On The Economist podcast The Weekend Intelligence, Repsense CEO Mykolas Katkus discusses disinformation and civil defense in Lithuania with Katie Bryant.

Dear readers,

Thank you for your interest – nearly 700 members of the communications and management community have already subscribed to our newsletter! Inspired by such a successful debut, we’ve worked even harder and are bringing you this mid-month bonus issue, where you’ll find more insights on both the “voices” and the signals in Lithuanian business communications. As announced, at the end of the month we will publish our regular monthly issue, in which, in light of the upcoming elections, we’ll take a look not only at brands but also at politics.

The question here is - does the German election campaign at this stage actually influence anything, and does the overall public opinion, which we call reputation, matter? The answer comes from a YouGov study conducted three days ago, cited by Politico. It does matter.

On Sunday, Germany will hold the second most important elections in the world in the past six months. The trends and outcomes of the election campaign will shape how the world - and Lithuania - will live over the next five years. The new government will have to make decisions that affect not only Germany but all of Europe, including support for Ukraine, the future of NATO (or its possible replacement by another European organization), and responses to upcoming U.S. tariffs and unilateral policies. Economic issues are also crucial: will the new government break taboos and stimulate the economy with borrowed money, and what will be the future of green energy?