about the New Democracy leader's pre-election campaign. 

Wolfgang Schaeuble, who helped negotiate German reunification in 1990 and as finance minister was a central figure in the austerity-heavy effort to drag Europe out of its debt crisis more than two decades later, has died. He was 81.

Schaeuble died at home on Tuesday evening, his family told German news agency dpa on Wednesday.

The legend of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) passed away in his sleep.
Schuble, who was part of the Bundestag for more than 50 years, is survived by his wife, four children and four grandchildren.
He was born in Freiburg in 1942, where he studied, and then he studied at the University of Hamburg.

Public opinion plays a role in democracies. The extent to which polls influence the political decision-making process is a matter of dispute among experts. This applies to domestic politics, and also to foreign policy making. A majority of Greeks have a negative opinion of Germany. This is confirmed by several recent polls.

The long-awaited visit of Foreign Minister Analena Berbock (of the Greens) may have been canceled due to covid, but the line-up of top German politicians in Greece is no way over. On Friday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's visited Thessaloniki for a "Balkan dinner".

Angela Merkel said that while she was Chancellor of Germany she made serious efforts to prevent the situation in Ukraine from developing to its current state and said that she does not blame herself of not trying decisively enough to thwart what was happening, Reuters reported.