Keyword: Germany

French officials said claims that Germany's BND agency had helped US spy on France were not new and that trust had since been 're-established'.

No official reaction from Paris over claims Angela Merkel's office knew German officials were carrying out economic espionage for the US.

Shared sorrow over Germanwings plane crash has brought two countries closer together, as shown at inter-government meeting in Berlin.

The key, say demographic experts, is combining idea of a modern family based on gender equality with effective government policies.

The move to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank was a snub to the US which rebuked the UK for strengthening Chinese influence.

Bogdan Aurescu apologised after handing his German counterpart a commemorative booklet with a map of France covered in the German flag.

Singer tells French radio that 'antisemitism is at an all-time high' and that continent - including France - ‘feels like Nazi Germany’.

Greece has been summoned by its international creditors to present a package of spending reforms by Monday evening that must be approved before a final decision is taken on whether to give Athens a crucial four-month extension of debt bailout loans. Despite the new Greek government’s earlier concessions towards austerity measures which it initially rejected, the country’s lenders, and above all Germany, appear intent on squeezing more political blood from the radical-left administration. But beyond the struggle to obtain the immediate financial lifeline, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is in for a long haul of future negotiations. Key to these is his demand that Germany recognise its massive debt to Greece in reparations of its wartime occupation of the country, and the repayment of a loan the Nazis imposed on Greece. The potential sums of these are staggering, and have been estimated, at the least, as represnting more than 160 billion euros - before interest. The issue is not only a financial one, but also embarrasses Berlin and Brussels by raking over the generous debt-forgiveness deal offered to Germany in 1953 in the name of European reconstruction. Mediapart Brussels correspondent Ludovic Lamant and former Athens correspondent Amélie Poinssot examine the legal arguments, and the evidence, behind the Greek claim.     

President Hollande agreed that Europe needed to spur more growth – but said that Greece also had to abide by EU rules and obligations.

Sections of the Left in France greeted Syriza's triumph in the Greek elections on Sunday with great enthusiasm, with some hailing it as an “historic moment”. But the success of the Greek party, which unites various left-wing groups, has also highlighted the continuing divisions on the Left in France and its own failure to create a lasting electoral coalition. At the same time the challenges facing the new Syriza government, which is seeking to end austerity and renegotiate its debt burden with the EU and international bodies, underline the problems facing any left-wing administration in Europe. A key question is whether France's own socialist president, François Hollande, will now seize the opportunity to change economic direction and push the EU and Germany to back more growth-oriented policies. First, Mediapart's Stéphane Alliès, in Paris, examines how the French Left will react to the Greek results, then Brussels correspondent Ludovic Lamant wonders whether any truly left-wing policies can be carried out by national governments under current eurozone rules.

Cologne court says not enough evidence to convict 89-year-old over 1944 murder of 642 men, women and children in French village.

Michel Sapin says countries need to respect each others’ history and national identity - otherwise extreme parties will gain more support.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon Tweets attack after German leader asked France for more budget tightening; German minister strikes softer tone.

German chancellor says she agrees with European Commission analysis that Paris has begun reforms but has not yet gone far enough.

Historian Franck Ferrand says previously unseen documents show the fashion designer worked directly for German military intelligence.