Germany updates: Berlin to end migrant rescue NGO funding

Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, extended the deployment of German soldiers in Bosnia-Herzegovina for another year.

The Bundeswehr is part of the European Union's stabilization force in the Balkan country, known as EUFOR.

The mission monitors compliance with the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the Bosnian War in 1995. 

The 50 German troops help train the Bosnian armed forces, maintain regional security, and offer advice and support.

The DPA news agency reports German lawmakers were told that despite years of international support, Bosnia-Herzegovina remains "on shaky ground."

The German government is reportedly planning to cut all funding for groups that rescue people in distress who are migrating across the Mediterranean Sea.

According to the Foreign Ministry, no money has been earmarked for migrant rescue groups in Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil's new budget plans.

The German government had been giving out around €2 million (around $2.3 million) per year in recent years. Already in the first half of 2025, almost €900,000 had been provided to groups such as Sea-Eye, SOS Humanity and Sant'Egidio.

Sea-Eye responded to the news with sharp criticism of the new German government.

"We're filling a gap in the Mediterranean that should have been closed by European states — including Germany," the group's chairman Gorden Isler said, adding that without the financing, Sea-Eye may have to stay grounded.

Opposition Green lawmaker Jamila Schäfer was also critical of the decision, saying that cutting funding would not reduce migration, but just make the routes even deadlier.

"We pay for a fire service to save lives on land. We should also not let people drown in the sea," she told German news agency DPA

The Mediterranean is one of the deadliest migrant routes in the world, even with rescue organizations patrolling the sea.

According to the Missing Migrants Project, more than 32,000 people have disappeared while trying to reach Europe since 2014.

Rescues have become more difficult in recent years with Italy's far-right government passing a law severely restricting rescue operations, even as the number of people embarking on the dangerous routes continues to increase.

Jens Spahn, the former German health minister, was facing scrutiny on Wednesday over the misuse of public funds during the coronavirus pandemic.

A report into his billion-euro mask deals, commissioned by his successor Karl Lauterbach, found that Spahn had engaged in the large-scale procurement of masks "against the advice of his specialized departments."

Ines Schwerdtner, co-leader of the opposition  Left Party, has subsequently called for Spahn to step down from his current role as parliamentary leader of the co-ruling conservative bloc (CDU/CSU), one of the most powerful positions in the Bundestag.

"Anyone who throws our tax money out of the window so carelessly should no longer be allowed to hold an important political office," Schwerdtner said.

Spahn should "do democracy one last service and resign as parliamentary group leader this week," she added.

Police in Germany have searched more than 65 properties and questioned a large number of suspects during an operation to combat onlinehate speech, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), which supervised the operation.

The agency said the operation was connected with more than 140 investigations.

The BKA also said some two-thirds of the online statements under criminal investigation came from radical right-wing sources.

Those being probed are accused of inciting hatred, insulting politicians and using symbols of terrorist groups or organizations that are considered to be unconstitutional.

In some cases, people were alleged to have rewarded or approved criminal offenses.

The police operation was the 12th of its kind, with the BKA saying such offenses have surged in recent years.

 

The German Football Federation (DFB) has received a large fine for tax evasion connected with a payment related to the 2006 World Cup, hosted in Germany.

The judge in the trial, which went on for almost a decade, said the DFB had shown "high criminal energy."

DW's Chuck Penfold, from our Sports department, has more:

  German football bosses fined over 2006 World Cup scandal

Germany's national rail operator Deutsche Bahn says it plans to extend its massive rail modernization program by four years.

Railway leaders are meeting at an industry forum to "develop an adapted proposal for extending the corridor refurbishments until 2035," the company said on Wednesday.

The overhaul includes major construction on more than 40 heavily used routes, following a year of record-low punctuality for long-distance trains.

Key transport corridors in Germany are often dilapidated and overloaded, with delays worsened by frequent small-scale repairs targeting recurring faults.

The European Union's General Court in Luxembourg has dismissed a lawsuit filed by budget airline Ryanair against German state aid granted to rival airline Condor.

The case concerned €400 million (about $460 million) in loans provided by the state development bank KfW, which were approved by the European Commission in July 2021, during the COVID pandemic.

Ryanair had challenged that approval, but the court said Wednesday that the Commission acted lawfully.

The judges found no evidence that the aid discriminated against other airlines or violated freedom of establishment or the free provision of services.

Ryanair may still appeal the decision to the European Court of Justice.

The ruling follows two other cases in Luxembourg involving German support for Condor after the collapse of its former parent company Thomas Cook.

In May 2022, Ryanair lost a case over a €380 million loan. In May 2024, the court annulled the approval of €321 million in restructuring aid. Condor has appealed that ruling to the European Court of Justice, where the case is still pending.

Seven ducklings have been rescued from a dirt trap in a manhole in the southern city of Offenburg, the city's fire brigade said on Wednesday.

Passersby alerted the fire brigade after sighting the ducklings on Monday evening.

Fire personnel levered up the manhole cover to rescue the young birds, whose mother could not be found despite a search of the surrounding area.

They have been taken to an animal shelter, officials said.

Earlier this week, police in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate also reported rescuing several ducklings from a stream, using a bucket and rope to pull them out and over steep walls.

Those ducklings were luckier in that their mother was found in a nearby pond.
 

Former Health Minister Jens Spahn is to face questions on the German government's actions in ordering face masks at a high price during the COVID-19 pandemic and then failing to accept or pay for them.

The budget committee of the German Parliament, or Bundestag, will be discussing a report by the special investigator Margaretha Sudhof, a former deputy justice minister, who was commissioned to look into the matter by Spahn's successor in the position, Karl Lauterbach.

Germany's government could face payments of some €2.3 billion ($2.7 billion) to health-product manufacturers if courts rule against it in dozens of lawsuits.

Spahn, who now heads the conservative CDU/CSU parliamentary bloc, has defended his actions, though he admitted last year that he would, with hindsight, do things differently.

The CDU/CSU bloc and the SPD will also put forward a request to the parliament to establish an inquiry commission, aiming to investigate actions taken by the government during the pandemic, including lockdowns that had a major impact on the country's economy.

German police have launched an operation to combat  hate speech online, targeting particularly people suspected of trying to incite hostility toward particular social groups and of insulting politicians.

The investigations will focus mostly on radical right-wing material posted online, along with insults to politicians at a level punishable by law.

Herberl Reul, the conservative premier of the western state of North Rhine-Wesphalia, where police will also be carrying out numerous deployments as part of the operation, said, "Digital arsonists should not be able to hide behind their cellphones or computers."

The operation, led by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), has been taking place annually for several years.

In a statement, the BKA said police would take action in 180 cases connected with more than 140 investigations, including 65 property searches.

It called on the public to report any cases of hate speech online to authorities.

In May, the BKA issued figures showing that there were 10,732 hate-speech violations in 2024, an increase of some 34% over the year before.

The number has even quadrupled in comparison to 2021, the BKA said.

Most teachers in Germany are satisfied with their situation, and a large percentage would choose the job again, a study released on Wednesday has shown.

According to the Schulbarometer report by the Robert Bosch Foundation, 84% of teachers are satisfied with their employment, 70% would take up teaching as a profession again if faced with the choice and 90% enjoy teaching at the schools where they are currently employed.

The high satisfaction ratings come despite the fact that many teachers see pupil behavior as a growing challenge.

The study showed that 42% of the some 1,500 teachers questioned find the conduct of pupils a "central problem," as compared with 35% a year previously. That figure went up to 52% in secondary schools that included pupils who, under Germany's complicated education system, are not intending to go on to university study.

For the first time in the study, teachers were asked about their views on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for teaching purposes.

Here, more than 60% described such technology as having a negative impact on social and communication skills and critical thinking.

More than half (55%) of teachers said they used AI tools less than once a month or never, with 41% feeling "very unconfident" about them. 

Despite this, 57% saw clear advantages to AI tools when used to support individual pupils in their learning goals.

Guten Tag from the newsroom in Bonn!

We are once again covering major news events in Germany, including the nationwide police operation tackling online hate speech and incitement.

A new study on teacher satisfaction shows that most are pleased with their job.

And Germany continues to look at the government's actions during the COVID-19 pandemic.