By Maria Martinez BERLIN, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Germany cannot defend itself without taking on new debt, Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said on Tuesday, justifying rising defence spending amid growing threats.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz was a drag on his conservative party in its disastrous loss to the far right in a state election. He has vowed better communication, but no policy changes.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has surged to first place in state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, winning 44% of the vote. But the anti-immigrant, pro-Russian party fell three seats short of an absolute majority,

By Miranda Murray and Andreas Rinke BERLIN, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Chancellor Friedrich Merz ruled out working with the Alternative for Germany on Monday after the far-right party surged into first place in state elections in Saxony-Anhalt,

The vote marks a major breakthrough for the party and a fresh challenge to Germany's mainstream political establishment.

A blowout win by the far-right Alternative for Germany party in a state election has revealed a split among voters about whether to uphold a decades-old strategy for sidelining extremists.

RAGUHN-JESSNITZ, Germany — The first brick to fall in Germany’s so-called firewall against the far right was this town of some 9,000 people in the small eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Germany's populist, far-right Alternative for Germany party has declared victory in the state of Saxony-Anhalt after more than doubling its share of the vote in the first of several regional elections this fall.

The AfD, classified as ‘far-right extremist’ by Germany’s intelligence agency, is projected to come first in 2029.

Germany, France and Poland aimed to display unity on Thursday in the face of hybrid attacks from Russia, days after Berlin formally accused Moscow of being behind an attempted attack involving an