German ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel has slammed the rejection of asylum-seekers at the border under the current government. Meanwhile, the debate on banning the far-right AfD has gained momentum. DW has more.
Below is a roundup of stories out ofGermanyfrom Sunday, June 29, and Monday, June 30:
The leaders of the conservative CDU and CSU parliamentary groups have urged the coalition government, led by their own parties, to do all it can to reduceenergyprices, arguing that lowering them wouldbenefit the economy, competitiveness, private households and the transition torenewables.
A statement seen by the German DPA news agency calls for "the rapid reduction of electricity tax to the European minimum level for all companies and all consumers."
It said the policies announced by the government to date "can only be a first step," saying more must come quickly "in this legislative period" as soon as economic conditions permit.
"The reduction in the electricity tax for everyone is a direct relief for mid-tier businesses and private households," the statement said.
It said lower taxes would "speed up" the energy transition in view of the ever greater contribution of renewable sources to the power mix and "support Germany in achieving itsclimate targets."
In a coalition agreement with junior partner the Social Democrats, the CDU/CSU bloc promised to reduce persistently high prices for energy.
However, Finance MinisterLars Klingbeil's draft 2025 budget, which waspassed in the Cabinet last week, foresees only a partial cut to electricity taxes for major industries, as well as reductions to the gas storage levy.
Business leaders have also reacted with dismay to the budget's failure to cut electricity taxes across the board.
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Two German police officers went on trial Monday for allegedly stealing cash seized fromcocainedealers.
The pair, aged 34 and 50, are said to have obtained over €6,000 ($7,000) each by taking money from the dealers during police checks over several months, without recording the transfers.
The lawyer of the 34-year-old, who has been remanded in custody, said his client had wanted to establish a "kind of moral justice" through a "redistribution between drug dealers and often needy consumers."
The 50-year-old, who is not in custody though suspended from duty, has denied all the charges.
The offenses are alleged to have occurred between April 2024 and January 2025.
Social media platforms are becoming host to a growing number ofdeliberate liesabout German ChancellorFriedrich Merz, government and disinformation analysts say.
A government spokesman told the German DPA news agency that "both disinformation and personal defamation as well as propaganda across many channels" are making their appearance, with the material seemingly intended to discredit Merz and his party, the center-rightChristian Democrats (CDU).
The disinformation material has recently contained false claims that the CDU-led coalition government was planning to introduce a school tax, to increase weekly working hours and to mandate home visits to those off work sick.
Merz himself has been shown in a fake video — embedded in an equally fake newspaper article — allegedly promoting dubious financial products.
He was also the target of false online claims connected with a video claiming to show French President Emmanuel Macron hiding a bag of cocaine during a trip to Kyiv. Merz, who was sitting at the same table as Macron, was accused of hiding a spoon allegedly used for cocaine consumption.
The "bag" seen in the video was, in fact, a tissue, the Elysee Palace confirmed.
An analyst at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), an organization devoted to the fight against disinformation, told DPA that one likely source was actors linked to the Kremlin who oppose Merz's strong support for Ukraine.
Pablo Maristany de las Casas, the analyst, said the material might also be posted by far-right users disappointed at Merz's migration policy and refusal to cooperate with the AfD.
Merz takes the disinformation "very seriously," according to the government spokesman.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticizedthe rejection of asylum-seekersat Germany's borders, a policy being implemented by the current government led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
"If someone stands at the German border and says they need asylum, they must receive the proper due process," Merkel said in a conversation with five refugees in Berlin, a conversation published by public broadcaster WDR.
"As far as I'm concerned, the process can take place at the border itself, but a process must take place."
Merkel said that while there needs to be a system as a result of which people smugglers will not get to decide who comes to Germany, there needs to be a consideration regarding who needs asylum the most, also mentioning the role the job market's need for employees plays.
"We have to think about it in European terms," Merkel said.
This comes as the number of asylum-seekers in Germany rose by 4.1% in 2024 in comparison to 2023, from 3.18 million to 3.3 million, according to the German Central Register of Foreign Nationals.
Fire broke out at the construction site of a 20-storey building in Berlin Monday morning, with some 100 firefighters already being on site to put out the blaze.
According to the DPA news agency, black smoke could be seen on the roof of the building, with the fire's cause being still unclear. Explosions also took place on the roof.
"Fire appears to be out, but the operation is ongoing. More emergency service personnel continue to arrive on the scene. Firefighters can be seen on the roof of the building," said DW reporter Matthew Moore.
German Foreign MinisterJohann Wadephulhas arrived in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, to discuss support forUkraine as it continues its more than three-year fight against a full-scale invasion by Russia, the German Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
In a statement made upon arrival, Wadephul slammed Russia's President Vladimir Putin, saying the Russian leader wanted to conquer and subjugate Ukraine at any price.
"We will continue to stand firmly by Ukraine's side so that it can continue to defend itself successfully — with modern air defense and other weapons, with humanitarian and economic aid," Wadephul said.
Germany isUkraine's second-biggest backer after the United States.
Wadephul's visit comes as Europe is struggling to fill the gap left by the Trump administration in the US, whose commitment to Kyiv has been called into question.
Washington has not announced any new help for Kyiv since early January.
Nearly three-quarters of people living in Germany believe their pensions will beinsufficient to allow them to keep their current standard of living, with just over half of them prepared to keep working beyond the official retirement age for that reason, a survey released on Monday has shown.
In all, 54.3% of 1,163 respondents in the YouGov poll said they would be willing to keep on working beyond the legal retirement age, most of them part-time and up to the age of 70.
Of this group, one in five (19.8%) said they would keep working only if they received higher pay.
Altogether some 33% said they would not be willing to work beyond the retirement age.
The German government is planning to change rules so that older people can stay in the workforce if they so desire.
The standard retirement age in Germany is being gradually raised from 65 to 67 by 2029.
German Interior MinisterAlexander Dobrindton Sunday threw cold water on a motion by the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) calling for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to be banned.
Dobrindt is a member of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which leads a coalition government with the SPD.
At the close of its three-day congress in Berlin, the SPD passed a motion calling for preparations to ban the far-right AfD, afterthe party was classified as a "right-wing extremist" group by Germany's domestic intelligence agency.
That designationhas been suspended pending a legal challengeby the AfD.
In a statement to the news agency dpa, the Green Party said it agrees with the SPD's position.
Speaking to the "Table.Today" podcast on Sunday, Dobrindt said "decisions made at the SPD party conference are not yet a mandate for the interior minister."
Dobrindt instead called for a cautious approach and to allow for the legal process to play out.
He said a federal-state interior ministers working group will address the AfD issue if the "right-wing extremist" designation is upheld in court.
The working group is awaiting a ruling from the Cologne Administrative Court on whether it agrees with the "extremist" designation.
Dobrindt, as well as Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), have previously said they areskeptical of banning the AfD, which is known for its nationalist, anti-immigration, anti-Muslim and Eurosceptic policies.
The AfD has grown in popularityover the past decade to become Germany's largest opposition party.
A woman and a young girl were found dead on a forest path in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, on Sunday only days after a reported robbery on the same trail in Dorsten-Holsterhausen.
Police said the woman, believed to be between 25 and 30-years-old, had a head wound and may have been a victim a violent crime. The child, estimated to be between 2 and 3-years-old, was found nearby. Neither has been identified.
On Thursday a 40-year-old woman and her 1-year-old child were attacked on the same path by a man and a woman who tried to steal her handbag, before fleeing in a black BMW X6.
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.