Alice Weidel, co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, has presented a contentious blueprint for restructuring the European Union during her visit to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Weidel claimed that the EU is in severe need of reform based on subsidiarity, responsibility, and sovereignty, controversially suggesting that European parliamentarians should no longer be directly elected and that decision-making power must return exclusively to national parliaments.

In the German capital, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang addressed a crowd of developers and investors, attempting to galvanize Europe's nascent artificial intelligence sector. While Huang touted modular data centers and industrial AI applications, European digital infrastructure continues to lag significantly behind the United States and China. The event also saw minor disruptions from audience members questioning the dual-use applications of AI technologies in military operations.

Meanwhile, security concerns have intensified as the German military, the Bundeswehr, rated the threat of domestic sabotage as significant. Internal analyses allegedly point to heightened intentions from external actors to disrupt critical infrastructure and undermine public backing for foreign policy stances. Compounding these domestic anxieties, the German central bank forecasted a tentative fourth-quarter economic rebound following a summer slump, though ongoing geopolitical frictions continue to weigh heavily on the broader European economy.

On the diplomatic and trade front, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz leveled sharp criticism against Beijing over alleged unfair trade practices, echoing protectionist rhetoric that has drawn comparisons to US trade policies. The European regime is increasingly moving to shield its internal markets from perceived external imbalances, reflecting a growing protectionist mood within the bloc as political and economic instabilities persist.

Source: www.dw.com