Germany updates: Merz in Washington for talks with Trump

06/05/2025June 5, 2025

Merz set to talk Ukraine, tariffs with Trump

Chancellor Friedrich Merz is set to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington for talks that are likely to call on the new German leader to exert his diplomatic skills to the maximum amid differences over the conflict in Ukraine and trade tariffs.

Ahead of the meeting, Merz's spokesman said that the chancellor was, however, looking ahead to his first in-person meeting with Trump "with great calmness and joy." 

"Germany is the third largest economy in the world, and we have a lot to offer as an economic partner of the USA," Stefan Kornelius said. 

"At the same time, a very constructive and positive relationship with America is very important to us, for our own economy and for the security of Germany and Europe."

The fact that both Trump and Merz are keen golf players and have business backgrounds might also go some way toward creating a good atmosphere despite the weightiness of the topics on the agenda. They are also on first name terms after several phone calls, Kornelius said.

Another thorny issue that might raise its head is the support of many in Trump's circle for the far-right German party Alternative for Germany (AfD), with some of them criticizing the fact that it has been declared "right-wing extremist" by Germany's domestic intelligence agency as a blow to free speech.

At the time, Merz described these criticisms as "absurd observations" from Washington and said he "would like to encourage the American government ... to largely stay out of" German domestic politics.

But even in view of such possibly explosive discussions, Merz quipped in a recent interview with public broadcaster ZDF that he would not need to take valerian — often prescribed to treat anxiety — "to stay calm and have a reasonable conversation with the American president."

06/05/2025June 5, 2025

Israel's Saar warns of growing antisemitism in Germany

German Foreign Minister Wadephul (L) visited the Holocaust Memorial together with Saar (R)Image: Kay Nietfeld/dpa/picture alliance

Israel's foreign minister, Gideon Saar, has condemned the renewed rise of antisemitism in Germany during a visit to Berlin's Holocaust Memorial with his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul.

"With a heavy heart, I say today that the lessons [from history] have obviously been forgotten again," he said, after laying a wreath at the memorial, which commemorates the 6 million Jews in Europe killed by Germany's Nazi regime.

According to Saar, there is now "one antisemitic incident every hour" on average in Germany.

"Today, antisemitism is raging out of control — in the world, above all in Europe," he said.

Above all, he slammed the pro-Palestine movement in Germany, which he described as antisemitic.

Wadephul said he was ashamed at the large increase in antisemitic incidents in his country.

"I am deeply ashamed of the fact that Jews say they no longer feel safe in Germany, that they warn their children not to speak Hebrew on the street," he said.

At the same time, Wadephul  said that "support for Jewish life in Germany and the commitment to the security of the state of Israel and its peaceful future are our duty and will remain so."

A report by the Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS) released on Wednesday showed there were 8,627 antisemitic incidents in Germany in 2024 — an increase of 77% over the year before.

06/05/2025June 5, 2025

Protest against Gaza offensive during visit by Israel's Saar

Protesters gathered outside the Federal Foreign Office building during Saar's visitImage: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

Dozens of demonstrators have protested outside the Federal Foreign Office building in Berlin against Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip as Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar visits the German capital.

The protest was held under the motto "Red Line International Law."

Participants waved Palestinian flags and carried banners with slogans such as "No Support for War Crimes in Gaza," "Stop the Arms Deliveries," and "Stop the Deliberate Starvation of the People in Gaza."

The protest was called by several human rights groups and NGOs, including Amnesty International, Doctors of the World and Medico International.

A Middle East expert from Amnesty International, Katja Müller-Fahlbusch, said ahead of the protest that Saar's visit was "a good opportunity — even if too late — to announce the implementation of concrete political consequences: Germany must stop the export of arms and military equipment."

On Wednesday, German top diplomat Johann Wadephul announced that Berlin would send more arms shipments to Israel, despite growing calls to end such exports in view of the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip amid Israel's war there.

06/05/2025June 5, 2025

NATO launches Baltic Sea drills from Rostock

The German corvette Magdeburg (L), seen here in Rostock, is among the vessels taking part in the exerciseImage: AFP via Getty Images

NATO forces have started a two-week exercise in the Baltic Sea, with the first ships setting out early on Thursday from the northeastern German port of Rostock, the seat of the German Navy Command.

It is the first time in the more than 50 years of the annual BALTOPS exercise that it has started from Rostok.

The German corvette Magdeburg is among the some 50 vessels taking part in the US-led exercise, which also involves more than 25 aircraft and around 9,000 soldiers from 17 countries.

The Baltic Sea is considered to be of great strategic importance, especially against the background of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow has critized the NATO drills, calling them a provocation, even though the Russian fleet also held exercises in the Baltic Sea in recent days.

Russia is the only one of the nine countries with a Baltic Sea coastline that is not a NATO member. 

NATO has said that the BALTOPS exercise aims to reinforce cooperation within the alliance and to demonstrate deterrence.
 

06/05/2025June 5, 2025

Defense Minister Pistorius says Bundeswehr needs up to 60,000 more soldiers

Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, will need as many as 60,000 more active soldiers if it is to meet the capability targets foreseen within NATO to counter the threat of Russian aggression, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Thursday.

"We assume, but this is only a rough estimate to be clear, that we need around 50,000 to 60,000 more soldiers in the standing armed forces than we have today," Pistorius said at a NATO meeting in Brussels. 

According to the Defense Ministry, there were around 181,150 active soldiers in the Bundeswehr at the end of 2024, falling short of previous recruiting targets.

You can read more in this article:Germany needs up to 60,000 more troops, says defense chief

06/05/2025June 5, 2025

Ryanair flight from Berlin to Milan makes emergency landing due to turbulence

A Ryanair flight from Berlin to Milan had to make an emergency landing in southern Germany due to extreme turbulence on Wednesday.

Bavaria police said nine passengers were injured but the flight landed safely in Memmingen town, which lies 115 km (70 miles) west of Munich. 

Police said a woman who sustained a head injury, her 2-year-old child who was bruised and a 59-year-old woman with back pain were taken to the nearby hospital. Others were treated at the site. 

Ryanair on Thursday said the captain had requested medical assistance prior to landing, and a replacement flight was arranged for the passengers.

However, police had said on Wednesday that a bus transfer had been organized because local authorities had not immediately cleared onward flights.
 

06/05/2025June 5, 2025

German Foreign Minister Wadephul hosts Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar will meet with his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul, in Berlin on Thursday, a day after Wadephul promised that Germany would send more arms to Israel despite growing international calls for a weapons embargo.

In the morning, the two top diplomats are scheduled to lay a wreath at Berlin's Holocaust Memorial, which commemorates the murder and persecution of Jews in Europe under Germany's Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945.

Saar's official visit is to conclude with a joint press conference at the Foreign Ministry in the early afternoon.

Several human rights groups and NGOs are planning a rally in front of the ministry in protest against Israel's war in the Gaza Strip, which has killed thens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.

Wadephul's promise of more arms deliveries to Israel on Wednesday came as an apparent reversal of comments made to the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung last week.

There, he suggested that further arms shipments to Israel were dependent on a government review of whether Israeli actions in Gaza complied with international humanitarian law.

Israel launched its offensive in the Gaza Strip in response to raids led by the Palestinian militant group Hamas in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and some 250 hostages were taken.

The country is now coming under increasing international pressure to stop its military operation in view of the desolate humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory.

The parliamentary session on Wednesday where Wadephul was questioned on Germany's Israel policy was disrupted when Left Party lawmaker Cansin Köktürk was ordered to leave the room because she was wearing a T-shirt with "Palestine" written on it. Bundestag President Julia Klöckner accused Köktürk of being in contravention of rules banning political slogans on clothing in parliament.

06/05/2025June 5, 2025

Welcome to our coverage

And it's guten Tag again from the DW newsroom!

You can follow events during Chancellor Friedrich Merz's first official visit to the US here, with all eyes on the German leader as he prepares for talks with his redoubtable US counterpart, President Donald Trump.

Thursday will also see a visit by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar to Berlin at a time when ties between Germany and Israel are burdened by controversy over the war in Gaza.

We'll bring you up to speed with headlines, analyses, multimedia content and DW on-the-ground reporting on events and developments in and connected with Germany. Thank you for joining us!