It has been a momentous few weeks in German and French politics. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) won its first state election – and achieved the German far-right’s best result since the second world war – in Thuringia with 33% of the vote; in Saxony, it came a close second to the Christian Democratic Union. In France, after weeks of uncertainty caused by a divided National Assembly, President Emmanuel Macron appointed Michel Barnier as the country’s prime minister.

This week, Mark Leonard welcomes Célia Belin, senior policy fellow and head of the ECFR Paris office, and Jana Puglierin, senior policy fellow and head of the ECFR Berlin office. Together, they discuss the current state of German and French politics, and the implications for the European Union and European politics overall. What do these election results mean for Germany, and the EU? How long will the ‘firewall’ against the AfD hold? And does France finally have a government again? 

This episode was recorded on 9 September 2024

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