Germany news: Pistorius brushes off SPD leadership talk

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The winning Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is preparing for negotiations on forming a coalition government with the Social Democrats (SPD) in the southwestern German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

CDU lead candidate Gordon Schnieder was officially tasked on Monday with entering into talks with the SPD.

"In the coming days, I will seek talks with the SPD to lay the groundwork for exploratory talks," Schnieder said in Mainz. "We bear responsibility for ensuring stability in Rhineland-Palatinate," he added.

The CDU won Sunday's vote with 31% of the vote, followed by the SPD with 25.9%, the first time in 35 years that the SPD has come in second. 

CDU lawmaker Johannes Steiniger said the party was hoping the talks would start relatively soon, yet he stopped short of giving a specific timetable.

"What is important is that the outcome provides a reliable foundation for the coming years," Steiniger said. "We need a stable state government."

Schnieder paid tribute to the SPD's outgoing state premier Alexander Schweitzer, saying he "shouldered responsibility for Rhineland-Palatinate and served our state."

Schweitzer vowed to continue his political career, though he dismissed the possibility of joining Schnieder's cabinet.

Germany's western city of Dusseldorf welcomed on Monday Queen Silvia of Sweden, who lived in the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia long before becoming queen.

The 82-year-old monarch was received by NRW Premier Hedrik Wüst, who hailed her commitment to social causes.

"With great empathy, leadership and international influence, she works tirelessly on behalf of the most vulnerable in our society — particularly children who have been victims of violence and abuse," Wüst said.

The Swedish monarch is due to be honored later on Monday for her life's work at the "Dusseldorfer of the Year" gala.

Silvia was born to a German father and a Brazilian mother.

She moved to Dusseldorf from Brazil with her parents in 1957 and graduated from the Luisen Gymnasium school in 1963, before meeting her future husband, the current King Carl Gustaf of Sweden at the 1972 Munich Olympics while working as a hostess.

In 1999, she co-founded the World Childhood Foundation, which offers protection and a voice to vulnerable children.

Rescue efforts were underway on Monday in northern Germany to save a large whale stranded on the Baltic Sea coast.

The whale, believed to be a humpback male, was discovered overnight in Niendorf, part of the municipality of Timmendorfer Strand in Lübeck Bay. 

Police and maritime authorities were working hard to rescue the animal and guide it back into the sea.

The cause for the whale's stranding is not yet identified, but drone footage showed it was stuck on a sandback. Experts were concerned it may be ill, judging by its skin.

Authorities believe this may be the same whale that has been repeatedly sighted in the Baltic Sea in recent weeks, including in the port of Wismar, where it was freed from a fishing net.

The Baltic Sea is not humpback whales' natural habitat, as it is too shallow and lacks sufficient food.

Marine experts warned even if rescue efforts are successful yet again, the animal might strand itself once more.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has promised to deliver on his government's reform promises.

His statements followed state elections in southwestern Germany's Rhineland-Palatinate, which saw his coalition partners, the Social Democrats, lose to his conservative Christian Democrats for the first time in 35 years.

The election result dealt a major blow to the SPD, raising questions regarding the Social Democratic Party's leadership and its standing within the ruling coalition.

Merz acknowledged the SPD's struggle with coming to terms with the election result.

"But I am firmly convinced that we can only succeed together, and we can only succeed if we focus on the real problems facing our country," the chancellor told reporters on Monday after party meetings in Berlin.

The German government must "pursue policies for the working population, for employees, but also for small and medium-sized enterprises," Merz argued, warning that the costs of living, bureaucracy and employment are too high for private households and businesses.

He also highlighted planned reforms to health insurance funding and the pension system.

"I hope that our work within the coalition will be carried out jointly, with courage and confidence, in the service of our country," Merz continued. "And I am reasonably confident that we will succeed in this."

Germany's foreign minister has defended its ambassador to Israel after criticism from Israeli officials over comments on settler violence.

Johann Wadephul spoke with Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar and stressed that Ambassador Steffen Seibert is a strong supporter of Israel and that Germany stands firmly by its side, a Foreign Office spokesperson said.

At the same time, Wadephul said Israel must take more decisive action against settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

The minister expressed full support for Seibert, adding it is the ambassador’s role to address issues even where views differ.

The missing championship trophy of German handball champions Füchse Berlin has been found in the club's own office basement.

Club CEO Bob Hanning said staff discovered the trophy behind boxes during an inventory check, with the find dating back to February.

The club had not disclosed the discovery earlier as police needed to secure evidence again.

The trophy had been reported stolen in November from the club's offices at Gendarmenmarkt, with thieves allegedly using a master key and transponder.

Two suspects were later arrested, but the trophy was not initially recovered, raising fears it had been melted down.

Investigators now believe the suspects hid it in the basement to retrieve it later.

Plans to produce a replacement trophy have since been canceled.

Germany is generally seen as a safe place to travel for solitary female travelers, but there are always ways to minimize the risks and make the most of your time here.

From railway tips to finding hostels with all-female dorms to staying safe in bars, reporter Diana Pineros spells it all out in this video.

Germany's DAX index was down by roughly 2% as of midday on Monday, with traders nervous amid the continued conflict in Iran and resultant pressures on fuel prices. 

The top German stock market is now trading around 12% lower than it was prior to the US and Israeli strikes on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and many others starting on February 28. The index is at its lowest ebb since early April 2025 and the panic caused by US President Donald Trump's so-called "Liberation Day" tariffs. 

France's CAC 40 incurred similar losses, and most of the main Asian markets closed more than 3% in the red after the weekend's pause. 

For the full story on Monday's trading in Germany and elsewhere, click here. 

Elected in a major political shift, Munich’s new Mayor Dominik Krause is one of only a few openly gay leaders to take the top office in a major German city.

Krause defeated long-serving Social Democrat Mayor Dieter Reiter in a runoff, ending more than seven decades of Social Democratic leadership in the Bavarian capital.

The Green politician celebrated with supporters chanting his name, describing the result as a moment of "renewal" and "fresh start" for the city.

"It's truly incredible," the new mayor said, describing the atmosphere of the past few days in the Bavarian capital. "It was a new beginning, a renewal," Krause said of his election victory.

Krause entered politics after being shocked by a neo-Nazi march and rose quickly through the Greens.

Krause, a 35-year-old physicist, lives with his fiancé in Munich and has become a prominent local figure.

Observers say his open, modern profile resonated with voters in a city increasingly leaning toward the Greens. His campaign gained momentum after late missteps by Reiter, who admitted on election night, "I messed it up."

Lufthansa has been planning to expand its international capacity with a major investment at Munich Airport.

At a ceremony marking German flag carrier's centenary, chief executive Carsten Spohr revealed details of the airline's plans: Lufhansa is considering an extension of Terminal 2, with operations set to begin in 2035.

After expansion, the terminal will be able to handle up to 10 million additional passengers per year.

Initial plans for the expansion had been developed in the previous decade but were put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic.

After Frankfurt, Munich is Lufthansa’s second hub for international air traffic. Unlike in Frankfurt, Lufthansa operates Munich’s second terminal, which gives the company greater scope to plan and operate according to its own vision.

When Munich Airport opened in 1992, it was expected to accommodate 14 million passengers per year. Last year, that number rose to over 43 million, Spohr said.

However, Munich Airport does not have a long-distance rail station, and it only has two runways.

Germany's top civil and criminal court has dismissed climate lawsuits against BMW and Mercedes-Benz, rejecting efforts to force an early end to combustion engine sales.

The Karlsruhe-based Federal Court of Justice ruled against the German Environmental Aid (DUH) group, which had sought to ban the sale of new combustion-engine cars after November 2030.

The case centered on whether companies can be legally required to take climate action beyond existing regulations through civil courts.

Plaintiffs argued that high emissions by carmakers would limit future freedoms, citing a 2021 Constitutional Court ruling on climate protection.

The court rejected that argument, upholding earlier decisions from lower courts in Munich and Stuttgart.

DUH said it will review the ruling and may seek to have the case re-examined by the Constitutional Court.

Carmakers had argued that climate targets should be set by lawmakers, not courts.

Indonesia has deported a German national who was found allegedly conducting unauthorized research in a protected national park.

Officials said Vlad Alexandru Tataru was expelled from Central Sulawesi after allegedly collecting endemic plant samples in Lore Lindu National Park without required permits.

He had entered Indonesia on a visa on arrival. This does not allow research activities, according to the local immigration office.

Inspectors found plant specimens in his possession taken from protected sites, including areas under the National Research and Innovation Agency.

Authorities said the case violated immigration rules and regulations governing access to Indonesia’s natural resources.

Germany's Federal Court of Justice (BGH) is set to rule on two climate lawsuits against BMW and Mercedes-Benz over future combustion engine sales.

The cases, brought by environmental group DUH, seek to ban the companies from selling new combustion-engine cars from November 2030.

At the core is whether companies can be legally required — beyond existing state regulations — to take stronger climate action.

Their case draws on a landmark 2021 Constitutional Court ruling that required the government to strengthen climate protections to safeguard future freedoms.

Lower courts in Munich and Stuttgart rejected the lawsuits, but the BGH will now decide whether major emitters can be held accountable in civil court.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has rejected calls for a full leadership change for his center-left Social Democrats (SPD) after a major state election loss, saying he is not seeking additional roles.

The SPD, which has led coalition governments in Rhineland-Palatinate continuously for 35 years, was pushed out of the top spot by Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats in Sunday's election.

Speaking to the DPA news agency during a visit to Tokyo, Pistorius called the result in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate "very poor," adding that it did not reflect the strong campaign led by state premier Alexander Schweitzer.

However, he added: "Neither the party nor the coalition needs a personnel debate right now. That would be irresponsible, and I am not available for that. Given the global situation and the challenges we face in Germany, we have other problems to deal with. We need to focus on our work in government."

Pistorius, who is consistently ranked as the most popular SPD politician and one of the most popular political figures in German, stressed the focus should remain on government work rather than internal personnel changes.

His comments come after SPD lawmaker Doris Schröder-Köpf called for a complete leadership reshuffle and suggested Saarland Premier Anke Rehlinger and Pistorius for top roles, including replacing Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil.

Sunday was a double whammy for Germany's oldest political party, with the Greens defeating long-time SPD incumbent Dieter Reiter in the mayoral election for the Bavarian capital, Munich.