Coalition split widens over fuel price relief

A few thousand people attended rallies in German cities calling for the Constitutional Court to review whether far-right parties should be banned.

Police said that up to 2,000 people took part in a rally in Munich organised by the PRÜF campaign.

PRÜF, which means “check,” is also an acronym with the letters standing for “Prüfung Rettet Übrigens Freiheit!” — Review Saves Freedom.

Berlin saw around 1,000 people gather while in Potsdam the number was around 800 although organisers put the number at 1,100.

“All parties classified by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as suspected or confirmed right-wing extremist should be reviewed by the Federal Constitutional Court,” the organisation said on its website.

In February a German court ordered authorities to stop calling the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party far-right extremist until a final ruling on the designation can be handed down.

The AfD is the country’s second largest party in nationwide polling and Germany’s largest opposition party.

Lufthansa pilots are set to strike next week on Monday and Tuesday, the pilot’s trade union announced on Saturday.

Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Cityline and Eurowings are all included in the call to down tools.

The work stoppage is expected to run from 12:01 am on Monday (22:01 UTC on Sunday) through to 23:59 pm on Tuesday, the union said.

“The Cockpit Union feels compelled to take this step after the employers showed no discernible willingness to reach a solution in several collective bargaining disputes,” the organization said.

“Despite a deliberate decision not to take strike action over the Easter holidays, no serious offers were forthcoming. During this period, there was neither a response nor any discernible willingness to engage in talks on the part of the employers,” union President Andreas Pinheiro said.

Poolice have said they shot and seriously injured a man during a disturbance at a hotel in the state of Lower Saxony.

Authorities said the 39-year-old had called emergency services himself around 10:15 p.m. local time on Friday, reportedly threatening himself with a sharp object in his room.

Officers said the situation in the town of Hemmingen near Hanover remained tense even after additional units, including state criminal police, arrived. The man was described as being in a psychological crisis.

A warning shot had no effect as he repeatedly approached officers while holding the object. Police then fired a targeted shot, and when he did not stop, also used a Taser.

Officers provided first aid immediately and took the man into custody. He was hospitalized in stable condition and is not considered to be in life-threatening danger.

Investigators in Hanover have opened a case, and the man is being investigated on suspicion of making threats.

Germany’s finance minister has rejected a proposal to fund welfare recipients’ health costs entirely through taxes.

Lars Klingbeil, who is also Germany’s vice chancellor, said the idea would cost around €12 billion ($14.07 billion) and called it misguided, arguing it would not reduce the overall budget gap.

The proposal came from a government-appointed commission on reforming the statutory health insurance system. It suggested shifting the costs for basic welfare recipients to the federal government to ease pressure on insurers.

Criticism of Klingbeil’s response followed from the GKV health insurance fund association and patient advocates, who argued the state should take on the burden. GKV spokesman Florian Lanz said the current system unfairly advantages privately insured and higher-income groups.

“It is a gross social injustice to have the healthcare of basic income recipients financed primarily by the contributors to the statutory health insurance funds, instead of this state social benefit being financed by the federal government and thus by all taxpayers,” said Lanz.

Eugen Brysch of the German Patient Protection Foundation said Klingbeil was ignoring the principle of fair burden-sharing, adding that statutory insurance holders already carry most of the costs for welfare recipients.

Klingbeil said shifting funds between budgets would not solve structural gaps, stressing that broader reforms are needed to stabilize public finances.

Fuel prices in Germany have begun easing slightly after the ceasefire in the Iran war, but relief is expected to be short-lived.

ING economist Carsten Brzeski said prices had surged earlier in the week due to escalation, and are now only correcting from those highs.

“We won’t end up at the fuel prices we saw before the Iran war,” said Brzeski. “The ceasefire is far too fragile for that. There is still far too high a risk of further escalation.”

Moreover, he added, the important shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz remains restricted.

Brzeski expects energy prices to stay elevated under a baseline scenario, which assumes another escalation before stabilization begins. He said the strait could gradually reopen over four to six weeks, with full normalization only expected in the fourth quarter.

By year-end, oil prices could settle just below 90 dollars per barrel of Brent crude. Fuel costs may remain persistently high, even if slightly below recent peaks.

Germany is one of the last countries in Europe that still bans egg cell donation completely. The health minister has now proposed limited legalization. Will that be enough to meet the needs of people planning families?

The successful splashdown of Artemis II off California has marked the start of a new phase in space exploration.

German astronaut Alexander Gerst said the mission showed the spacecraft worked reliably with a crew, calling it a key milestone.

Gerst described the new era as one focused on research and long-term exploration.

“This is no longer about planting flags like in the first wave,” he said. The second wave of Moon exploration is in order to explore space, he said.

The mission carried US astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, who returned after about 10 days in space.

Gerst said several more test missions will be needed before humans can safely land and operate on the Moon’s surface.

Read more about the Artemis mission here.

Most people and businesses in Germany have seen little change in bureaucracy despite Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government promises to reduce it.

A survey by YouGov found 66% of citizens said administrative burdens had remained the same since the current government took office, while 22% reported an increase.

Only 4% believed bureaucracy had decreased, with 8% unsure. The poll was conducted for the European Center for Digital Competitiveness at the ESCP Business School in Berlin.

The coalition of the conservative CDU-CSU bloc and the center-left SPD has pledged a broad rollback of bureaucracy through modernization, administrative reform, and digitalization. However, businesses also report limited improvement.

Among managers surveyed, 63% said bureaucracy had stayed the same, while 31% saw it increase and just 4% reported a decline. About half said they had delayed or canceled projects in the past year due to slow or complex administrative processes.

Respondents said the greatest need for digital improvement is in healthcare and local administrative offices, followed by tax services and construction approvals.

Public transport workers in Bavaria have announced another strike as wage talks for about 9,000 employees remain deadlocked.

The union Verdi said Tuesday’s walkout will affect cities including Munich, Nuremberg, Augsburg, and Regensburg.

The all-day walkout is expected to cause major disruption, although some services — such as S-Bahn trains run by Deutsche Bahn — will continue operating in certain areas.

The union itself has already made significant concessions to the transport companies. Instead of nearly €670, the union is now demanding €550 in two installments. And working hours should be reduced from the current 38.5 to 35 hours — but gradually over a longer period.

Police in Germany have recorded a significant increase in reported rape cases, according to a media survey.

The newspaper Welt am Sonntag reported 13,920 cases for 2025, up 9% from the previous year and continuing a steady rise from 8,106 cases in 2018.

The figures are based on state police crime statistics, reflecting fully investigated cases rather than convictions. However, they provide a clear indication of crime trends, with national crime statistics expected to be published soon.

Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig described sexualized violence against women as a serious issue, calling rape an “abhorrent crime” with lifelong consequences for victims.

Hubig said stricter minimum sentences are needed in particularly severe cases, including those involving date rape drugs. A draft law is expected to go before the cabinet soon, with the coalition also planning tougher penalties for gang rape and cases resulting in pregnancy.

At the same time, overall violent crime — including serious bodily harm, robbery, murder, and manslaughter — has declined slightly from a 2024 peak, with 212,344 cases reported compared to 217,277 the year before.

Germany’s coalition dispute over easing high fuel and energy costs has amped up as center-left Social Democrat Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil presses for stronger state intervention amid turmoil in the Middle East.

The finance minister told the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper that market intervention was the most effective tool, citing examples from other European countries, despite skepticism from Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Klingbeil has renewed calls for a windfall tax, lower energy taxes, and a fuel price cap — measures that have been openly rejected by Economy Minister Katherina Reiche and have been viewed skeptically by Merz.

“I can no longer explain to anyone why the governments in Belgium, Luxembourg, or Greece — none of which are communist countries — are limiting prices, while here they are skyrocketing,” Klingbeil told the newspaper. This “very fragile ceasefire” between the US and Iran, unfortunately, will not lead to prices coming down quickly.

The dispute escalated on Friday after Reiche separately criticized Klingbeil’s plans in a public appearance. Merz reacted by expressing concern over the open conflict and urged restraint, particularly from Reiche.

The Chancellor was “perplexed by the public exchange and urged Minister Reiche to exercise restraint,” according to sources close to him.

As recently as Thursday, Merz had expressed his expectation that Klingbeil and Reiche would put forward proposals jointly.

Guten Tag from DW’s newsroom in the sunny former capital of West Germany, Bonn.

Yes, we’re still enjoying cherry blossom season, something you can find out more about here.

You join us as Germany’s ruling coalition is showing signs of instability over the fuel price crisis.

Conservative Finance Minister Katharina Reiche appears to be increasingly at odds with the center-left Social Democrat Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil over how to address the issue.

For more on this and other news out of Germany, stay here with us.