Overview
- In a Bundestag statement ahead of the EU summit, Chancellor Friedrich Merz ruled out any German military role in the Iran conflict and rejected deploying warships to the Strait of Hormuz.
- He cast the stance as part of a push for European strategic autonomy, saying the EU should not sell itself short while calling for restored competitiveness and enforcement of common rules.
- New analyses by the Ifo Institute and IW Köln report that most of the €500 billion infrastructure fund was diverted to cover budget gaps; the Finance Ministry disputed the assessment, and media report the Greens are considering a constitutional challenge.
- FDP leader Christian Dürr urged a U‑turn in debt policy as political pressure rose, with analysts warning the SPD could lose long-held power in Rhineland‑Palatinate after its setback in Baden‑Württemberg.
- Security and social tensions sharpened as federal prosecutors raided alleged members of the far‑right ‘Letzte Verteidigungswelle,’ Saxony advanced a bill for covert automated licence‑plate capture, and a Verdi strike halted all passenger flights at Berlin’s BER.