The Azerbaijani regime has arrested investigative journalists and dismantled independent media, leaving virtually no one on the ground to report on corruption and trade violations. And yet the EU Commission and German government are placing their trust in the authoritarian petro-state.
From higher defence budgets to tighter control over social media, liberals are quietly backing a more muscular state they once resisted, arguing it is the price of keeping European freedoms alive.
In this edition, we track how officials are burying EU funding audits on Gaza, shielding judges’ financial interests and limiting access to ownership data, while watchdogs and civil society push back against weakened transparency laws and chronic delays that undermine scrutiny and journalists’ work.
German politicians duped into thinking a new subsidy scheme only benefits Chinese electric vehiclesA previous German electric vehicle subsidy scheme massively benefited Volkswagen, which had invested heavily in expensive cars that only the rich could afford. Now it’s set to cut 100,000 jobs and close four factories in Germany.
Between 2020 and 2023, Germany spent €860m subsidising the purchase of Teslas — a scheme that helped unlock Berlin’s share of the EU’s Covid recovery fund, according to internal documents obtained by EUobserver. Now, Elon Musk’s Berlin gigafactory is also receiving more than €71m in state aid.
Is Berlin about to go from conservative to hard-left?A Red-Green-Red coalition is looking the most likely outcome of September’s election in Berlin, Europe’s so-called capital of cool.
The triggers I thought were filed away — in my mind, in my chest, in the way I now glance at strangers on the U-Bahn — rose at once. Today I’m going to my work in Germany feeling, for the first time, afraid of people. Sadly.
That Germany’s Holocaust guilt matters less than Palestinian and Lebanese livesThe EU Commission will bring forward a proposal on import bans against Israeli settlers, but will it be a trade measure, which doesn’t need unanimity, or sanctions, which do?
Global resettlement figures have dropped by some 50 percent to 81,800 in a downward trend that points to the general political backlash against migration and asylum in the US and in Europe.
Relatives of ‘Ulm 5’ pro-Palestinian activists tell EUobserver of degrading prison conditions, as Germany sells tanks to Israel for Gaza warfare.
Germany’s Nazi family search app explains (some of) the guilt behind Berlin’s soft line on IsraelWith the release of the ‘Find Out What Your Family Did Under Hitler’ app by Der Spiegel, Germans can now find shocking details of their grandparents lives one tap away on their smartphones.
THIS WEEK: Magyar heads to Brussels to unlock Hungary’s frozen EU recovery money by 31 August Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar is expected in Brussels to negotiate the release of €10.4bn in frozen EU recovery funds. In Cyprus, foreign affairs ministers meet informally to discuss Iran and Russia. A new strategy on humanitarian aid will be unveiled by the EU Commission on Wednesday.
Trouble starts when the centrist parties begin to sound alike. When moderate left and moderate right converge into a governing centre, voters lose real choice within the system. When democracy loses its internal opposition, it begins producing external opposition. This is the consensus trap.
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has sparked controversy after Vladimir Putin suggested he could help negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. Is Schröder a legitimate bridge to peace, or the ultimate Trojan horse in Russia’s hybrid war?
It’s time to recognise that NGOs and civic space are not simply “shrinking” across Europe. As our report shows, it is being actively restricted by anti-rights actors seeking to promote their agendas, silence debate, and exclude communities whose rights they seek to undermine.
Germany’s historical struggle and the legal debate on Israel’s right to existIt seems clear that making it a crime to deny a state’s right to exist sends a strong message. It puts the legitimacy of one country off-limits for public debate, which can be problematic in a democracy like Germany.
After taking office in May 2025, following a snap election, Friedrich Merz has steered Germany through a period of significant geopolitical and economic transition. One year in, Merz faces record unpopularity — so what can we make of his record so far?
In response to the Strait of Hormuz oil crisis, Germany, Lithuania and the Netherlands are showing the way to provide cheap rail fares to their citizens – which EU country is next?
Responsibility for Europe reads differently from Bratislava than from Brussels. The new German defence strategy is worth reading carefully, particularly from the capitals whose security still depends on German territory. Responsibility for Europe will be defined in the next decade by what Berlin does if Washington no longer underwrites European defence at previous levels. Germany has now stated, in writing, that this is the planning horizon.
![“‘Fuck AfD [Alternative for Germany]’ reads a placard at a German demo against the far-right party, which in 2023 secretly advocated for ‘remigrating’ millions of German citizens (Photo: Unsplush)](https://static.euobserver.com/2024/05/b2c619b6-b2ca-4dd7-a490-ac7070c7dc94-8b882efc-c4a2-41db-af80-e18ae66508e0-aa58df87-50f7-4989-aa68-bc706e74cbc9.jpeg)
The war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran is exposing a growing problem. What once looked like a coherent far-right political alignment is increasingly strained by the realities of governing in a volatile global economy. Ideological affinity is one thing, but national interest is quite the other.