The BDI says Germany has once again become one of the EU's economic laggards amid a six-year decline in country's industry.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday sharply criticized Elon Musk's backing of the right-wing parties in the European Union, calling it "really disgusting" and said it was hindering democracy in the bloc.

He is a close ally of conservative U.S. President Donald Trump and has, much to the ire of Scholz, spent the past few weeks boosting the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party ahead of a national snap election on Feb. 23. The AfD is currently riding high in polls ahead of the vote.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned of the threat posed by hybrid warfare from Moscow after an underwater Baltic Sea cable was severed. Scholz was speaking as he met Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

The German economy is in deep crisis, with gross domestic product likely to contract 0.1% this year, the BDI industry association said on Tuesday, putting it on track for three years of declining growth for the first time since reunification.

I would prefer to stay out of politics,” Elon Musk told his followers in 2021, on the platform then known as Twitter. Plenty has changed since then. The world’s richest man appears to have a new goal: upending Europe.

Tens of thousands of Germans have protested in Berlin and other cities against the rise of the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party ahead of the Feb. 23 election

The chairman of the World Holocaust Remembrance Center has accused Elon Musk of insulting victims of Nazism after the billionaire told a German far-right political party that the country needed to “move beyond” the “guilt” of the past.

In 2024, Germany increased imports of Russian LNG and helped set a new record for purchases of liquefied natural gas from Russia in the EU. This is stated in a joint analysis of the environmental organizations Deutsche Umwelthilfe,

Musk's support for AfD has helped what was once a fringe political party enter the mainstream, lifting it up in front of a global audience.

Outgoing Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck says the EU and Germany must show unity in the face of potential US tariffs under Donald Trump. He told DW that trade conflicts with the US would be to the detriment of both sides.

The automaker saw sales of its EVs drop 13% in the European Union in 2024, and is facing growing pressure as rivals launch a wave of cheaper EVs.