Olaf Scholz
German politician (SPD), ninth Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (2021–2025), Member of the Bundestag
- Jul 9
Germany to buy US Tomahawk cruise missiles after NATO summit deal, closing a strategic gap in European defence
Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced the purchase on 9 July, a day after the NATO summit in Ankara, as Washington pushes Europeans to pay for their own security.
- Jun 30
Angela Merkel unveils official portrait with a surprising absence: her signature hand gesture
Five years after leaving office, Angela Merkel finally unveiled her official chancellor portrait, painted by a previously unknown 28-year-old artist, and conspicuously missing the 'Merkel-Raute' hand gesture she was famous for.
- Jun 29
Germany delays 'humanitarian gesture' for Polish Nazi victims as 1,000 die each month
Berlin has yet to approve a concrete Polish proposal for annual compensation to some 50,000 surviving victims of Nazi occupation, despite a December pledge by Chancellor Friedrich Merz to act on his government’s historical responsibility. Critics call the inaction a 'disgrace' as around 1,000 elderly victims die each month while the plan remains stuck in inter-ministerial talks.
- Jun 26
Magdeburg Christmas market attacker sentenced to life in prison for 2024 rampage that killed six
A German court convicted Saudi psychiatrist Taleb al-Abdulmohsen of murder on Friday and sentenced him to life in prison for driving a rented BMW into a crowded Christmas market in Magdeburg in December 2024, a rampage that killed six people and injured hundreds.
- Jun 19
German court sentences far-right extremist to three years for Darknet death lists targeting Merkel and Scholz
The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court found the 50-year-old guilty of terrorist financing and instructing in bomb-making after he ran a platform calling for the murder of public figures.
- Jun 6
Merz channels Merkel's 'We can do it' as German coalition races to deliver reforms before summer break
Chancellor Friedrich Merz adopted his predecessor Angela Merkel's famous phrase at a CDU party conference, promising his struggling coalition would deliver a major reform package on taxes, pensions and the labour market before the July summer break.
- Jun 6
Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim slash German investments after Berlin pushes health reform savings
Eli Lilly halved its Alzey plant investment and Boehringer Ingelheim scrapped €900 million in planned spending, both citing Berlin's proposed health reform as the trigger.
- Jun 3
Germany loses UN Security Council election for first time as Austria, Portugal win seats
Germany lost its bid for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the first time on Wednesday, as Austria and Portugal secured the two available seats for the Western Europe group in a single round of voting.
- May 30
FDP wählt Wolfgang Kubicki zum neuen Vorsitzenden – 74-Jähriger setzt sich in Kampfabstimmung gegen Strack-Zimmermann durch
Wolfgang Kubicki has been elected as the new federal chairman of Germany's Free Democratic Party (FDP), defeating Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann in a surprise contested vote at the party's federal congress in Berlin.
- May 28
Yad Vashem to Open First-Ever International Education Center in Munich, with Satellite in Leipzig
Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial has chosen Munich as the site for its first educational center outside Israel, with a smaller branch in Leipzig, in a move to combat rising global antisemitism.
