Understanding Europe

Since September 2024, Germany has monitored all of its borders, such as here at the border crossing from Austria to Germany in Oberaudorf | Photo: Michael Bihlmayer/IMAGO
File photo: As a refugee or asylum seeker, accessing healthcare in Germany will depend on your residency status and how long you have been living in Germany | Photo: Sebastian Gollnow/dpa/picture alliance
Migration has been a key issue in the German elections. This photo captured in Brandenburg, eastern Germany, shows campaign posters for the pro-business FDP, the center-left SPD and the Greens, as well as Volt. The Volt party is not covered in our series because it is polling well below 5 percent and unlikely to make it into the Bundestag | Photo: picture alliance
File photo: The number of asylum applications in Germany has fallen since 2023 | Photo:Boris Roessler/dpa/picture alliance
File photo: Some of the wild berries picked in Finland | Source: Press Release Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Finnish Migration Service