Germany updates: Merz condemns Russia, urges Gaza ceasefire

06/24/2025June 24, 2025

Merz: Russia's attacks on Ukraine 'barbaric,' show no willingness for peace

In his address, Friedrich Merz condemned Russian airstrikes on Ukraine, adding Moscow does not want peace.

"Genuine, lasting peace requires a willingness for peace on all sides," Merz said on Tuesday in the Bundestag, Germany's lower house, ahead of his visit to The Hague for a NATO summit.

"Russia, on the other hand, has made it clear in a barbaric way with its new wave of attacks on the Ukrainian civilian population that it does not currently have this willingness for peace," the German chancellor said.

Kyiv has been hit by a flurry of attacks in recent weeks, with casualties mounting.

Ukraine has been fending off a full-scale Russia invasion since February 2022 but recent efforts to end the conflict have yet to yield a truce.

"Ukraine has agreed to an immediate ceasefire without any conditions. Russia has refused to accept this," Merz said in Berlin.

06/24/2025June 24, 2025

October 7 attacks in Israel 'not possible without Iran'

Chancellor Merz highlighted the role of Iran in the October 7 attacks in Israel.

In his parliament address he said: "Without Iran, the October 7, 2023 [attacks] in Israel would not have been possible."

"Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels are terrorist organizations funded by Iran and equipped by Iran."

The Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel in October 2023 saw nearly 1,200 people killed, including hundreds at a music festival taking place in Re'im near the Israel-Gaza border. Militants also took around 250 hostages back to Gaza.

In the subsequent ongoing conflict in Gaza some 55,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Hamas is designated a terrorist group by the EU, the US and other countries.

06/24/2025June 24, 2025

Merz: 'Israel has a right to defend its existence'

In his address to the German parliament on Tuesday, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Israel has a right to defend itself, and reiterated Berlin's stance to the same effect.

"Israel has a right to defend its existence and the safety of its citizens," he said.

Iran wants to "annihilate" the state of Israel, he told lawmakers in Berlin.

"Our reason of state is to defend the state of Israel in its existence."

06/24/2025June 24, 2025

Merz to deliver address to the Bundestag

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) is due to deliver a government statement in the Bundestag at noon (1000 GMT) on Tuesday regarding the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as NATO's 5% target.

The address is scheduled to last 25 minutes, followed by a 90-minute debate.

06/24/2025June 24, 2025

Germany's 2025 budget to be sent to parliament after Cabinet approval

Germany's Cabinet approved on Tuesday the draft budget for 2025 and a framework for the following yearr, providing for record investments to boost growth.

After the Cabinet meeting, the 2025 budget is set to be introduced in the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament. The final approval is due this September. 

The plans for 2026 are due to be agreed in full by the Cabinet in late July before a vote in the Bundestag by the end of the year.  

06/24/2025June 24, 2025

Shoplifting rising in Germany, with senior citizens stealing more often — report

Senior citizens and families are shoplifting more frequently as the value of items shoplifted in Germany continues to rise, according to a study by the the Cologne-based retail research institute EHI published on Tuesday. 

In 2024, customers stole goods to the tune of approximately €2.95 billion ($3.4 billion), a 4.6% hike when compared to 2023.

The total loss has risen for the third time in a row and reached an all-time high.

"There are more and more people who can no longer afford or want to buy certain products, partly as a protest against the prices," said study author Frank Horst. 

"Senior citizens and families are also shoplifting more and more frequently."

Experts say the increase of self-service checkouts in Germany is correlated with the rise in shoplifting. More and more retailers, from supermarket giant Aldi to healthcare and cosmetics store chain dm, are adopting self-service checkout machines.

Although they used to be uncommon, German retailers are increasingly offering self-checkout machines for customers (FILE: July 3, 2024) Image: Oliver Berg/dpa/picture alliance

EHI surveyed 98 companies with a total of 17,433 shops regarding their inventory discrepancies to get their findings. 

06/24/2025June 24, 2025

Germany's rich are getting richer, report finds

Around 3,900 ultra-wealthy people in Germany now own more than a quarter of the country's financial wealth, according to a new report from management consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The people with financial assets valued at more than $100 million (€86.17 million), now collectively have a total worth of just under $3 trillion.

BCG estimates Germany's total gross wealth in 2024 at $22.9 trillion. Of this, $11.8 trillion is invested in real estate and other tangible assets, while $11.1 trillion consists of purely financial assets such as bank deposits, securities, pensions and cash.  The ultra-wealthy own 27% of those financial assets. However, this is balanced against liabilities of $2.2 trillion, most of them loans.

Germany now ranks third worldwide in the number of ultra-wealthy individuals, behind the United States, with 33,000 super-rich, and China, with 9,200, the BCG found.

The management consultancy is headquartered in the US with offices in more than 50 countries.

06/24/2025June 24, 2025

What do we know about the draft budget?

Klingbeil's draft budget has several record figures, made possible by the easing of the so-called debt brake in MarchImage: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa/picture alliance

Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil's draft budget has several record figures, including in terms of defense spending and government borrowing.

The defense budget is set to more than double by 2029, rising to €152.8 billion (roughly $177 billion). 

This means defense spending is due to rise to 3.5%, amid Germany's growing security fears since Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine as well as US President Donald Trump's growing pressure on Europe to up its defense spending.

Net borrowing will also significantly increase, as per the draft budget. It is due to jump to €81.8 billion in 2025, up from €33.3 billion last year. It will continue to rise in the next four years; to €89.3 billion in 2026, €87.5 billion in 2027, €115.7 billion in 2028 and €126.1 billion in 2029.

Those massive hikes are made possible by a law passed in March, easing Germany's so-called debt brake.

Germany has been operating with a provisional budget since the start of the year.

06/24/2025June 24, 2025

Germany to boost defense spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2029 — report

Germany will boost defense spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product by 2029, Reuters said on Monday, aiming to send a strong signal with its 2025 budget ahead of this week's NATO summit in The Hague.

Germany's total defense spending will go up from €95 billion in the draft budget for 2025 to €162 billion in the budget framework for 2029, according to Reuters.

Germany will be able to borrow a total €378.1 billion for defense between 2025 and 2029 thanks to debt brake reform from March (see below).

06/24/2025June 24, 2025

Germany eased strict debt limits in landmark reform this March — what to know

Germany's upper house of parliament in March passed a reform of the country's borrowing rules and a €500 billion ($542 billion) fund to revamp its infrastructure and revive Europe's largest economy.

The constitutional amendment to loosen the so-called debt brake allows for de-facto unlimited spending on defense and security.

Germany's draft budget includes net new debt of €82 billion, which will rise progressively to just over €126 billion in 2029, according to Bloomberg News.

Before the March change, the German parliament suspended the debt brake in times like the COVID-19 pandemic and during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Guten Morgen! German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil is set to present the first draft of the 2025 budget.

The budget this year was delayed because of national elections in February, and comes after Germany's parliament voted this March in favor of a major fiscal package that includes changes to debt policies to enable greater spending on defense as well as €500 billion ($580 billion) infrastructure fund.

We'll bring you the latest news, including announcements from a press conference scheduled to take place at 10:45 a.m. (0845 GMT/UTC).