Germany updates: Merkel reflects on 2015 refugee policy

Three people were injured and 25 were evacuated in Germany's northern Hamburg port after a fire broke out following multiple explosions.

Local police warned of "heavy smoke emissions," adding that the A1 highway was closed for traffic.

Firefighters were struggling to contain the fire as it expanded following the repeated explosion of gas cylinders throughout the day, the NDR regional public broadcaster reported.

Former Vice Chancellor and Economic Minister Robert Habeck of the environmentalist Green Party announced Monday he would be resigning from Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag.

"On Monday, I informed the Bundestag Presidium that I will be resigning my seat in the Bundestag on September 1," Habeck told Germany's Die Tageszeitung newspaper.

The party leaders of the Greens, Franziska Brantner and Felix Banaszak, said they regretted Habeck's decision.

Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is on his inaugural visit to Croatia to discuss the war in Ukraine, European security, defencs and trade with the newest of the European Union's 27 member states and a fellow NATO member.

During the trip, Wadephul called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to hold speedy bilateral negotiations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"If President Putin thinks he can play for time, then he will have miscalculated," German news agency DPA quoted Wadephul as saying as he met with Croatian counterpart Gordan Grlic Radman in Zagreb.

Germany's top diplomat said it was up to Putin to prove that he was willing to work towards a just peace.

"Based on everything we are seeing, there are considerable doubts about that," Wadephul said.

Germany's addiction commissioner has called for social media age restrictions in order to limit exposure to digital media.

"It has been scientifically proven that children and young people who consume a high amount of age-inappropriate content are more susceptible to risky addictive behaviour and problematic drug use," Hendrik Streeck, commissioner for Addiction and Drug Issues, told the Rheinische Post in comments published on Monday.

"We are talking about an average of four hours on social media, two hours playing computer games and two hours using streaming services per day," Streeck said.

He also noted that some children spend even more time on their mobile phones than the average amount.

"You wonder when they actually sleep," he commented.

"When you consider that 42% of 10-11 year olds have a TikTok account, something is clearly out of control," Streeck said, adding that the platform should only be accessible to users aged 16 and over without parental consent.

German federal prosecutors have charged a US national with espionage.

The man — identified as Martin D. in accordance with Germany privacy law — is accused of offering to pass on sensitive US military information to Chinese intelligence.

"The accused is sufficiently suspected of having declared his willingness to engage in intelligence activities for a foreign
intelligence service in a particularly serious case," the federal prosecutor's office stated in a press release. 

The man allegedly contacted Chinese state agencies in the summer of 2024 while employed by a US military contractor on a US base in Germany.

The man has been in pre-trial detention since his arrest in November.

Police in the eastern German city of Dresden have appealed for witnesses to come forward after following a stabbing incident that took place on a tram in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Police said that an altercation took place involving three people on the Gorbitz-bound tram at the the Neustädter Markt stop at 12:25 a.m. (2225 UTC/GMT).

According to police, two men from a group were harassing female passengers. A 21-year-old US citizen intervened but was stabbed by one of two men involved in the altercation.

Read more about what the Dresden police said regarding the stabbing.

It has been ten years since German Chancellor Angela Merkel made her famous "Wir schaffen das" ("We can do this") statement regarding her decision to accept hundreds of thousands of refugees into Germany.

In an interview with the public broadcaster ARD that will be featured in a documentary airing Monday, Merkel reflected on her decision, which she said was guided by humanitarian principles and human dignity.

"It is a process. But so far, we have achieved a lot," Merkel said. "And what still needs to be done must continue to be done," she added.

The 2015 statement came at a time when 800,000 refugees were expected to arrive in Germany that year, many fleeing the brutal civil war in Syria. Merkel acknowledged the scale of the challenge and expressed surprise at how often her words were criticized.

Despite the controversy, Merkel said she did not believe Germany was overwhelmed.

"It was clear to me that this would be something truly challenging," Merkel said.

She emphasized that the alternative — using force to prevent refugees from entering Germany — was never an option. "I would never have been willing to do that," Merkel stated.

Looking back, the former chancellor stands by her decision as morally necessary, while acknowledging that integrating such a large number of refugees remains a significant challenge for Germany.

Merkel acknowledged that her decision contributed to the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

"This certainly made the AfD stronger," Merkel said, adding that this could not be a reason to avoid making the decision she determined was correct and within reason.

Guten Tag from the DW newsroom in Bonn!

We'll be looking at some of the key points made by former Chancellor Angela Merkel in a documentary that will be broadcast by public broadcaster ARD on Monday.

It has been almost ten years since Merkel made the decision to admit hundreds of thousands of refugees, a move that would be heavily criticized and used against her politically.

However, Merkel said it was a decision guided by human dignity and humanity.

We will also be tracking the German foreign minister's inaugural visit to Croatia, as well as other developments expected throughout the day.