Germany updates: Merkel's 'Wir schaffen das!' 10 years on

Thank you for reading our blog this weekend. We'll be back again Monday.

German Finance Minister and Vice-Chancellor Lars Klingbeil on Sunday voiced support for tightening the country's rules regarding welfare payments.

His comments came in support of a plan to overhaul Germany's welfare support system, specifically so-called Bürgergeld, or citizens' money payments, put forth by Labor Minister Bärbel Bas.

Klingbeil said Bas' plan was the "right decision" in remarks made on public broadcaster ARD.

Klingbeil also promised "turn up the pressure" on anyone abusing the system, saying, "It is indecent when someone receives Bürgergeld, works for cash, enriches themselves at the cost of everyone else."

The finance minister added that his sense of fairness leads him to believe that everyone must work a little harder to make society better. 

Greek police on Sunday announced the success of a joint operation carried out with German colleagues acting on crucial tips from the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

Authorities in Athens said arrests and seizures were made in both countries in an operation that netted five arrests — two men ages 52 and 62 in Greece; three, ages 27, 28 and 66, in Germany — and roughly 300 kilograms of cocaine destined for sale in the EU.

Police did not give the locations of the raids and said other gang members remain at large.

Police say the gang is highly organized, with tightly regulated supply, distribution and sales operations. Police suspect the group had earned at least €5 million in illicit profits before the bust.

After waiting in some cases  for years, hundreds of Afghan families will finally eventually be allowed into Germany. How quickly they are allowed to travel is a matter of life or death for many.

DW met one such family, whose names have been changed and identities concealed for their safety. Read more about that here.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Sunday pledged that he would not seek to raise taxes despite calls to increase income revenue as deficits grow. His finance minister, Social Democrat Lars Klingbeil has suggested raising taxes to fill part of what is shaping up to be a €30 billion ($35 billion) 2027 budgetary spending gap.

Merz and conservative CDU/CSU are strictly opposed to the idea. 

"We have a coalition agreement," Merz told public broadcaster ZDF on Sunday. "We have agreed in this coalition agreement that taxes will not be raised. And this coalition agreement stands."

Germany's economy has been shrinking more quickly than predicted for the past two years, prompting industry and Merz's party allies to call for tax cuts as a remedy.

Merz singled out excessive sick leave, stagnant productivity and high labor costs as burdening Germany's economy, saying Germans need to be prepared to "work more and longer." 

Police in Hamburg say they are investigating the Sunday morning shooting death of a 33-year-old man in a hookah bar in the city's Hohenfelde neighborhood. 

The man was unconscious when police responded to a call from the establishment. Emergency services were unable to resuscitate the man, whose identity police have ascertained but not yet made public. Authorities say they do not yet know the circumstances surrounding his death.

Police are currently conducting interviews and asking for tips that may help them identify the perpetrator, while forensics teams are scouring the area for clues.

An entire six-lane thoroughfare and numerous side streets were blocked off Sunday to allow K-9 and forensics specialists to carry out their work.

A Red Cross crisis intervention team is assisting relatives and friends. The homicide commission is currently conducting an investigation.

The bar is known to authorities, with two men violently attacked there last year and a man shot to death there in 2022. Both attacks were traced to the city's drug scene.

In 2015, Germany welcomed a record number of refugees, driven by war in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s “Wir schaffen das” - meaning "we can do it" - became a symbol of hope.

A decade later, tensions have risen. Support for the far-right AfD has surged, fueled by concerns over crime and integration. Yet, Germany faces a labor shortage and relies on migration.

While many refugees have successfully built new lives, experts say more must be done to foster community cohesion.

German basketball star Dennis Schröder was subjected to racist abuse during his team's 107-88 win over Lithuania at the 2025 EuroBasket championship.

"You can insult me, do whatever you want, but monkey noises are not acceptable," he told reporters after the Group B game in Tampere, Finland. "Racism simply does not belong in this sport."

Schröder, 31, said he and members of Germany's coaching staff had heard the noises coming from the Lithuanian fan block while the teams were leaving the court at half-time.

Read the full story here.

An anti-war protest in the western German city of Cologne ended in violence on Saturday evening, with police deploying batons and tear gas, and dozens of demonstrators and police officers left injured.

Around 3,000 people took part in the city-center march, which was organized by an alliance calling itself "Disarm Rheinmetall" – a reference to the major German arms manufacturer based in nearby Düsseldorf.

According to local police, some protesters had worn illegal face coverings and set off smoke grenades obtained from a vehicle accompanying the march. In addition to further pyrotechnic devices, police said they also found bottles of ethanol and gas canisters in the vehicle.

Police said protesters had attacked officers, injuring 12, four of whom had to end their deployment.

While peaceful protesters left the demonstration once it had been wound up at around 8.30 p.m, local time (1830 GMT/UTC), others were reportedly kettled by police who carried out identity checks which lasted deep into the night.

A spokesperson for the protest accused police of depriving detained demonstrators of food, water and access to toilets and medical care, adding that the injured were between 40 and 60.

A police spokesman said medical treatment was "made available where it was necessary."

Since 2015, hundreds of thousands of people have come to Germany seeking refuge. The data on asylum, integration and public sentiment show what the country has achieved since then — and what it hasn't.

DW dissects this data from the past 10 years here.

Sunday marks exactly 10 years since German Chancellor Angela Merkel insisted in 2015 that "wir schaffen das" (we can do it) after opening the country's borders to refugees fleeing war in countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Hundreds of thousands of displaced people arrived in a matter of months, prompting far-reaching changes in German society, culture and politics that continue to dominate the national discussion a decade on.

At the time, Merkel's words expressed an optimism and confidence that Germany, 70 years after the end of World War II and the terror of the Holocaust, had fundamentally changed and was prepared to offer humanitarian assistance to people fleeing conflict and persecution.

Indeed, by 2022, nearly two thirds of refugees who arrived in the 2015 wave had jobs by 2022, according to data from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB). But many do not.

Migrants in Germany are four times more likely to be jobless than the rest of the population, with an unemployment rate of 28% in 2024. 

Despite representing the same conservative CDU party, current Chancellor Friedrich Merz has wasted little time in distancing himself from Merkel's policy and made immigration a key pillar of his election campaign earlier this year.

Asked recently about his predecessor's declaration, Merz said Germany had "clearly not" managed "to do it," adding: "We must control immigration. And we must ensure that those who come to us are well integrated."

More than 10,000 partygoers joined the Love Train techno parade in Berlin on Saturday. 

According to the police, 10,800 people joined in the 10th edition of the parade in the German capital.

Organizers expected 15 music floats to be featured, with climate change, tolerance and diversity some of the main themes.

Dr Motte, one of the co-founders of the Love Parade, which was the original techno demonstration in Berlin, joined in the festivities.

Slogans such as "Love is louder" and "Bass instead of hate" could be seen on posters as techno fans went from the city center through the streets in the Kreuzberg neighborhood. 

The body of a German man that went missing on Monday after saving his children in a boating accident in northern Italy has been recovered after nearly a week of searching by rescue and recovery crews.

Authorities say an unmanned robot was used to scour the depths of Lake Como, where operators spotted the man's body at a depth of 220 meters (722 feet) and were able to lift it to a depth to where divers could bring it to the surface.

Lake Como is one of Europe's deepest lakes with depths over 400 meters in some spots. It is suspected that the drowned man was caught in a current that dragged him to his death.

Ambassador of the Republic of Ireland to Germany Maeve Collins, as well as senior officials from Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs, have contacted German authorities to convey concern over the police beating of an Irish woman at a pro-Palestine protest in Berlin on Thursday according to Irish media reports.  

A department spokesperson quoted by Irish national broadcaster RTE said officials "stand ready to provide consular assistance to the citizen concerned." 

Video posted online showed a protester later identified as Kitty O'Brien being hit twice in the face by police before being dragged away bloodied.

The group Irish Bloc Berlin said O'Brien, a member, was undergoing surgery for a broken right arm, claiming it "was pulled and then twisted with great force, snapping the bone."

Berlin police say they have referred the incident to oversight authorities to determine whether police acted disproportionately or criminally.

Arrests were made after ample direct warnings were given that protesters end their event and disperse, said police, who added that orders were ignored and countered with agitation and illegal behavior on the part of protesters.

Police said "officers were compelled" to use force, adding that O'Brien in particular had been warned several times that she faced physical assault if she continued to resist orders. 

O'Brien's treatment at the hands of police in Berlin has now sparked protests at the German Embassy in Dublin, with a few dozen individuals there voicing anger.

O'Brien's aunt, a Dublin City Council member, was among those protesting, saying, "What you have here is a bunch of mostly young Irish people standing up for international law and standing up for the people of Gaza and Palestine, which is effectively been made illegal to do in Berlin at this stage."

Read more about the incident here: Ireland voices concern over Berlin police violence

"Trans-fascism" and "parasites of society" were terms the right-wing extremist now identifying as Marla-Svenja Liebich used for decades to defame transgender individuals while leading the neo-Nazi group "Blood and Honor."

Sven Liebich was convicted of incitement to racial hatred and defamation in 2023, and sentenced to 18 months in jail in 2024. 

When Germany's new Self-Determination Act allowing adults to declare their own gender was introduced in November 2024, Liebich legally became a woman, taking the name Marla-Svenja.

The case has prompted Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt to reevaluate Germany's Self-Determination Act, saying it could set a precedent for abuse by extremists seeking to mock the government. 

Critics say it is unfair to use the example of one ill-intentioned individual to potentially take rights away from others in society who depend on self-determination.