Germany updates: Coalition backs welfare reform, budget plan

Germany's 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign got off to a disastrous start as they suffered a deserved 2-0 defeat to Slovakia.

The first goal came after Liverpool star signing Florian Wirtz lost possession and Real Madrid defender Antonio Rüdiger failed to track goalscorer David Hancko.

And the second came after RB Leipzig captain David Raum was beaten in the air, before Slovakia's David Strelec fired into the top corner.

Germany's best chance fell to Bayern Munich's Leon Goretzka in the first half, but Slovakian goalkeeper Martin Dubravka saved well.

Furious head coach Julian Nagelsmann questioned in team's mentality with qualification for the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, Canada and the United States on the line.

Read DW's full story here.

An amateur archaeologist has found a mammoth tooth on the banks of the Rhine, Germany's longest river, in the western city of Düsseldorf.

"The state of preservation is unusually good," Philipp Schulte, an archaeologist with the conservation authorities in the city of Bonn, said on Thursday.

He added that the tooth, a mammoth molar, must have been underwater, keeping it from contact with the air. 

Schulte also said that it will undergo conservation treatment at the Ruhr Museum in Essen to prevent deterioration.

The mammoth tooth, which is approximately 30 centimeters long, was found directly opposite the Düsseldorf television tower by 44-year-old Rustam Wagner.

"Some people would probably have walked right past it," said Wagner, who admitted he initially didn't know what he was looking at.

Germany's ambassador to Ukraine, Martin Jäger, will take the helm of the Foreign Intelligence Service (BND), the government said.

Jäger would take over as spy chief from Bruno Kahl on September 15 at a time of high tension with Russia.

Thorsten Frei, the government commissioner for the intelligence services, said that Jäger's "experience over many years in crisis-hit countries" meant that he was "fully equipped" to lead the agency.

He added, "in light of the current tense security situation, this appointment is a great advantage."

Germany military, or Bundeswehr, is making "good progress" toward combat readiness and full defense and deterrence capabilities, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said.

Speaking to broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1. he cited the turnaround in the recruitment of new soldiers.

"We are in the black this year in terms of recruitment," Pistorius said in the interview on Thursday. 

"This means that for the first time in five or six years we are recruiting more than are leaving the Bundeswehr."

The armed forces will need around 80,000 additional recruits over the next 10 years to meet its NATO commitments.

The German military currently has about 181,000 active personnel but aims to grow its standing force to around 260,000 troops, plus 200,000 reservists.

The reserve force is due to be increased primarily with volunteers completing the new military service program, which is due to begin next January if it receives parliamentary approval. 

Pistorius stated that the voluntary military would only use conscription if absolutely necessary.

Several people, including children were injured in Berlin's Wedding district after a car drove into pedestrians.

A 20-year-old driver allegedly ran a red light while turning from Dohnagestell onto Seestraße, striking several pedestrians who were crossing with a green light, police said.

Three children sustained minor injuries, while an adult was severely injured and taken to hospital, according to a spokesperson for the emergency services.

The driver was detained on suspicion of being under the influence of "intoxicating substances," police spokesman Florian Nath said. 

 

Holger Blask is set to become the new secretary-general of the German Football Federation (DFB), the federation said in a statement.

He will succeed Heike Ullrich, who is slated to become the next vice president for women's and girls' soccer.

Blask currently serves as the DFB's managing director of marketing, sales, events and operations. He is also the spokesperson for the management of DFB GmbH & Co. KG, roles he will continue to hold.

Meanwhile, Ullrich, who has served as DFB general secretary since 2022, said she is eager to return to her roots.

"Women's and girls' soccer has always been close to my heart," she said. "This area has grown tremendously and deserves continued strategic focus."

The Munich-based Ifo Institute for Economic Research has lowered its economic growth forecast for Germany for 2025.

Gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by only 0.25% this year, a drop of 0.1 percentage point from its previous estimate. 

Next year, the institute expects economic output to rise by 1.3%, down 0.2 percentage points from the last estimate.

Ifo researcher Timo Wollmershäuser said a consistent fiscal platform could help the country's struggling economy.

"The economic policy measures of the federal government are likely to take effect, especially from next year," he said.

"However, if economic policy remains at a standstill, there is a risk of further years of economic paralysis," he added.

European television group MediaforEurope (MFE) has taken a 75.61% stake in German mass media company ProSiebenSat.1, a regulatory filing on Thursday showed.

It comes after a drawn-out takeover tussle over the German broadcaster.

At a meeting on Tuesday, MFE head Pier Silvio Berlusconi, the son of the late Italian prime minister and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, assured Wolfram Weimer, the German Minister of State for Culture, of the company's editorial independence. 

The deal is part of a wider push by MFE, controlled by Italy's Berlusconi family, to create a European ad-funded TV platform amid fierce competition from Netflix, YouTube and other US streaming services.

"We want to produce and offer more localized content tailored to the German audience: more news, more entertainment shows, and more TV series — and over time, fewer acquired formats," Berlusconi said.

MFE also runs TV operations in Italy and Spain.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) appears on course to win the upcoming state election in Saxony-Anhalt in September 2026, according to a new political poll.

The latest Infratest survey showed that the anti-immigration AfD could secure 39% of the vote, while the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) trails at 27%. Such a result would mark a political earthquake, not because it would be the AfD's first state-level victory (it achieved that in Thuringia last year), but because it would make forming a government without them nearly impossible. 

A coalition of the CDU, Social Democrats and Liberals currently governs Saxony-Anhalt. However, the retirement of the hugely popular state Premier Reiner Haseloff has given the insurgent AfD a significant boost.

The far-right party's dramatic rise comes despite being officially classified as right-wing extremist by the state's Office for the Protection of the Constitution. That designation is one reason other parties maintain an unofficial "firewall" policy, a refusal to cooperate with the AfD.

Yet a result like the one forecast in Thursday's poll is likely to increase pressure within the CDU to reconsider that stance.

This is precisely the scenario the AfD has been working toward. Party insiders say they would prefer to support a minority government on a vote-by-vote basis rather than take outright control of the state.

Their reasoning is strategic; they appear to believe it's better to gradually erode the firewall than to gain full power too quickly for a party founded just over a decade ago.

Porsche chief executive Oliver Blume said the German luxury car manufacturer would soon be relisted on Germany's DAX index.

With "iconic products" and profit programs. he told the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that Porsche would achieve higher share prices again in the future.

"With Porsche's new direction, we have a clear ambition to return to the DAX as soon as possible," he said. 

His remarks, published on Thursday, come a day after German exchange operator Deutsche Börse Group said Porsche is leaving Germany's leading share index, the DAX, and will be moved to the MDAX listing of medium-sized companies.

The move follows a sharp drop in profits at the luxury carmaker, once hailed for one of the biggest IPOs in German history.

Shares have fallen from nearly €120 to around €45, reflecting broader troubles in the German auto industry.

Sluggish electric vehicle sales, a cooling Chinese market, and trade tensions with the United States have all taken a toll.

Unlike manufacturer Porsche AG, Porsche Automobil Holding SE remains in the DAX. 

The holding company is the largest shareholder in the Volkswagen Group with a 31.9% stake; it also holds an approximately one-eighth stake in Porsche AG.

Germany's coalition leaders pledged unity on Wednesday after days of discord over welfare reforms and budget pressures.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), held talks with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) after openly clashing over the chancellor's proposed cuts to what he called an "unaffordable" welfare system.

At a joint press conference, Merz and senior SPD ministers insisted they were united in their commitment to preserving the welfare state, though they acknowledged reforms are necessary.

"We don't want to erase it, we don't want to abolish it," Merz said. "But we want to preserve the most important aspects of it, and that means we need to reform it."

The coalition would likely agree on the basis of reform proposals "within the year," he added.

SPD co-leader and Labor Minister Bärbel Bas, who days earlier said it was "bullshit" to suggest Germany could not afford its welfare state, said she and Merz were "on the same course."

"The debate, which was a matter of public record, was about finding a position and bringing some clarity," she added.

The leaders said they wanted to demonstrate political leadership in drafting the difficult 2027 budget.

"I want to avoid the normal budgetary process for 2027 involving night-long coalition meetings and public disputes, should there be any at any point," said Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil.

Klingbeil, who is also a co-leader of the SPD, said the coalition aims to make political decisions quickly and jointly.

Germany is seemingly planning deeper cuts to global health aid than previously expected.

A draft budget seen by the dpa news agency shows Berlin will reduce its contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria by €100 million ($117 million) over the next three years.

The fund, which supports disease prevention and treatment in 120 countries, is considered vital by development groups.

The Finance Ministry has proposed €850 million in commitments, down from the €950 million originally planned. The Budget Committee will review the plans on Thursday.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his governing coalition partners have vowed an "autumn of reforms."

But details matter, and increasingly public rows over how to balance the budget have shown the coalition is not always on the same page when it comes to the implementation of the reforms. 

This comes amid more signs of a faltering German economy and the stocks of one of its most recognizable car brands, Porsche, now being relegated from Germany's top blue-chip stock index. 

We will look at these and other news from Germany in this blog.