During this year’s first half, German companies’ direct investments in the U.S. fell to €4.3 billion, or about $5 billion, two-thirds less than in the same period in 2025 and 80 percent below 2024’s level, the German Economic Institute (IW) reported.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) continues to rise in polls as the country turns away from Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his coalition, and analysts are expecting record gains for the party during the September elections in three eastern states.
Alexander Dobrindt, Germany’s interior minister, said in an interview last week that the country has been facing “hybrid warfare,” with daily attacks originating in foreign countries, with lawmakers identifying Moscow as the culprit, according to Al Jazeera.
The German government announced last week that it will begin direct investments into defense startups to set up the country’s next generation “of global market leaders” amid Berlin’s militarization.
The German government has taken steps to hasten its path to becoming a surveillance state after passing its “Security Package 2.0,” which is aimed at incorporating AI technology in its policing to ramp up its “digital investigative powers.”
During this century’s first two decades, global demand for Germany’s cars, machine tools, and similar products made the country a haven for skilled workers.
The German government announced last week that it plans to redesign its weapons procurement agency, so it is better able to employ the billions of dollars in funding for its military’s massive upgrade based on fears of an expansionist Russia and an unreliable partner in the United States.
Last week, Boris Pistorius, the German defense minister, visited Kyiv to talk about the bond forged by war between Ukraine and Germany, and announced a new strategic relationship between the countries that he said will be a “long-term partnership to be reckoned with.”
There has never been a more unpopular German leader than Chancellor Friedrich Merz, according to a newly released poll that found just 16 percent of Germans approve of his performance in office.
In March, inflation in Germany and Spain ticked up 0.1 of a percentage point, accelerating price increases to their fastest annual rate in two years.