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Germany news: Economy minister eyes resources in China visit
Germany news: Economy minister eyes resources in China visit
Richard Connor with AFP, AP, dpa, KNA, ReutersPublished 05/27/2026Published May 27, 2026last updated 05/28/2026last updated May 28, 2026Germany's economy minister is in China and has called for the two countries to become more trusting partners. Meanwhile, a former chancellor has warned against any cooperation with the far-right AfD.
https://p.dw.com/p/5ENRPWhat you need to know
- German Economic Affairs Minister Katherina Reiche has called for a "trusting and open exchange" between Berlin and Beijing
- Former Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said there should be no cooperation with the AfD in the event of a minority government
- A verdict has been reached in the case of Daniela Klette, a former member of Germany's disbanded, radical leftist Red Army Faction, over a series of robberies
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Below, you can review a roundup of the latest headlines from across Germany from Wednesday, May 27.
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Skip next section Pistorius pushes for NATO buildup, promotes German subs05/28/2026May 28, 2026Pistorius pushes for NATO buildup, promotes German subs
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called on Canada and other NATO members to strengthen their militaries.
The statement came while Pistorius was visiting a defense and security trade show on Wednesday in Canada.
"Sitting in front of the White House or any other building in the world like the rabbit in front of the snake would not make us stronger. It makes us weaker," Pistorius said.
The statement came amid NATO members' uncertainty concerning US President Donald Trump's approach to the military alliance.
"We need to focus less on what others are doing and to focus more on what we can do," Pistorius said, adding that allies need to fulfill their commitments to NATO.
Pistorius is visiting Canada to advance a strategic partnership with the NATO ally and promote defense cooperation, including a potential major submarine deal.
"We want to work side by side to ensure security in the North Atlantic, the Far North and, yes, the Arctic too," Pistorius said. "This is about a strategic partnership with Canada."
Germany hopes to convince Canada to buy submarines from German manufacturer TKMS as part of a joint submarine project with Norway.
Canada, Germany and Norway could share and jointly utilize the expertise of German submarine builders, infrastructure and experience, Pistorius said.
"Together, we can build the world’s largest and most modern conventional submarine fleet," he said. "That would be a real asset for NATO as well."
https://p.dw.com/p/5EQj7Skip next section Germany's World Cup players instructed to avoid political statements05/27/2026May 27, 2026Germany's World Cup players instructed to avoid political statements
Germany's men's football team sporting director Rudi Völler has urged members of the country's squad to avoid making political statements during the FIFA World Cup this summer.
While the players are not facing an outright gag order, Völler said they were instructed to keep sport and politics "somewhat separate."
Commenting on players potentially making political statements in public, Völler said "they are welcome to do it in the run-up to the tournament."
"However, if it hasn't happened until this point, it generally shouldn't start happening now," he added.
The statement comes four years after German players at the World Cup in Qatar covered their mouths in their pre-match photo before their opener against Japan, in a controversial gesture seen as a political protest.
"Every player is fully aware of the situation; after all, a significant number of the current squad members were also part of the team that went to Qatar," said Völler.
"We are here to play in a World Cup. That takes precedence; we are footballers, and our goal is to inspire the people... and perhaps offer them a distraction from their everyday worries," he added.
https://p.dw.com/p/5EQfXSkip next section Left-wing extremist student freed after attacking neo-Nazis05/27/2026May 27, 2026Left-wing extremist student freed after attacking neo-Nazis
German far-left student Lina E. who had been convicted of founding a criminal organization and committing six serious attacks on neo-Nazis, is set to be released from jail.
The 28-yearl-old had already served two years while in custody. The country's highest court has now suspended the remainder of her five-year sentence while her case is being appealed.
Cases of violent left-wing extremism are relatively rare in Germany.
State prosecutors accused Lina E. and her three co-defendants of carrying out a series of attacks on neo-Nazis in the eastern states of Thuringia and Saxony between 2018 and 2020, including two attacks on a notorious far-right extremist who was himself arrested for allegedly forming a far-right extremist organization.
A ruling by a lower court in Dresden suspended the sentence and finally, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) rejected an appeal by federal prosecutors against the suspension, upholding the Dresden court's ruling and effectively freeing the 28-year-old.
The BGH cited a report by a forensic psychologist that gave Lina E. "a favorable prognosis" for successfully reintegrating into society. The report concluded that she had "credibly renounced her former propensity for violence," showed good conduct in prison and has "viable" plans for the future, including continuing her studies.
https://p.dw.com/p/5EQfJSkip next section Germany's 'Employment Barometer' indicates slight slowdown in job cuts05/27/2026May 27, 2026Germany's 'Employment Barometer' indicates slight slowdown in job cuts
Elizabeth SchumacherGermany can expect job cuts to ease somewhat, according to a key study carried out every month by the ifo research institute.
The institute's Employement Barometer surveys some 9,500 managers across a variety of different fields and asks whether they are looking to cut or to add jobs.
According to the latest figures, the barometer rose to 93.9 points in May up from 91.4 in April. However, any score under 100 points indicates that companies are still cautious to hire.
Economists recently cut Germany's already modest growth forecasts for 2026, due to the global economic downturn caused by the US-led war in Iran.
May's survey indicated that the tourism, services, and logistics sectors were particularly impacted by job cuts.
https://p.dw.com/p/5EQ68Skip next section Proposed law to make Netflix and Amazon invest in Germany05/27/2026May 27, 2026Proposed law to make Netflix and Amazon invest in Germany
A draft law approved by the German government would require major streaming platforms including Netflix, Amazon and Disney+ to invest at least 8% of their annual revenue generated in Germany back in the country's film industry.
Ministers approved a corresponding legislative bill proposed by Cuture Minister Wolfram Weimer. The bill will now proceed to the parliament and is expected to take effect in early 2027.
The initiative aims to curb a years-long slump in the German film industry. Large German studios are struggling, while industry rivals in other European nations offer more attractive terms and tax incentives for filmmakers. In one notable example — the 2022 film "All Quiet on the Western Front," which is based on a German anti-war novel — Netflix opted for filming in the Czech Republic.
The German government has also increased subsidies for the film industry from €250 million ($291 million) last year to over €300 million.
"With today's Cabinet decision, we are taking German cinema to a new level in the global competition among film locations," Wolfram Weimer, Germany’s culture commissioner, said in Berlin. "Now it's up to the industry to seize this opportunity to produce a steady stream of blockbuster films 'Made in Germany.'"
https://p.dw.com/p/5EPr3Skip next section Large-scale job losses predicted if US troops leave Germany05/27/2026May 27, 2026Large-scale job losses predicted if US troops leave Germany
A large-scale US pullout could cost Germany thousands of jobs, according to a study conducted by the ZEW, a Mannheim-based economy research center, and the University of Cologne.
In early May, the US announced it would withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany with Donald Trump later saying more cuts were planned.
The study looked into the effects of those plans based on the troop withdrawals of the 1990s. At that time, following the end of the Cold War, approximately 200,000 US soldiers left Germany.
US troop cuts 'not a surprise': German vice defense chief
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"The effects of the troop withdrawal extended far beyond direct layoffs at US military bases. Around 61% of the jobs eliminated were in regional businesses. Significant revenue losses occurred due to the disappearance of consumer spending by the troops and their families," said study co-author Jakob Schmidhäuser of the ZEW.
This led to local economic shock and hit regions with already weaker labor markets particularly hard.
Now, the authors expect one full-time job to be lost in the vicinity of the US bases for every two US soldiers returning home.
https://p.dw.com/p/5EPPpSkip next section Former Germany coach Klinsmann says squad must set sights high05/27/2026May 27, 2026Former Germany coach Klinsmann says squad must set sights high
Former German national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann has said the German national football team's World Cup objective must be to win the title.
"We have an obligation to always set our sights on the World Cup title," the 1990 World Cup winner said in an interview with the Rheinische Post.
Being content with merely reaching the quarter-finals or semi-finals would be "a completely wrong approach" in his view, Klinsmann noted.
"For Germany, the only objective can be to become world champions."
According to Klinsmann, even the public's expectations during the recent home European Championship were misguided. "I was shocked when people claimed the European Championship was a success despite our elimination in the quarter-finals," said the 61-year-old.
As a player himself, Klinsmann said he vividly remembers the 1994 and 1998 World Cups, where the journey ended in the quarter-finals, against Bulgaria in 1994 and Croatia in 1998. "Everyone thought we were completely hopeless."
In 2006, the former striker led the German national side to a third-place finish at the World Cup hosted in Germany. He also managed his adopted home country, the United States, including during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Klinsmann has also worked as a club coach for Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin.
Current Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann recently reaffirmed his own World Cup title ambition.
How the 2006 World Cup changed Germany forever
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https://p.dw.com/p/5EPAsSkip next section Suspect held over Berlin Holocaust memorial attack05/27/2026May 27, 2026Suspect held over Berlin Holocaust memorial attack
A suspect has been arrested in connection with a 2025 attack at Berlin's Holocaust memorial.
German prosecutors said the Syrian national, Khalaf A., is accused of aiding attempted murder.
Investigators allege he was in contact with the convicted attacker, Wassim Al M., and spent time with him hours before the assault, encouraging him to carry it out.
The attacker was sentenced to 13 years in prison for attempting to kill a Spanish tourist at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, near the Brandenburg Gate, in February 2025. The victim survived the throat-slashing attack.
The arrest was carried out by Berlin state police following a warrant issued by Germany's Federal Court of Justice.
Stumbling stones — against forgetting
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https://p.dw.com/p/5EOniSkip next section Former RAF militant Daniela Klette jailed for 13 years05/27/2026May 27, 2026Former RAF militant Daniela Klette jailed for 13 years
Former far-left Red Army Faction militant Daniela Klette has been sentenced to 13 years in prison by a court in the northern German town of Verden for armed robbery, weapons offenses and other crimes.
Klette has been found guilty a taking part in a series of robberies targeting cash transport vehicles and supermarkets together with alleged accomplices Burkhard Garweg and Ernst-Volker Staub, who both remain fugitives.
Prosecutors said the group carried out the robberies between 1999 and 2016 and stole more than €2 million ($2.3 million).
Klette, a former member of the far-left militant group Red Army Faction, or RAF, had been living underground for decades before being arrested in Berlin in February 2024.
In the shadow of RAF terror: The children left behind
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https://p.dw.com/p/5EORlSkip next section German trade ministers urges open dialogue and trade with Beijing05/27/2026May 27, 2026German trade ministers urges open dialogue and trade with Beijing
Germany's Minister for Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche has called for a "trusting and open exchange" between Berlin and Beijing.
This is "very, very important" to her, the conservative politician said in Beijing during a meeting with Zhou Haibing, a Vice Minister at the National Development and Reform Commission, a powerful macroeconomic management agency under the Chinese government.
This agency is considered one of China's most important economic planning bodies. Reiche referred to the "very good bilateral talks" that Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently held with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Now, she noted, it was her task to "pick up this thread." Reiche also drew attention to Zhou's background as a civil engineer, noting that the importance of structural stability and resilience would be well known to him.
"That is how we wish to shape our own relations," the minister said. Reiche addressed the issues of energy security and security of supply. Both topics are also of great importance to China.
Reiche said she and her Chinese counterparts also discussed "reliable access" to critical minerals and "[supply] channels that our companies can rely on.
https://p.dw.com/p/5ENVxSkip next section Scholz rails against idea of any coalition with AfD05/27/2026May 27, 2026Scholz rails against idea of any coalition with AfD
Former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has spoken out against a conservative-led minority government supported by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
While voices in the CDU/CSU group have pointed out that there is, in fact, a majority in favor of right-wing policies, Scholz said this could not be the case.
"That is not so simple in Germany, not reasonably so, and we have decided against it;" he said at an event in Hamburg late on Tuesday.
"What is currently being discussed is quite oblivious to history, as there have been several instances where, under the opposite political circumstances, the right thing was done," said Scholz, from the center-left Social Democrats (SPD).
He characterized the AfD as an anti-pluralist party against which the other parties must stand united, even if they themselves hold very different views.
He questioned whether the AfD, once in power, would ever be willing to relinquish it. "We must stand firm against this," Scholz urged. Scholz did not mention the name of Torsten Albig, the former Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein and a fellow SPD member.
Over the weekend, Albig had advised his party to consider participating in minority governments supported by the AfD.
AfD mayoral win offers glimpse of party's local strategy
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https://p.dw.com/p/5EO12Skip next section Welcome to our coverage05/27/2026May 27, 2026Welcome to our coverage
Guten Tag from DW's newsroom in Bonn.
We're here to explore all things German that are in the news today, which include a visit to China by Economy Minister Katherine Reiche.
She said she wanted to two countries to work with one another more closely and fairly.
For this and other news, stay with us here.
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