Germany’s populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) has surged ahead of the country’s Green party in support, and is now only 2.5 off the ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD).

According to an Insa survey poll published on Wednesday, AfD now enjoys 18 per cent support among the public, its highest level since 2018 during the wake of Europe’s previous migrant crisis.

The result puts the party firmly ahead of the German Green party, a member of the governing coalition, which it has been sitting  at around 15 per cent for the last number of months.

In the days after the Russian military was reported to have put an end to the two-day-long incursion of Russia’s Belgorod region, more and more information has come to light that proves the openly neo-Nazi character of the forces involved.

According to the Kremlin, a substantial military operation, involving the army, the air force and the national guard, killed 70 members of the far-right extremist Russian Volunteer Battalion and the ultra-nationalist Legion for a Free Russia after over 24 hours of fighting.

EU-skeptical AfD gained 1% to poll at 18% in the Insa survey, conducted from May 22-26, while the Greens lost 1% to land on 13% in what is their lowest score in five years.

The same poll showed that the number of respondents who said they would never vote for AfD dropped from 60% in December to 53.9%.

Ukraine has asked Berlin to provide it with long-range air-launched missiles that could potentially reach Moscow, a spokesperson for Germany’s Defense Ministry confirmed on Saturday.

On Friday, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper reported, citing two unnamed “insiders” within the German military, that Ukraine “urgently wants” Swedish-German Taurus missiles. These munitions could be allegedly placed on US-made F-16 fighters, which are now being considered for delivery to Kiev by several Western countries.

New figures show the German economy suffered an unexpected dip in the first quarter of this year, putting the country formally into recession.

Data released Thursday by the Federal Statistical Office shows Germany’s gross domestic product, or GDP, down by 0.3% in the period from January to March. This follows a drop of 0.5% in Europe’s biggest economy during the last quarter of 2022. Two consecutive quarters of decline constitute a technical recession.

Germany’s Commerzbank AG has suspended its correspondent banking relations with at least three Lebanese financial institutions citing a “lack of profitability,” according to unnamed banking sources that spoke with Lebanese daily L’Orient-Le Jour.

Last week it was President Macron who was rowing back on green measures. In a speech he asserted that Europe has, for now, gone far enough – if it introduces any more regulations without the rest of the world following suit then it will put investment at risk and harm the economy. This week, the European People’s Party – a centre right grouping which includes the German Christian Democrats, the party of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen – seems to be joining in.