While rebalancing due to valuation extremes is a key driving force, the prospect of higher defence spending in Europe has added a major tailwind - with the outcome of Germany's elections also likely to decide whether a new government in Berlin will have the two-thirds parliamentary support needed to loosen the so-called 'debt brake' embedded in its constitution.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad Here are five reasons for Germany's ongoing economic slump: Moscow's decision to cut off natural gas supplies to Germany in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine dealt a severe blow.

The future of Ukraine hangs in the balance as U.S. officials head to Saudi Arabia to begin direct negotiations with Moscow over ending the war, leaving Kyiv and its European allies scrambling to come up with a strategy for their own security.

Vladimir Solovyov, a Russian state TV host and key ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Moscow could "erase" Germany "off the face of the earth" during a recent broadcast. Newsweek reached out to the German embassy for comment via email on Thursday.

Moscow's decision to cut off natural gas supplies to Germany in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine dealt a severe blow. For years, Germany’s business model was based on cheap energy fueling production of industrial goods for export.

But the nativist AfD, which wants to stop arming Ukraine and restore Germany's energy relationship with Russia even as Moscow fights a war of conquest against its western neighbour, may have other ways of throwing a spanner in the works.

The future of Ukraine hangs in the balance as U.S. officials head to Saudi Arabia to begin direct negotiations with Moscow over ending the war, leaving Kyiv and its European allies scrambling to come up with a strategy for their own security.

The future of Ukraine hangs in the balance as U.S. officials head to Saudi Arabia to begin direct negotiations with Moscow over ending the war, leaving Kyiv and its European allies scrambling to come up with a strategy for their own security.

German media report the detection of a group of Russian saboteurs in 2022 who planned to enter German territory. According to Bild newspaper, the Kremlin is activating so-called sleeper cells and sending new sabotage teams as part of a broader operation by Moscow's underground army.

The once poorly equipped German military is rising to a new challenge: Protecting the Baltic from Vladimir Putin’s ‘hybrid warfare’

Moscow’s decision to cut off natural gas supplies to Germany in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dealt a severe blow. For years, Germany’s business model was based on cheap energy fueling production of industrial goods for export. In 2011 ...

Friedrich Merz, who is poised to become Germany’s next chancellor, has warned Nato could be finished and Europe must prepare to build an alliance “independent” from the US.