BRUSSELS — United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Thursday there are “reasonable grounds” to believe both sides in the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran may have committed war crimes, as attacks and retaliatory strikes on energy facilities intensify. Speaking exclusively to POLITICO on a visit to Brussels before Thursday’s European Council summit, Guterres said: “If there are attacks either on Iran or from Iran on energy infrastructure, I think that there are reasonable grounds to think that they might constitute a war crime.”  Israel attacked Iran’s South Pars natural gas field on Wednesday, then Tehran launched a retaliatory strike on a major energy complex in Qatar. Beyond that, Guterres said the growing civilian casualties left both sides in the conflict open to possible war crimes charges. “I don’t see any difference. It doesn’t matter who targets civilians. It is totally unacceptable,” he said. Representatives for the U.S. and Israeli governments did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Guterres’ remarks. America and Israel began a bombing campaign on Feb. 28, killing Iran’s supreme leader and sparking ongoing retaliatory missile-and-drone attacks from Tehran on sites across the Middle East. Having called for deescalation in the region, Guterres appeared to blame Israel for driving the conflict forward, and called on U.S. President Donald Trump to persuade Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu to bring it to an end. “The war needs to stop … and I believe that it is in the hands of the U.S. to make it stop. It is possible [to end the war], but it depends on the political will to do it,” Guterres told host Anne McElvoy for an episode of the EU Confidential podcast publishing Friday morning. “I am convinced that Israel, as a strategy, wants to achieve a total destruction of the military capacity of Iran and regime change. And I believe Iran has a strategy, which is to resist for as much time as possible and to cause as much harm as possible. So the key to solve the problem is that the U.S. decides to claim that they have done their job. “President Trump will be able to convince … those that need to be convinced that the work is done. That the work can end,” Guterres added. The secretary-general also attributed America’s decision to launch strikes on Iran to Israel. “I have no doubt that this was something that corresponds to Israel’s strategy … to draw the United States into a war. That objective was achieved. But this is creating dramatic suffering in Iran, [and] in the region, even in Israel. And it is creating a devastating impact in the global economy and whose consequences are still too early to foresee. So, we absolutely must end this conflict,” he said. But finding an off-ramp might prove difficult, and relations between the U.N. and the Trump administration remain frosty.   Asked if he had spoken with Trump since the conflict began three weeks ago, Guterres responded emphatically: “No, no, no … I speak with those I need to speak to. But this is not a soap opera.” He claimed, however, to have been “in contact with all sides,” including with the Trump administration, since hostilities spread across the Gulf.  “It’s vital for the world at large that this war ends quickly,” Guterres said. “This is indeed spiraling out of control and the recent attacks represent an escalation that is extremely dangerous.” Trump said on his Truth Social site that the U.S. had not authorized the attack by Israel on the South Pars site, and that Israel had “violently lashed out,” raising questions about how much influence the U.S. has over its ally. “My hope is that the United States will be able to understand that this has gone too far,” Guterres said. The conflict was primarily benefitting Russia, Guterres added, with Moscow welcoming the distraction from its own war on Ukraine. “Russia is the biggest beneficiary of the Iran crisis,” Guterres said. “Russia is the country that is gaining more with what’s happening in this horrible disaster. Russia is already the winner.” Meanwhile, European leaders, including U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, have said they won’t be sending ships to the Persian Gulf in response to Trump’s appeal for help to open the Strait of Hormuz. France has said it will only contribute support vessels “when the situation is calmer.” Guterres applauded the restraint shown by the Europeans, despite Trump’s anger at their refusal to actively support the war or help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime artery that Iran has largely sealed off, driving up global energy prices. “I think these countries made their own reading of the situation, and I believe they took a decision not to get too much involved, knowing that the most important objective is the deescalation,” he said. Listen to the full episode of EU Confidential on Friday morning.

President Donald Trump is demanding that the Federal Reserve immediately lower borrowing costs. But the war in the Middle East has now made any interest rate cuts much less likely in 2026 — not just in the U.S. but around the world. With oil prices surging past $100 a barrel and Gulf shipping routes disrupted by Iran, governments and investors are bracing for a repeat of the 2022 energy shock from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And from Washington to Frankfurt, and London to Tokyo, the world’s central banks are likely to strike a more wary tone on inflation while assessing the fallout during a flurry of policy meetings taking place this week. The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a channel through which roughly a fifth of global oil passes, is pushing up costs not only for energy and transportation, but also for other key goods that are shipped through the waterway. The result could be a toxic mix for central banks: higher prices and lower employment, two problems they’re not equipped to address simultaneously. “My best guess, but spoken with no conviction at all, is that this gets sorted out somehow in the next few weeks, and by the middle of the year, oil prices have come back down a fair amount,” said William English, a former top staffer at the Fed who is now a professor at Yale University. “But there’s a real risk, of course, that things go on for longer and are more damaging. And in that case, all bets are off.” The specter of a prolonged global energy crunch could dash the hopes of consumers, businesses and investors worldwide for rate cuts this year — and in some cases, throw those plans in reverse. No immediate moves are likely except in Australia, which raised its target rate by a quarter-point on Tuesday. But markets have already repriced their bets on what comes next from monetary policymakers. Indeed, if the Fed does cut rates later this year, it might be one of the few major central banks that does so, given that other economies like Europe are more exposed to higher energy costs than the U.S. Before the war, investors saw a chance of cuts from the Fed, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England. Now they’re pricing in an altogether tighter policy stance: at least one ECB rate hike this year, a 60 percent chance of a BoE increase, fewer and later cuts from the Fed and more urgency in raising rates from the Bank of Japan. Central bankers will prefer to wait until they get a better gauge of the economic repercussions from the conflict because “the shock could turn out to be negligible or very large,” said EFG chief economist Stefan Gerlach. But few doubt the need for strong messaging as central banks are wary of repeating 2022, when energy price shocks combined with the after-effects from Covid and fiscal stimulus to morph into the worst inflation spike in half a century. “There will be a significant contingent worrying about upside inflation risks in light of the 2022 experience,” J.P. Morgan economist Greg Fuzesi said ahead of the ECB’s policy-making council’s meeting on Thursday. The Iran conflict is further complicating efforts by Trump to demonstrate to voters that the GOP is addressing cost-of-living concerns before this year’s midterm elections. Already, the war has caused a surge in politically salient gas prices and erased some of the progress toward more affordable mortgage rates. And it’s further muddied the picture for a central bank that the president has been pressing hard to take decisive action toward rate cuts. Now, when Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed officials meet on Wednesday, they’re expected to be more open to the idea of rate increases later this year, though that’s still not the likeliest outcome. As Yale’s English pointed out, higher costs might ultimately increase the case for rate cuts if they slow the economy significantly. “With the higher oil prices and the shock to the global economy, the likelihood of overheating seems reduced now, so that’s one of the reasons you might be comfortable waiting through some period of higher inflation,” rather than hiking rates in response, English said. “This might be enough to push the economy into real weakness, and in that case, they might well have to cut.” But if households and businesses start to worry about a new acceleration in inflation and start expecting higher prices, that dynamic can be self-fulfilling and might call for rate hikes. Hawkish policymakers are already signaling the ECB won’t hesitate this time. “A reaction by the ECB is potentially closer than many people think,” Peter Kažimír, Slovakia’s central bank governor, told Bloomberg last week. “We will be ready to act if needed.” President Christine Lagarde pledged to ensure that consumers “don’t suffer the same inflation increases like those we saw in 2022 and 2023.” Back then, the ECB was slow to react, helping inflation surge past 10 percent. Economists say today’s backdrop looks very different: In 2022, rates were near or below zero, balance sheets were bloated and fiscal policy was highly expansionary. “When inflation rose, it did so in an environment of strong demand supported by both fiscal and monetary stimulus,” said Gerlach. Now, tighter monetary and fiscal policy should limit the risk of energy shocks spilling through the economy into second-round effects. Still, Barclays analyst Silvia Ardagna says that if medium-term inflation expectations “deteriorate significantly,” she expects “the ECB to act more swiftly than in 2022, but to tighten policy gradually.” Nick Kounis, of Dutch bank ABN AMRO, also sees a more hawkish tone. “Uncertainty on the conflict is high, but if the current situation persists through to the April meeting, a hike becomes a distinct possibility,” he said. Many analysts say the first obvious central bank casualty of the war is likely to be the Bank of England, which was widely expected to cut this week but is now seen firmly on hold. That’s because the U.K. still hasn’t quite gotten on top of the inflation that was unleashed four years ago. Andrew Benito, an economist with hedge fund Point72 in London, reckons that the inevitable increase in fuel prices and household energy bills alone will add a full percentage point to headline inflation by summer, with “second-round” impacts on other prices pushing it even further away from the BoE’s target. That, says Deutsche Bank’s Sanjay Raja, will force the bank into some “uncomfortable trade-offs”: The U.K. economy has already slowed over the last year due to global trade uncertainty and various government tax hikes to close the budget deficit. Hiking rates when the economy is already struggling could risk needlessly making things worse. But any sign of complacency could be disproportionately punished by the markets, given that the BoE performed worse than any other major central bank during the last inflation shock (the headline rate peaked at over 11 percent). Raja expects BoE Governor Andrew Bailey to highlight the differences with 2022 — when inflation was accelerating rather than slowing — as one reason not to overreact to today’s price spike. However, he expects that Bailey, like the ECB and others, will talk tough about not letting business and households develop an inflationary mindset again. More important will be the Bank of Japan’s decisions and press conference on Thursday, due to the outsized influence of Japanese interest rates on global financial markets. For decades, Japan kept interest rates low and printed money furiously to escape deflation. As long as it did so, Japanese and foreign investors borrowed yen cheaply to throw at higher-yielding markets such as the U.S. Now, however, the BoJ’s concerns have finally switched from deflation to inflation, and BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda is now in a hurry to “normalize” policy. Its key interest rate, at 0.75 percent, is the lowest in the developed world outside Switzerland. But Japan, too, faces a big headwind from higher energy prices because of its dependence on imports, and Gregor Hirt, chief investment officer for Multi Asset at Allianz Global Investors, argues that the BoJ will hesitate before raising rates again. The trouble with waiting and seeing is that the yen has already lurched lower, prompting alarm in Washington and sparking rumors of possible intervention to support it. “In order to stop further weakness, the BoJ may have to move up a rate hike to stabilize the currency,” Hirt said. Meanwhile, the war has presented the Swiss National Bank, which has kept interest rates at zero since June 2025, with a different kind of conundrum. One risk is that a global “flight to safety” drives the Swiss franc to even greater heights against the euro and others. That could make so many imports cheaper that the overall inflation rate could turn negative. Alternatively, the boost in energy prices could have the same malign impact on inflation as it will elsewhere. “The SNB will probably prefer to wait and see which of the two effects will have the greater impact on inflation prospects before acting in one direction or the other,” said ING economist Charlotte de Montpellier, who expects the Swiss central bank to stay on hold. That response, shot through with varying degrees of nervousness, looks likely to be the dominant one this week. But things will look very different if the war situation hasn’t improved by the next round of meetings.

India wants to “dramatically” deepen its partnership with the European Union, including by striking defense deals, as the Iran war and global crises push New Delhi closer to Brussels, the country’s foreign minister told POLITICO. In January, the EU inked what’s been described as the “mother of all” trade deals with India during a bilateral summit where Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa, the top two officials in the EU, were welcomed as official state guests during Republic Day celebrations. As that deal snakes its way toward approval in the European Parliament, India sees potential for further upgrading EU-India ties, notably by inking a security of information deal that could pave the way for much closer cooperation on defense armament agreements, per Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. “In my career, I have seen some of our relationships really change, dramatically change. And I am convinced that we are poised at that moment where Europe is concerned,” he said during a visit to Brussels where he attended a gathering of EU foreign ministers. “We are aware of the strategic nature of what we’re doing … This is not just one more trade deal. It’s something much much bigger,” he added. Jaishankar went on to cite potential deals for the EU to procure weapons from India’s armaments industry, including via the purchase of ammunition and drone and counter-drone technology, citing a deal with Airbus to construct in India as an example of deals to come. Such deals should occur within “an enabling environment where Indian companies and European companies have the ability to work with each other without any regulatory or political restriction,” he said, adding that he was “bullish” about prospects for EU-India relations. On trade, Jaishankar said he did not expect the Parliament to get in the way of the EU-India deal. “I think on India, frankly, there is a unity of purpose, and even in the European Parliament the overwhelming sentiment is very much, very much in favor.” Before the EU-India deal was signed, New Delhi had hoped to be exempted from the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, an exemption that was not granted. Jaishankar said that the two sides would “continue our discussions to see how any issues pertaining to that can be addressed.” GLOBAL MEDIATOR But there’s a dark cloud on the EU-India horizon: Russia. New Delhi has maintained its relations with Moscow, including purchasing its energy exports despite U.S. and EU sanctions on Russian oil. Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December of last year, amid other ongoing contacts. The Indian minister — who cited the term “values-based realism” to describe India’s foreign policy outlook — said he expected to hear criticism from some EU counterparts about India-Russia ties during his stay in Brussels, but that this would be outweighed by desire for “mutual de-risking” in a time of turmoil. “I would certainly assume that I will hear views … which will be based on the European Union’s experience of dealing with Russia,” he said. “I think our position has been frankly very balanced and very objective. If you look at how many world leaders from 2022 have been to both Moscow and Kyiv, there are not that many. And my prime minister [Modi] happens to be one of them.” Jaishankar’s visit coincided with growing concerns about the impact of a U.S.-Israeli war against Iran — which the Indian foreign minister described as “deeply concerning.” “We have really enormous stakes there,” he said, referring to Iran. India had “very early on expressed deep concern because … when you see instability, when you [see] conflict in a contiguous area, that has consequences for a lot of people, and if on top of it your trade and energy are impacted, it matters a lot.” While U.S. President Donald Trump is pressing EU countries to help clear the Strait of Hormuz, India has avoided taking any sides. Jaishankar maintains regular contact with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, including a phone call late last week. Another conversation is expected to take place in coming days. Asked what sort of message he was relaying to Tehran, Jaishankar cited “the need to de-escalate,” “concern at the widening of the conflict,” the “energy implications for us,” as well as concern for the roughly 10,000 Indians residing in Iran and millions living across the wider region. “Our hope is that there is a decision made that heads toward an end to the conflict, certainly toward de-escalation, and then an end to the conflict,” he said, adding: “We only see a downside to this conflict.” As for India’s relationship with the United States, Jaishankar — who met with his counterpart, Marco Rubio, on Feb. 3 — steered clear of critical comments on Washington. Asked if he welcomed Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on exports of Russian energy firms Lukoil and Rosneft, he sidestepped, saying: “If you want the global economy to grow, if you want to see stability, predictability in the markets, then let the markets be the focus.” The U.S. and India are negotiating their own trade deal, which has stalled following a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court against Trump’s tariff policy. Asked if the delay had to do with the U.S. campaign against Iran, he added: “Well, I want to be very clear: what’s happening in the Middle East has nothing to do with that.”

Listen on * Spotify * Apple Music * Amazon Music Gordon Repinski den ukrainischen Präsidenten Wolodymyr Selenskyj im Mariinsky-Palast zum Exklusiv-Interview getroffen. Selenskyj spricht über seinen persönlichen Hass auf Wladimir Putin, die „Blackmail“-Taktik von Viktor Orbán und seine Sorge, dass der Iran-Krieg den Fokus des Westens dauerhaft verschiebt. Im 200-Sekunden-Interview direkt aus dem Zug berichtet Bundestagspräsidentin Julia Klöckner von ihrem Besuch in Kyjiw, der Lieferung von Dieselgeneratoren und der Frage, wie Deutschland die Ukraine militärisch stützen kann, während die USA bei den Russland-Sanktionen wanken. Deutschland gibt Teile der strategischen Ölreserve frei. Gleichzeitig plant Wirtschaftsministerin Katherina Reiche eine tägliche Preisobergrenze für Tankstellen. Joanna Lehner und Jürgen Klöckner, die Hosts unseres Wirtschafts-Podcasts „Power & Policy“, analysieren, ob dieser Eingriff ins Kartellrecht wirklich die Verbraucher entlastet oder lediglich ein Tropfen auf den heißen Stein bleibt. Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es jeden Morgen ab 5 Uhr. Gordon Repinski und das POLITICO-Team liefern Politik zum Hören – kompakt, international, hintergründig. Für alle Hauptstadt-Profis: Der Berlin Playbook-Newsletter bietet jeden Morgen die wichtigsten Themen und Einordnungen. ⁠Jetzt kostenlos abonnieren.⁠ Mehr von Host und POLITICO Executive Editor Gordon Repinski: Instagram: ⁠@gordon.repinski⁠ | X: ⁠@GordonRepinski⁠. POLITICO Deutschland – ein Angebot der Axel Springer Deutschland GmbH Axel-Springer-Straße 65, 10888 Berlin Tel: +49 (30) 2591 0 ⁠information@axelspringer.de⁠ Sitz: Amtsgericht Berlin-Charlottenburg, HRB 196159 B USt-IdNr: DE 214 852 390 Geschäftsführer: Carolin Hulshoff Pol, Mathias Sanchez Luna **(Anzeige) Eine Nachricht von Amazon: Unabhängige Verkaufspartner stehen heute für über 60 % aller bei Amazon verkauften Produkte. Ein Beispiel ist Alphatrail aus Regensburg: Michael und sein Team haben ihre Leidenschaft in ein erfolgreich wachsendes Unternehmen verwandelt. Über Amazon bietet Alphatrail Radsport-Fans in ganz Europa erstklassige Ausrüstung und Zubehör. Sie sind eines von rund 47.000 deutschen kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen bei Amazon. Erfahren Sie mehr darüber auf AboutAmazon.de.**

LONDON — Keir Starmer knows the war in Iran could sink his number one domestic mission: Cutting the cost of living.  But unfortunately for him, the man with most power to stop the conflict seems not to be in a hurry.  The U.K. prime minister was more explicit than ever on Wednesday that he wants to see “de-escalation” in the Middle East — in part because it’s the surest way of stopping energy bills skyrocketing in his own country.  Starmer said his government was “working around the clock” to ensure consumer and business costs don’t soar, after being challenged in the House of Commons over fears that disrupted oil and gas flows from the Gulf are spiking gasoline prices and could hike home energy bills, too. “The most important thing, the most effective thing we can do,” he told MPs, “is to work with our allies to find a way to de-escalate the situation” in the Middle East.  That might prove … tricky.  While Donald Trump faces his own domestic drama over high prices at the pump, the White House is showing no signs of seeking an immediate resolution to the conflict.   The Trump administration believes it can withstand a spike in oil prices for as many as four weeks before the political pain starts to bite, POLITICO has reported. That timeframe — should it be borne out — is laden with risk of further escalation in the region, and carries major domestic political risk for Starmer, over an issue that remains the public’s number one priority.  BALANCING ACT “While the public are deeply concerned about events in the Middle East and implications for international security, those concerns are dwarfed by worries about the cost of living,” said pollster Luke Tryl, director of the More in Common think tank.  “The prime minister has so far managed to stay on the right side of public opinion on the war, with the median Brit supporting Starmer’s position of allowing the use of U.K. bases purely for defensive strikes,” Tryl added. “However, the balancing act between maintaining a good relationship with the United States and being able to show he is doing everything he can to stop the war leading to another spike in the cost of living is a tricky one.”  The Trump administration believes it can withstand a spike in oil prices for as many as four weeks before the political pain starts to bite, POLITICO has reported. | Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images There’s also a Catch-22. Efforts by Starmer and other European leaders to mitigate the war’s impact on the global economy might help persuade Trump he need not hurry U.S. withdrawal from the Gulf.  America’s allies confirmed Wednesday they would coordinate — via the International Energy Agency (IEA)— release of a record 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves. Even before it was confirmed, expectation of this move helped temper oil price rises.   The next big decision could center on the Strait of Hormuz, a key trade route largely closed to oil and gas shipping since the crisis began.  While welcoming agreement on the release of strategic reserves, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said: “The most important thing for a return to stable flows of oil and gas is the resumption of transit” through the Strait.  Starmer’s Chancellor Rachel Reeves told MPs on Wednesday the “root cause” of the U.K.’s cost-of-living concerns “is the challenge in getting oil and gas out of the Middle East.” The government would “work flat-out” to de-escalate the conflict and “get vessels moving again in the Strait of Hormuz,” she said.  Precisely what that means in practice — or whether the U.K. or other American allies could police Hormuz without getting involved in U.S. and Israeli offensive operations against Iran — is unclear.  Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio Monday, according to U.K. officials, who said they discussed their “desire to see a swift resolution that supports stability in the Middle East and protects the global economy.”  MOMENT OF MAXIMUM DANGER So far, U.K. household energy bills — significantly influenced by wholesale gas prices — have been spared the price spike, which has been driven by both the effective closure of the Strait and by Iranian attacks on energy production in Gulf countries. The most notable attack was against QatarEnergy, a major liquefied natural gas exporter, which has suspended production. U.K. gas and electricity costs are determined using a regulated price updated every three months, and prices until June are already locked in.  But the longer the war goes on, the bigger the impact will be when the price cap is set for July to September — and beyond.  Reeves told MPs on Wednesday it is “much too early, less than two weeks into the conflict, to have any certainty about what things will look like when the next energy price cap is determined, at the end of May, for July.”  But for a government that has promised to cut energy bills £300 by 2030, the longer the war, the bleaker that moment in May could be.  Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper spoke to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio Monday, according to U.K. officials, who said they discussed their “desire to see a swift resolution that supports stability in the Middle East and protects the global economy.” | Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty images Hence Starmer’s increasingly urgent focus on somehow persuading the U.S. and Israel to draw back. That task won’t be made any easier by deteriorating relations with Trump, who last week, in a row over U.S. access to U.K. military bases, dismissed Starmer as “not Winston Churchill.”  “The most important issue is de-escalating the situation,” Starmer told MPs Wednesday, reiterating that the U.K. “should not join the war in Iran” and would only carry out defensive military operations in the region to “protect British lives and the British national interest.”  For the prime minister — hanging onto office by a thread even before the conflict — it could yet prove be existential.  “For all the support for Starmer in navigating the conflict so far,” said Tryl, “if people start to feel the impact in their pockets and bills, the demand for change which has already tanked his poll ratings will likely only grow.”  Additional reporting by Esther Webber.

FIFA chief Gianni Infantino reported Wednesday morning that he’d met with U.S. President Donald Trump and discussed Iran’s participation in the World Cup. “President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States,” Infantino said, following the meeting.  Iran qualified for the 2026 World Cup, to be hosted this summer in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, and is scheduled to play three group-stage games between Los Angeles and Seattle — but its participation has been thrown into doubt in recent weeks.  Trump, along with his Israeli allies, launched a military offensive against Iran late last month. Air strikes killed the Iranian supreme leader, but have failed to topple the regime and triggered regional drone-and-missile retaliation from Tehran. The war has also fueled a spike in oil prices, sparking concern over the global economy.  “We all need an event like the FIFA World Cup to bring people together now more than ever, and I sincerely thank the President of the United States for his support, as it shows once again that Football Unites the World,” Infantino added.  Infantino, who has been head of world football’s governing body since 2016, awarded Trump the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize in December last year.  Unveiling the honor, the governing body said it would “reward individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace and by doing so have united people across the world.”

Listen on * Spotify * Apple Music * Amazon Music Zehn Tage vor der Landtagswahl in Rheinland-Pfalz läuft alles auf ein Kopf-an-Kopf-Rennen hinaus. Gestern Abend trafen SPD-Amtsinhaber Alexander Schweizer und CDU-Herausforderer Gordon Schnieder im TV-Duell aufeinander. Während Schweizer auf den Amtsbonus setzt, kämpft Schnieder gegen das „Baden-Württemberg-Trauma“ der Union und versucht, sich von der schwächelnden Berliner Bundespolitik abzugrenzen. Rasmus Buchsteiner analysiert, wer im Studio die Oberhand behalten hat und welche Auswirkungen die Wahl am Ende auch für die Bundespolitik hat. Im 200-Sekunden-Interview mit Rixa Fürsen spricht die grüne Spitzenkandidatin Katrin Eder über das wahrscheinliche Regierung-Aus ihrer Partei. Anders als Cem Özdemir zuvor in Baden-Württemberg stagnieren die rheinland-pfälzischen Grünen in den Umfragen. Eder erklärt, warum sie trotz des Gegenwinds an einem klassischen grünen Profil festhält und wie sie den drohenden Machtverlust in einer möglichen schwarz-roten Zukunft verhindern will. Außenminister Johann Wadephul ist in Israel. Im Gepäck hat er eine ungewohnt deutliche Warnung von Kanzler Friedrich Merz: Deutschland sieht durch die aktuelle israelische Siedlungspolitik die Zwei-Staaten-Lösung in noch größerer Gefahr und damit womöglich bald eine rote Linie überschritten. Gemeinsam mit Hans von der Burchard ordnet Rixa ein, warum Berlin jetzt den Ton gegenüber dem Partner verschärft, welche Gefahr eine totale Destabilisierung des Irans für Europa bedeutet und was Wadephul für deutsche Bürger in der Region erreichen kann. Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es jeden Morgen ab 5 Uhr. Gordon Repinski und das POLITICO-Team liefern Politik zum Hören – kompakt, international, hintergründig. Für alle Hauptstadt-Profis: Der Berlin Playbook-Newsletter bietet jeden Morgen die wichtigsten Themen und Einordnungen. ⁠Jetzt kostenlos abonnieren.⁠ Mehr von Host und POLITICO Executive Editor Gordon Repinski: Instagram: ⁠@gordon.repinski⁠ | X: ⁠@GordonRepinski⁠. POLITICO Deutschland – ein Angebot der Axel Springer Deutschland GmbH Axel-Springer-Straße 65, 10888 Berlin Tel: +49 (30) 2591 0 ⁠information@axelspringer.de⁠ Sitz: Amtsgericht Berlin-Charlottenburg, HRB 196159 B USt-IdNr: DE 214 852 390 Geschäftsführer: Carolin Hulshoff Pol, Mathias Sanchez Luna **(Anzeige) Eine Nachricht von Amazon: Unabhängige Verkaufspartner stehen heute für über 60 % aller bei Amazon verkauften Produkte. Ein Beispiel ist Alphatrail aus Regensburg: Michael und sein Team haben ihre Leidenschaft in ein erfolgreich wachsendes Unternehmen verwandelt. Über Amazon bietet Alphatrail Radsport-Fans in ganz Europa erstklassige Ausrüstung und Zubehör. Sie sind eines von rund 47.000 deutschen kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen bei Amazon. Erfahren Sie mehr darüber auf AboutAmazon.de.**

Listen on * Spotify * Apple Music * Amazon Music * Sky News As Iran names its new supreme leader oil prices skyrocket, sending shockwaves across the global economy – but how will the UK government deal with the issue? US President Donald Trump claims the surge is a “small price to pay” for peace – but as G7 finance leaders hold an emergency meeting later today can they find ways to limit the damage? Sam and Anne discuss the steps Sir Keir Starmer can take to reassure the British public, if the conflict could hit people’s pockets, and whether there is potential of world economies collapsing under the pressure. The pair also consider the increasingly turbulent “special relationship” – is it just a one-way street? Plus, with the courts bill returning to the House of Commons tomorrow, will we get a picture of how big a potential rebellion could be?

Listen on * Spotify * Apple Music * Amazon Music Wirtschaftswende auf dem Prüfstand: Kanzler Friedrich Merz trifft heute auf der Internationalen Handwerksmesse in München eine Art „Verbandsquartett“. Er ist zum Gespräch mit den Spitzen der Verbände aus Industrie, Arbeitgebern, Handel und Gewerbe sowie dem Handwerk verabredet. Rasmus Buchsteiner analysiert das Standing des Kanzlers bei den Verbandschefs und die harten Erwartungen der Industrie, während der Frust über aufgeschobene Reformen im Mittelstand wächst. Im 200-Sekunden-Interview dazu: Handwerkspräsident Jörg Dittrich über „brennende Hütten“ in den Betrieben und seine klaren Forderungen an den Kanzler vor dem heutigen Spitzengespräch. „Mehr Warken wagen“: Im Bundestag soll heute die angepasste Krankenhausreform das Parlament passieren. Gesundheitsministerin Nina Warken verbucht einen Etappensieg, allerdings nicht ohne Preis: Die Länder haben dem Bund auf den letzten Metern mehr Mitspracherecht und Zeit abgerungen. Unser POLITICO-Gesundheitsexperte Louis Westendarp ordnet ein, ob die Reform wirklich wirken kann oder nur die nächste Milliarden-Finanzlücke im System kaschiert. Insights zur Gesundheitspolitik gibt es von uns bei POLITICO bald auch zu lesen. Nächste Woche starten wir mit unserem PRO-Newsletter „Gesundheit“ – ⁠hier zum kostenlosen Probeabo anmelden⁠. KI-Party im Regierungsviertel: Während in München über die schwächelnde Wirtschaft gesprochen wird, feiert Berlin die Eröffnung eines neuen AI Centers. Mittendrin zwischen Tech-Milliarden und Techno-Beats: Digitalminister Karsten Wildberger und Forschungsministerin Dorothee Bär. Unsere neuen Formate „Inside AfD“ gibt es hier und „Power & Policy“ hier. Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es jeden Morgen ab 5 Uhr. Gordon Repinski und das POLITICO-Team liefern Politik zum Hören – kompakt, international, hintergründig. Für alle Hauptstadt-Profis: Der Berlin Playbook-Newsletter bietet jeden Morgen die wichtigsten Themen und Einordnungen. ⁠Jetzt kostenlos abonnieren.⁠ Mehr von Host und POLITICO Executive Editor Gordon Repinski: Instagram: ⁠@gordon.repinski⁠ | X: ⁠@GordonRepinski⁠. POLITICO Deutschland – ein Angebot der Axel Springer Deutschland GmbH Axel-Springer-Straße 65, 10888 Berlin Tel: +49 (30) 2591 0 ⁠information@axelspringer.de⁠ Sitz: Amtsgericht Berlin-Charlottenburg, HRB 196159 B USt-IdNr: DE 214 852 390 Geschäftsführer: Carolin Hulshoff Pol, Mathias Sanchez Luna **(Anzeige) Eine Nachricht der PKV: Wir sind die Fair-zu-Jugendlichen-Versicherung. Warum? Weil wir die wachsende Zahl älterer Menschen versorgen können, ohne die Jüngeren damit zu belasten. Dafür bilden wir von Versicherungsbeginn an Rücklagen, die stetig Zinsen einbringen. Für unsere Versicherten haben wir so bereits über 350 Milliarden Euro zurückgelegt, um ihre mit dem Alter steigenden Behandlungskosten abzusichern. Mehr auf pkv.de**