Germany updates: Get ready for big reforms, Merz says

Prosecutors told German news agency DPA that four soldiers and a federal police officer were among suspects in a far-right extremist group targeted by nationwide raids.

Authorities searched 14 properties across three states on Tuesday, seizing weapons, ammunition, and items that could be used as explosives.

The group is believed to have formed around far-right ideology, with some members allegedly possessing illegal military-grade firearms.

The suspects include two active and two former soldiers.

A worker has died following a chemical accident at a factory in eastern Germany the Bild newspaper reported.

The incident occurred early this morning at the Romonta plant in Amsdorf, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Police say hazardous substances leaked during technical work in a wax production area.

The company said a worker was in the same room where a chemical solvent spilled. He fell unconscious and was unable to be revived.

Two of his colleagues were injured as they attempted a rescue. Two paramedics responding to the scene were also injured. An investigation into the incident is pending. 

The co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) Alice Weidel has charged Chancellor Friedrich Merz with lacking reform drive and breaking election pledges during a Bundestag budget debate.

Weidel called the federal budget "a cobbled-together, irresponsible budget without measure or aim that solves no single problem."

Weidel warned that Merz's promised "autumn of reforms" would be "the autumn of empty words and will lead to a winter of even higher spending."

She accused Merz of having "broken every election promise," citing the debt brake, a lower electricity tax, a return to nuclear power, a citizens' benefit overhaul and scrapping the combustion-engine ban. 

Weidel also attacked the government’s migration policy, saying, "The politically desired loss of control simply continues, along with the politics of glossing over and denial." She called for a "real migration turnaround" with borders "fully and seamlessly closed."

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A majority of German adults have supported stricter rules on smartphone use in schools, according to new research from the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB).

The survey found 72% oppose private use of personal smartphones in class unless it is part of lessons, with 95% holding that view for elementary schools. A total of 53% favor a blanket ban on student phones in all schools, rising to 80% for elementary levels.

The debate over private phone use in schools varies by state, with Hesse recently introducing a new ban that allows exceptions. Most respondents also said schools should teach responsible internet and classroom smartphone use.

On age limits, adults placed the minimum for owning a smartphone at an average of 11.5 years and for using social media such as Instagram or TikTok at 13.5.

Participants who were informed beforehand about risks like cyberbullying or unsuitable content recommended minimum ages about four months higher.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has overtaken the conservative CDU/CSU bloc for the first time in a YouGov survey. The poll also found a slight gain for the SPD, a partner in the coalition government.

If a federal election were held Sunday, 27% of respondents would vote for the AfD, up two percentage points from August. The CDU/CSU would fall one point to 26%. Other recent polls have shown the AfD level with or just behind the conservatives.

The Social Democrats place third at 15%, up one point. The Greens drop to 11%, down one. The Left Party stands at 9%, down one, and the new Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance holds steady at 5%, which would be just enough to enter parliament.

The Free Democrats would gain one point to 4% and would remain out of the Bundestag. Other parties totalled 4%. 

YouGov surveyed 1,649 eligible voters across Germany from September 12 to 15.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has told parliament that the country faces a critical moment and that major decisions are to be made about three major threats.

Merz cited direct dangers posed to freedom, such as from Russia. In addition, he said, there was pressure on Germany's free-trade economy and the risk of political forces dividing society.

Merz told the Bundestag that Germany needed to prepare for sweeping reforms.

"Our country stands at a crossroads this autumn. We all sense it: the decisions ahead are not about small details but fundamental questions," the conservative Christian Democrat leader told lawmakers during the general debate on the chancellor's budget.

He said this was about "nothing less than the future of our country — how we live, how we live together, how we work, how we do business, and whether our values will endure."

"We must strengthen our resilience and our defense capability. We must deter further aggression and, at the same time, bring allies and partners closer together — as the federal government is consistently doing."

Merz also warned that Germany's economic model was pressured by "a new protectionism aimed against free trade and open markets."

He added that domestic and foreign political forces were questioning unity, disparaging democracy, and seeking to divide society and the government.

"On all these fronts, the federal government is working with great focus. After a very short summer break, we immediately set a dense agenda."

"I ask all those who are watching us closely and critically, and all those impatient for change, for the necessary perseverance," said Merz. "We have only begun."

A man who remains a suspect in the disappearance of the British girl Madeleine "Maddie" McCann in 2007 in Portugal has been released from prison after serving a sentence on other charges, German authorities said Wednesday.

The man, a convicted child abuser and drug dealer, had been serving a 7-year sentence after he was found guilty in 2019 of raping a 72-year-old US woman in Portugal.

Earlier this week, British officials said the 49-year-old German suspect refused to be interviewed by UK police over the case of Maddie. 

The girl had vanished in Portugal while on holiday with her family, sparking a frenzied search and gaining media attention around the world.

British and German police named Christian B. as a suspect in 2020. He had lived in Portugal's Algarve region at the time when McCann went missing.

German police had said McCann was assumed dead and that B. was likely responsible. He denied involvement.

Editor's note: DW follows the German press code, which refrains from revealing the full names of criminal suspects.

Guten Morgen from DW's newsroom in Bonn.

Today, we will be looking at debate at the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, on the 2025 budget as well as the country's foreign policy. 

Other news includes the release of a key suspect in the Madeleine McCann case being released from prison after serving a sentence for a different crime, and the far-right Alternative for Germany party edging ahead of the chancellor's conservatives in a national poll.