Bavaria's leader Markus Söder is urging the procurement of 2,000 Patriot rockets for the German version of "Iron Dome," while another senior conservative is calling for a German-European nuclear umbrella. DW has more.
Below is aroundup of stories out ofGermanyfrom Sunday, June 29:
Jens Spahn, leader of theCDU/CSUparliamentary group, has called for Germany to immediately gain access tonuclear weapons.
"Russian aggression is a completely new threat," Spahn toldWelt am Sonntag. He added that US nuclear bombs stationed in Germany are no longer sufficient to deter nuclear weapons.
"Europe must become capable of deterrence," the conserative politician said. "We must talk about German or European participation in the nuclear arsenal of France and Great Britain, possibly also about our own participation with other European states."
He added, "Anyone who cannot deter nuclear weapons becomes a pawn in global politics."
Spahn's proposal was met with strong criticism from theLeft Partyand theSPD, a coalition partner.
SPD foreign policy expert Rolf Mützenich accused Spahn of playing with fire "when he calls for European, possibly even German, nuclear weapons." Mützenich explained that the SPD is clearly committed to the goal of nuclear non-proliferation.
The GermanBundeswehrdoes not possess its own nuclear weapons. However,some nuclear weapons are stored in Germanyunder US control. In an emergency, the Bundeswehr could be called upon to deploy these weapons.
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At its party congress in Berlin, theSocial Democratic Party (SPD), which is part of the ruling coalition, voted against resuming any natural gas deliveries from Russia through theNord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines.
The Nord Stream pipeline system consistsof two double pipelines running across the Baltic Sea to Germany. Nord Stream 1 became operational in 2011, allowing Russia to deliver directly to its German clients without paying transit fees to eastern European countries. While traditional land pipelines continued to operate after 2011, the Nord Stream project and its expansion plans enraged multiple governments in the region, including Kyiv, that saw its leverage as a gas transit country diminish in any future disputes with Russia.
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It also drew condemnation from US and EU officials, whowarned that Germany was becoming too dependent on Russian gas. However, Berlin proceeded to work with Russia to build Nord Stream 2, which would run mostly parallel to the original one. German officials insisted the gas transit route was purely an economic project.
Nord Stream 2 was completed in 2021. However, it never became operational due to deteriorating relations between Russia and the West, andwas eventually hit by unexplained explosions in September 2022. Additional explosions destroyed both pipelines of Nord Stream 1. Despitereports indicating Ukrainian operatives were involved in the blasts, the responsability was never officialy established.
Recently,speculation has mountedabout a potential US takeover of the insolvent Nord Stream pipeline operator, which could facilitate commissioning. On Sunday, however, the delegates at the SPD party conference said they opposed such proposal that may come from their partners in the ruling coalition and "the US Republican Party."
During his visit to Israel, Interior MinisterAlexander Dobrindtannounced that Germany is aiming to establish a joint cyberresearch center and strengthen collaboration between the countries' intelligence and security agencies.
"Military defense alone is not sufficient for this turning point in security. A significant upgrade in civil defense is also essential to strengthen our overall defensive capabilities," Dobrindt said, according to Germany'sBildnewspaper.
According to a report, Dobrindt also outlined a five-point plan to establish a "Cyber Dome" for Germany as part of itscyberdefense strategy.
Germany is one of Israel's closest allies in Europe. As it boosts its military capabilities and contributions to NATO in the face of perceived growing threats from Russia and China, Berlin has increasingly looked to draw upon Israel's defense expertise.
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As a continentwide heat wave is set to worsen in the coming days, the German Weather Service issued warnings for southern and western regions, with peaks of 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 F) expected on Wednesday.
Alerts were in place from 11 a.m. (9 a.m. UTC) Sunday in the states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland.
"Avoid the heat if possible, drink enough water and keep indoor spaces cool," the weather service said.
On Monday, Germany's southern regions could see temperatures reach 35 degrees, with summer storms likely in Alpine areas and the Black Forest.
The heatwave is then likely to subside, bringing cooler, stormy weather to many regions.
Southern Europe is currently experiencing a serious heatwave, with temperatures in Spain reaching over 40 degrees.
At the close of its three-day congress in Berlin, Germany'sSocial Democratic Party (SPD)passed a motion calling for preparations to ban the far-rightAlternative for Germany (AfD)party.
"The moment at which domestic intelligence says this is a confirmed right-wing extremist party, there is no more room for tactics," party co-leader Lars Klingbeil said.
He also serves as finance minister and vice chancellor in Friedrich Merz's government.
The motion, put forward by the SPD, calls on the relevant constitutional bodies to lay the groundwork for filing a case to declare the anti-immigrant AfD unconstitutional.
"Now is the time for the constitutional bodies entitled to do so to create the conditions for immediately filing a motion to determine the unconstitutionality of the AfD," the text reads.
Calls to ban the AFD intensifiedafter Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), reclassified the party in May as a "confirmed right-wing extremist" group, enabling expanded surveillance.
However, this designation has been suspended pending a legal challenge by the AfD, meaning the agency will now treat the party as a "suspected" case until the Cologne Administrative Court reaches a decision.
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The finals of the first German dachshund racing contest took place in the eastern city of Magdeburg, the capital of the state ofSaxony-Anhalt. The short-legged dogs were encouraged to run the 40-meter (132-foot) course with the help of whistles, toys and treats.
A total of 220 dogs were entered in the competition, which began on Saturday.
Each dog was managed by teams of two people: one held the dog at the start, while the other shouted encouragement at the finish line.
Eight dogs competed in each heat. The different classes racing included miniature and other classes, along with the standard breed.
Thedachshund breedis believed to date back to the early 18th century. They may have been bred to hunt badgers, though this is disputed.
During an unexpected visit to Tel Aviv on Sunday, German Interior MinisterAlexander Dobrindtoffered unqualified support forIsrael's attack on Iran's nuclear weapons program.
"Iran has been destabilizing this region for years, for decades, one has to say, with its support for terrorist groups to the north, to the south, to the east of Israel," he said.
Dobrindt said Iran's nuclear program was "a real threat to Israel's right to exist and a threat to Europe as well."
The German minster said Tehran had received a clear message that Israel, the United States and allies such as Germany could not tolerate research on or construction of nuclear weapons.
Tehran insists that its nuclear program is for purely civilian purposes.
Dobrindt made these comments while visiting the site of a deadly Iranian missile attack in Bat Yam with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
He described the attack as an assault on the civilian population and expressed his belief that Iran would use any nuclear bomb it developed against Israel.
Dobrindt said that Germany would continue to do all it could to secure Israel's existence.
Markus Söder, Bavaria’s state premier and head of theChristian Social Union (CSU), called for the acquisition of thousands of drones, new missile systems and a German version of the "Iron Dome" consisting of 2,000 Patriot systems in case of attacks.
"Germany needs a protective shield with precision weapons," Söder toldBild am Sonntagnewspaper, adding that this would include a modern drone army of 100,000 drones and a defense shield similar to Israel's "Iron Dome."
"We should cooperate with Ukraine and Israel and use their experience," Söder said.
In addition to drones, Söder called for 300 new battle tanks, 500 infantry fighting vehicles, 35 additional Eurofighter warplanes, and 1,000 more Taurus cruise missiles. He also called for theBundeswehrto have its own satellites.
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Guten Tag, and welcome to DW's coverage of developments in Germany on Sunday, June 29.
The center-leftSocial Democratic Party (SPD)concludes its party congress in Berlin.
On Friday, Lars Klingbeil was reelected as co-leader of the party, receiving 65% support, a significant decrease from the 85.6% he garnered in 2023.
For all of the latest news from Germany, stay tuned here.