When European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen talks about politics, there is never a shortage of superlatives and grandiloquence. Until recently, that was also true when she was talking about the extremely sensitive issue of vaccines.In late November, von der Leyen gushed about the contracts the European Union had signed with various producers, saying it meant that Europeans would have "access to the most promising future vaccines under development" against the coronavirus. When it became clear in December that the first people in the EU would be vaccinated soon after Christmas,...…When European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen talks about politics, there is never a shortage of superlatives and grandiloquence. Until recently, that was also true when she was talking about the extremely sensitive issue of vaccines.In late November, von der Leyen gushed about the contracts the European Union had signed with various producers, saying it meant that Europeans would have "access to the most promising future vaccines under development" against the coronavirus. When it became clear in December that the first people in the EU would be vaccinated soon after Christmas,...WW…

Late in the afternoon on Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel made her way to the Reichstag, the seat of the German parliament, for a meeting of her conservative parliamentary group. It was an important meeting, given the unrest that had begun spreading in her party once it became clear that Germany would offer its assistance following the tragedy in the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. The lawmakers from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), wanted an explanation from the chancellor.Why should Germany once...…Late in the afternoon on Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel made her way to the Reichstag, the seat of the German parliament, for a meeting of her conservative parliamentary group. It was an important meeting, given the unrest that had begun spreading in her party once it became clear that Germany would offer its assistance following the tragedy in the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. The lawmakers from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), wanted an explanation from the chancellor.Why should Germany once...WW…

It's not easy to agitate Germany's usually serene Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, but it happened last Wednesday afternoon. The European Affairs Committee of the Bundestag, Germany’s federal parliament, was meeting to discuss the crisis in Belarus and what Germany's stance should be toward Russia, given his protection of Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko. Maas was fiercely attacked from several sides.Maas, a member of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the junior coalition partner to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), first had to listen to a speech by far-left...…It's not easy to agitate Germany's usually serene Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, but it happened last Wednesday afternoon. The European Affairs Committee of the Bundestag, Germany’s federal parliament, was meeting to discuss the crisis in Belarus and what Germany's stance should be toward Russia, given his protection of Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko. Maas was fiercely attacked from several sides.Maas, a member of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the junior coalition partner to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), first had to listen to a speech by far-left...WW…