If you've been paying attention to far-right circles in Europe you'll have noticed the growing prominence of the term "remigration".
I dug into its background, interrogated its meaning, interviewed its advocates and looked at the dilemma it poses for the AfD.
www.economist.com/europe/2026/...
How “remigration” is penetrating Europe’s political mainstream
A meme from the far-right fringe could spell legal trouble for Germany’s AfD
God I love the British public in one of its periodic fits of morality
File under, we never quite know what's coming next.
One of my favourite embassy reports. The UK ambassador in East Berlin reporting in after the fall of the Wall...
RIP Sly Dunbar. Testament to his (and Robbie Shakespeare’s) skills that this highly eccentric Serge Gainsbourg number still somehow works.
youtu.be/egHsU2zBgKI?...
Aux armes et caetera
YouTube video by Serge Gainsbourg - Topic
hello Mr Vice President this is your economist speaking I am advising you to keep using this metaphor
Vance on the economy:
"You don't turn the Titanic around overnight"
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In his mission to acquire Greenland, Donald Trump deployed his trademark bargaining strategy: Take the maximalist position — in this case the barely veiled threat of using military force — then dial back
Trump Finds His Greenland Framework and Pulls Back Threats
The president retreats from use of military force or tariffs.
Who wore it better?
Keir Starmer seems to be killing any hopes that Trump's aggression on Greenland might drive a UK-EU rapprochement. EU pressing on with €93bn retaliation, considering anti-coercion instrument. Starmer: "A trade war is in no one's interest".
Part of the MAGA campaign for Greenland is to make this about Denmark, rather than NATO. Allies have every reason to counter this pernicious narrative
Miller: Denmark is a tiny country with a tiny economy and a tiny military. They cannot defend Greenland… Under every understanding of law that has existed about territorial control for 500 years, to control a territory you have to be able to defend a territory…
If you're enjoying Denmark's foreign minister with a cigarette, have you seen him with a pipe?
Foreign Ministers of Denmark and Greenland after their meeting with US Vice President and Secretary of State.
Punting Greenland's security to a working group and sending a symbolic troop deployment is probably the best Europe can do, for now.
But in time a more considered strategy may be needed to counter Trump's covetousness.
My take on Europe's Greenland options
www.economist.com/europe/2026/...
Europe has three options for defending Greenland
Fending off Donald Trump may yet prove agonisingly difficult
Spotting a factual error in the New Yorker always brightens one's day.
FT always takes bylines to the next level
I'm joining the BBC World Service Weekend show for the next couple of hours. Tune in!
2026 will certainly be interesting. But Germans overdo it with this Superwahljahr thing. There seems to be one every other year.
2026 is set to be 'Superwahljahr' for Germany with five German Länder (federal states) going to the polls 🗳️🇩🇪
📅 8 March: Baden-Württemberg
📅 22 March: Rhineland-Palatinate
📅 6 September Saxony-Anhalt
📅 20 September: Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania
📅 20 September: Berlin
Perhaps a little early to call it for 2026, but I cannot imagine seeing a better film this year than In die Sonne Schauen
This podcast on the life and works of Fela Kuti is absolutely brilliant. Cannot recommend it highly enough.
www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/dol...
Jad Abumrad’s new show - Fela Kuti: Fear No Man | Dolly Parton's America | WNYC Studios
In a world that’s on fire, what do we do with art? Like, what can music actually do? Today, Jad Abumrad is back with his first major project since Dolly Parton’s America. Fela Kuti: F...
A few days after I moved to Los Angeles, Philip Seymour Hoffman cycled up to the Venice cafe I was in. Two days later saw Bill Clinton getting mobbed by fans in a Santa Monica bookshop. Assumed that was life in LA, but then saw no more celebs in two years except Anne Hathaway in a bar one night.
Please quote this with the time you didn’t interact with someone famous - eg one time I was in Cardiff the same weekend as Willem Dafoe (but I didn’t see him or even know he was there until he appeared on the telly later)
The brief annual window in which fireworks may be legally purchased in Germany has begun. My preview of the most wonderful debate of the year.
www.economist.com/europe/2025/...
Why German cities feel like war zones on New Year’s Eve
A dream for pyromaniacs, a nightmare for everyone else
A few quick thoughts about this morning's decision. Don't believe the spin from various Russians & others: it's a big deal. The EU has now unambiguously demonstrated that it is able and willing to provide the external financial support Ukraine needs, for as long and as much as it takes. (1/N)
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It's amazing what turns out to be possible when you're staring into the abyss. As far as I can see Article 20, the basis for this EU decision to fund Ukraine, has previously been used for the likes of divorce law harmonisation and patents.
D-Day for Europe to shore up Ukraine funding.
As EU leaders huddle in Brussels, Stephen Paduano and I analyse the reparations loan in a new piece.
This is not only a "There Is No Alternative" (TINA) moment—but the financial and legal risks are also manageable.
1/
www.cer.eu/insights/ukr...
The Ukraine Reparations Loan: How to fix Europe's financial plumbing
As US support for Ukraine vanishes, Europe must overcome Belgian opposition and improvise fiscally to provide Kyiv with €210 billion.
The official Berlin New Year's party is called "Yeah 2026".
www.morgenpost.de/berlin/artic...
Silvester-Party am Brandenburger Tor: Die wichtigsten Infos zu „Yeah 2026“
Wie läuft die neue Party am Brandenburger Tor ab? Gibt es noch Tickets? Wo erfolgt der Einlass? Infos zur Silvester-Party in Berlin im Überblick.
Once again, I spoke with
@tomnuttall.bsky.social about the
#AfD, which continues to
#normalise even as it
#radicalises - a dynamic we both observed at the founding event of the party's new
#youthwing in Gießen. An excellent portrait, with comments by
@kai-arzheimer.com and yours truly. 👇
In many parts of Europe populist-right parties have moderated as they have grown, shedding unpopular policies and personnel. If anything, the AfD in Germany is growing more radical
econ.st/3KSptMm
Illustration: Javier Palma
Helpful, clarifying thread.
Is Germany again dragging its feet and undermining a "simple" solution to the Ukraine financing problem, instead pushing the ubercomplex reparations loan?
It's a tempting eurocrisis reflex that if only there were a will in Berlin, there would be a better way.
But there isn't. Here is why:
All members are the coalition are willing, but some are more willing than others.
Germany's
#farright: normalised, professionalised, and further radicalised. Excellent portrait by
@tomnuttall.bsky.socialhttps://www.economist.com/briefing/2025/12/11/the-alternative-for-germany-is-the-leading-party-in-some-german-polls?giftId=NWZkY2RiMWEtYWEyMi00NjUxLWFlMjYtMTExY2NlMTE3NTg1dGVnX3VzZXI%3D&utm_campaign=gifted_article
People of the Continent, have you ever heard anyone say this?
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Made a playlist of my fav tunes from 2025.
open.spotify.com/playlist/2Hw...
That's Hungary dealt with. Now on to the final boss: Belgium.
It's taken a long time and required a lot of hard work from a lot of people, but the "they're cancelling Christmas!" culture wars have finally arrived in Germany. Hearty congrats to all involved.
www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/vom-b...
Vom Berliner Senat geförderte Veranstaltung „Decolonizing Christmas“: Kai Wegner fordert Aufklärung von Kultursenatorin
„Decolonizing Christmas“ ist der provokante Titel einer Berliner Veranstaltung. Gefördert durch die Senatsverwaltung für Kultur. Nach einer kritischen Berichterstattung schaltet sich nun Kai Wegner ei...
Biden made fonts woke
Europol hive mind - do routine events organised by populist-right parties in any country other than Germany attract the sorts of mass protest we saw in Gießen over the weekend? I'm talking tens of thousands on the streets, huge police turnout etc rather than chucking a milkshake over Nigel Farage.
