Weak turnout for Fridays for Future climate demos in Germany
Turnout was weaker than in the past during the Fridays for Future climate demonstrations at 47 locations in Germany on Friday.
In Berlin, several hundred people rode their bicycles from the Socialist Party (SPD) headquarters to those of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party.
There were about 200 people protesting, according to police estimates.
The two parties, along with the CDU's Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), are expected to form Germany's next government.
On the Schlossplatz in Dresden, participants drew attention to weather-related disasters in recent months with photos and headlines. People also took to the streets in Munich.
Fridays for Future criticized the coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and SPD.
"It's 2025, and there is still no concept for combating the climate crisis," Frieda Egeling of Fridays for Future Berlin said in a statement. She accused the future coalition partners of virtually abolishing Germany's climate targets.
The organization is critical of the future government's gas supply plan. The CDU and SPD want to "use the potential of conventional domestic gas production" and count greenhouse gas savings abroad towards Germany's climate targets.
In addition, the incoming coalition is sticking to the coal phase-out in 2038.
The three-way coalition of SPD, Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats, under SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz, had ideally wanted to bring this forward to 2030, but also decided not to set a binding target.
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Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
How Merz plans to avoid an Oval Office pasting
No other European leader has criticised Donald Trump as fiercely as Friedrich Merz, Germany's new chancellor. On Thursday, the two will come face to face in Washington in what is the biggest test of Mr Merz's tenure so far. It means entering the gladiatorial arena of the Oval Office and enduring the impromptu press conferences now dreaded by visiting leaders the world over. Mr Trump has already ambushed Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa and Jordan's King Abdullah II in front of the cameras. But Mr Merz is no pushover. 'When he comes into the room, everyone goes quiet, like when the schoolteacher comes in,' a source from his centre-Right Christian Democrats (CDU) said. 'And he can be really tough on people, to the point of being rude.' Leaders in Europe will be hoping that Mr Merz will be able to soften Mr Trump's stance on Ukraine and convince the president to drop 50 per cent tariffs on EU imports. And Mr Merz has been doing his homework before his daunting date at the White House. He has sought advice from Giorgia Meloni, Italy's prime minister who is admired by Mr Trump, and Alexander Stubb, Finland's president, who scored a diplomatic coup by playing an impromptu round of golf with the US leader. Mr Merz, a former BlackRock banking executive, will look to bond with Mr Trump, rather than directly confront him. He has been advised to let the president do most of the talking and if he must commit the sin of interrupting, to soften that with praise. But like Canada's Mark Carney, who survived his Oval Office visit unscathed, Mr Merz is not afraid of confronting the world's most powerful man. The bespectacled old school conservative rounded on Mr Trump on the night of his election victory in February. Mr Merz was incensed that JD Vance and Elon Musk had endorsed and promoted the far-Right Alternative For Germany (AfD) during the campaign. He declared the Trump administration was meddling in Germany's democracy after the AfD came second in their best ever election result. Mr Merz added that Berlin and Europe could no longer rely on the US for its security and warned that Nato could soon be 'dead'. It felt like the end of the international order created from the ruins of the Second World War. The two leaders have since spoken on the phone during which the chancellor told the president the US remained Germany's 'indispensable partner'. But the truce did not last long. Asked about the call at a conference later, Mr Merz mimicked Mr Trump's voice, to laughs from the audience, and said every second or third word the president said was 'great'. Days later, when Germany's domestic intelligence agency designated the AfD as a 'Right-wing extremist' group, Mr Vance, the Oval Office attack dog, went for the jugular. 'The West tore down the Berlin Wall together. And it has been rebuilt – not by the Soviets or the Russians, but by the German establishment,' the vice-president said. These were 'absurd accusations', replied Mr Merz. 'I did not interfere in the American election campaign,' the chancellor said before telling the US government to 'largely stay out' of German politics. The two leaders' differences over Ukraine have narrowed recently but Mr Trump has a problem with Germany. His dislike of Angela Merkel, the former chancellor, was plain and he had little to no time for Olaf Scholz, her successor. For the tariff-wielding president, Berlin has too long profited from a massive trade surplus with the US, spending the money on woolly social policies while freeloading on America's defence of Europe. To make matters worse, it is deeply committed to the EU, which the president says was set up just to 'screw' the US. Germany, a faltering exporting powerhouse, now faces the prospect of massive 50 per cent US tariffs on the EU imports. The AfD wants Germany to strike its own tariff deal with Washington, but Mr Merz has ruled out breaking ranks with the EU. 'Together, we are even bigger than the US,' he said in May. ' We are united, to a large extent anyway, and that will be my message to the American government.' CDU sources said Mr Merz was optimistic about the relationship, and that they did not need a 'reset' with the US. Mr Merz and Mr Trump share a background in the macho corporate world and are of a similar age. The chancellor has two private jets, while the president has his own Boeing 757, nicknamed Trump Force One. Mr Merz is a family man with two daughters: Constanze, a doctor, and Carola, a lawyer – more potential common ground with Mr Trump, who has five children. They also share a love of golf, although Mr Ramaphosa, the South African president, was not spared fake accusations of white farmer genocide even though he brought golf legend Ernie Els with him to Washington. And King Abdullah II won't forget being told to take in displaced Gazans under Mr Trump's 'Middle East Riviera' plan. But Mr Merz shares a populist streak with Mr Trump. Soon after taking office, Mr Trump declared a national emergency over immigration. Mr Merz did exactly the same thing. Mr Merz is also no fan of Mrs Merkel, who sidelined him from the CDU during her 16 years in power. The chancellor's vow to make Germany's army Europe's strongest may convince the president the two can do business. Günter Krings, a senior CDU MP, said: 'Given his business background, his self-confident appearance and his focus on Germany's role in the world, there is a very good chance Trump will see him as his main European counterpart in the coming years.' German political analysts said Mr Merz would show 'respect' to Mr Trump, but expect the same in return. 'I suspect that Trump will give Merz a chance. He's got a decent story to tell on promised defence spending increases,' a European diplomatic source in Washington said. 'The real risk is Vance in the Oval Office on freedom of speech – particularly the new laws in Germany banning extremism which Vance has seen as an attack on the AfD and anti-democratic.' 'The Americans know that the fight for freedom of expression and sovereignty is being waged everywhere,' an AfD source told The Telegraph. 'That's why they cannot look away when democracy is simply abolished in their most populous ally.' The AfD is now the main opposition and just a whisker behind the CDU in the polls. It will be watching on intently from Berlin as Mr Merz and Mr Trump meet in Washington, as will the world. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
What Merz wants from Trump showdown meeting
New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is making a high-stakes trip to meet US President Donald Trump - his first time in Washington DC as the leader of the European Union's largest economy. Tariffs, defence spending and the war in Ukraine will be high on the agenda when Merz meets Donald Trump on Thursday at the White House. There's also speculation that Trump's team - which repeatedly has weighed in on Germany's domestic politics - could subject him to an Oval Office "ambush". It would not be the first time. Both South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky found themselves in awkward, tense or even fiery exchanges as the world's cameras rolled, capturing every moment. Those moments have turned once cosy, diplomatic moments in the Oval Office into potentially fraught, tight-rope walks for visiting leaders. Ahead of the visit, Berlin expressed confidence that the German side is ready. "I think he's well prepared for this meeting," Friedrich Merz's spokesman told reporters this week. Merz - from the centre-right CDU party - is not just prepared, but on friendly terms with the US President, according to German media. The pair are even said to have exchanged text messages and be on a first name basis, Germany's ARD news outlet has reported. It's always important to not talk for too long," Merz recently opined on German TV. "But to keep it short and also let him talk." Merz's forthright, "shoot-from-the-hip" style of politics could add an interesting dimension to the meeting. His remarks can be surprising and make headlines - a stark contrast to those of his more cautious predecessors, Olaf Scholz and Angela Merkel. Though a traditional supporter of transatlantic relations, Merz raised eyebrows in February by declaring the current US administration is "indifferent to the fate of Europe". So far, the White House has been uncharacteristically quiet about Merz's visit. It was only briefly mentioned by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in a gaggle with reporters on Monday, and not at all during briefings at the White House and State Department on Tuesday. Sources familiar with the visit suggested several topics that could dominate the conversation. Of these, tariffs would be among the most pressing, particularly after Trump doubled import taxes on steel and aluminium this week, prompting warnings of EU countermeasures. The US President also repeatedly expressed dismay with the speed of tariff negotiations with the EU. In May, he threatened to levy a 50% tariff on European goods, saying that it was "time that we play the game the way I know how to play the game". Trump later backtracked and delayed the tariffs until 9 July, a move that his US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer characterised as having a "fire lit" under the EU. Germany is the EU's largest exporter to the US, leaving the country's businesses are extremely agitated about any trade obstacles. Merz, a 69-year-old reputed millionaire with a corporate background, may feel confident about going toe-to-toe with Trump, who often hails himself as the consummate "dealmaker". Whether the Chancellor will be able to smooth the path for EU negotiators, however, remains to be seen. Constanze Stelzenmüller, an expert on German-US relations at the Brookings Institute, believes Merz's ability to push the negotiations along is limited, given that the EU as an institution has taken the lead on those talks. "Whatever Merz says is mood music, rather than being able to say that XYZ will happen, even if major nation states aren't without influence on the European Commission," she explained. "He has to tread a delicate line." When it comes to Ukraine, Merz is vocal in his support of Kyiv and in his criticism of Moscow - recently warning that the fighting could drag on, despite repeated talk of a ceasefire from the White House. Justin Logan, director of defence and foreign policy studies at the Washington DC-based Cato Institute, told the BBC he believes Ukraine will present a "dilemma" for the German side in the meeting. "They'll make a real effort to sell what frankly are the same arguments that have so far failed to persuade the White House," he said. Merz also has called for stiffer EU sanctions on Vladimir Putin and Russia - something Trump has so far not committed to, even as some lawmakers from within his own party have escalated calls to do so. Earlier this week, Leavitt said only that Trump has "kept this as a tool in his toolbox if necessary". "The strange thing for me is, that we haven't heard President Trump say yet, is that Europe has lots of cards it can play on its own," Mr Logan said, pointing to $228bn in frozen Russian assets held primarily in Belgium. "That's money that's just sitting there," he said. From the White House's point of view, the issue of Ukraine's defence is also inextricably linked to Trump's demands that NATO allies raise defence spending to 5% of their GDP. Germany's is 2% - well short of Trump's target, although German officials have signalled a willingness to move in that direction. "I don't think they've done enough," Mr Logan added. "And I suspect they can't do enough. The White House has to know that 5% is not a goal that any of the major European countries are going to reach." "The question then becomes: What's next?" Among the potential pitfalls the German delegation faces are the deep disdain that some members of Trump's cabinet - particularly Vice President JD Vance - have for the so-called "firewall" that keeps Germany's Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party out of power. "If you're running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing American can do for you," Vance told the Munich Security Conference in February. Vance also broke diplomatic norms by meeting the AfD's leader, Alice Weidel, ahead of Germany's snap election that saw the party storm into second place. Since then, AfD has been classified as extremist by Germany's domestic intelligence service - although the public designation was paused pending a legal challenge. If confronted, Merz is unlikely to concede, having previously called on the US government to "stay out" of Berlin's domestic politics. While she believes a "Zelensky-style" Oval Office is unlikely, Stelzenmüller said a "worst case scenario" would be something more akin to the visit of Irish Prime Minister Micheál to the White House - an occasion promptly followed by a visit from his political foe, former UFC fighter Conor McGregor. Subsequent contact with the AfD or Alice Weidel, she added, would be seen as a provocation by Germany. "That would be DEFCON 1 for the bilateral," she said. Russia may attack Nato in next four years, German defence chief warns German chancellor promises to help Ukraine produce long-range weapons Germany decides to leave history in the past and prepare for war
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Bloomberg
Germany to Sign Off on Corporate Tax Cuts to Help Revive Growth
Germany's cabinet is set to pass a package of tax breaks for companies worth an estimated €46 billion ($52 billion) on Wednesday as part of a broader push to revive an economy that's forecast to stagnate for a third straight year in 2025. Chancellor Friedrich Merz's ruling coalition — comprising his conservative CDU/CSU bloc and the Social Democrats — agreed on write-offs of as much as 30% for companies purchasing movable assets between the end of June this year and January 2028, according to a draft law seen by Bloomberg.
