When the Conservatives won the 2019 UK general election with their largest majority since the victories of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, party leader Boris Johnson had high hopes of remaining in power for another decade.

Ordinarily, Saturday’s 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall might have been expected to be a cause for much joy in Germany. However, celebrations of the milestone will for many people be subdued given the nation’s deep economic and political funk.

Keir Starmer has spent more time on foreign policy issues than perhaps any recent UK prime minister during the crucial first 100 days in office. Yet, much of his attention so far has focused on the Middle East and Europe, not least with the wars involving Israel and Ukraine.

Of all the 27 EU nations, it is the bloc’s most powerful state and largest economy, Germany, that may have the most at stake in November’s US election. This was clear on Thursday and Friday, when Joe Biden made what is likely to be his last presidential trip to Europe.

Much of the world’s political attention is currently focused on the US presidential election in November. In Europe, however, another very important transition of power is taking place in Brussels.

The annual party conference season in the UK is always a major part of the political year. However, this year’s conferences, which are akin to national political conventions in the US, are more important than most.

For much of the postwar era, Germany and France have been the twin motors of European integration. Yet, as the continent faces one of its potentially most challenging periods, there are possible crises brewing in both nations.