THE LATEST | CANADAFinancial Times: “Macron betrayed Merz, and he knows that there will be a price to pay for that,” said a senior EU diplomat with direct knowledge of Thursday’s talks. “But he’s so weak that he had no other choice but to fold in behind Giorgia Meloni.”
The stand-off underscores a new dynamic between Europe’s two largest powers: an initiative-driven Germany and a foot-dragging France. A newfound assertiveness has taken hold in Berlin after Merz came to power in May — unlocking up to €1tn in defence and infrastructure spending for the next decade — but Paris has become hamstrung by high public debt and political instability in the second half of Macron’s final term in office…