Overview
- Merz, speaking in the Bundestag on Wednesday, said Culture State Minister Wolfram Weimer has his trust.
- Weimer had removed three left-leaning bookstores from the shortlist of the German Bookshop Prize, a federal award for independent bookstores, citing domestic intelligence findings that he has not detailed.
- Merz did not endorse those specific exclusions and stressed that bookstores typically stock views beyond an owner’s politics, calling for respect for pluralism.
- The exchange unfolded during a government question session that included an AfD query about left-leaning shops, and Merz rejected the idea of excluding more stores from prizes.
- No reversal of Weimer’s action has been announced, and the use of intelligence assessments in a cultural award remains the focus of an unsettled debate.