Political rivals of Germany’s embattled leader Olaf Scholz argued on Saturday that his phone call with Vladimir Putin on the Ukraine war had handed a “propaganda win” to the Russian president.

Germany’s Greens have been environmental trailblazers but their top candidate, Robert Habeck, goes into snap national elections bruised by three stormy years in government that ended in a political crisis.

From the dates to put in your diary for the path to elections to winter markets and ‘Buß- and Bettag’, here are some of the talking points in Germany this week.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Germany’s Olaf Scholz on Friday of playing into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin after the Chancellor spoke by phone to the Kremlin chief for the first time in almost two years.

Germany’s national statistics agency Destatis said Friday it had been the victim of a suspected data leak, following a media report that the organisation had been attacked by pro-Russian hackers.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to engage in peace talks with Ukraine, in the first call between the leaders in almost two years.

Moving to a new home can be stressful and time-consuming. Here is how you can get paid leave for the occasion.

As German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats grapple with plummeting support ahead of a snap election in February, dissenters in the party are looking to popular defence minister Boris Pistorius to rescue them from a poll rout.

A group of cross-party German MPs have launched a bid to legalise abortion in the first trimester before snap elections. It may be the last chance for years to change the law, a doctor and pro-choice campaigner tells The Local.

After being against a reform of Germany’s controversial ‘debt brake’, which limits government borrowing, for years, conservative politicians now say they are open to changing it. Are we about to see it changed – and why does it matter?