German domestic turmoil prolongs EU leadership gap

Germany's political turmoil, which deepened on Monday with the resignation of the leader of the ruling centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), following a week of chaos with the far-right in Thuringia, will cast a long shadow on the country's upcoming EU presidency in the second half of this year.

It will mean that Germany will continue to look inwards and be unable to provide the leadership many in the EU hope it could bring.

The turmoil and its fallout also means that t...