Skip next section Merz set to host France’s Macron at dinner meeting
07/23/2025July 23, 2025
Merz set to host France’s Macron at dinner meeting
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is set to receive French President Emmanuel Macron in Macron’s first visit to Germany since Merz’s government took power in early May.
The dinner will take place at Villa Borsig, a lakeside residence on Lake Tegel that now serves as a guest house of the German Foreign Office.
The two leaders have said they want to deepen cooperation “at all levels” after Franco-German ties cooled somewhat under former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The agenda is likely to focus on ways of strengthening European unity in the face of what seems to be waning US interest in the continent under President Donald Trump.
Talks could also center on the issue of a potential nuclear shield, with France the only country in the EU to possess a nuclear arsenal.
However, the two countries also disagree on several matters, with France, for example, in favor of taking on joint European debt to boost the continent’s defense industry, an idea opposed by Berlin.
https://p.dw.com/p/4xtG0
Skip next section German comedian goes on trial for posts on attempted Trump assassination
07/23/2025July 23, 2025
German comedian goes on trial for posts on attempted Trump assassination
The trial of Hotz, 29, is being seen as a test of how far satire can go in GermanyImage: Steffen Proessdorf/foto2press/IMAGO
German comedian Sebastian Hotz goes on trial in Berlin on Wednesday on charges of having condoned criminal offenses with online remarks on the assassination attempt on Donald Trump last year.
At the time, Hotz, better known under his stage name of “El Hotzo,” compared Trump and the “last bus,” saying both had “unfortunately” just been missed.
In another entry on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Hotz said: “I think it’s absolutely fantastic when fascists die.”
Both postings were later deleted, but screenshots of the statements circulated widely.
Regional public broadcaster RBB ended its collaboration with Hotz on a youth program amid growing public scrutiny, while national public broadcaster ARD Kultur canceled a literary event with him.
The journalists’ association DJV called on Tuesday for legal action against Hotz to be stopped, saying it was “completely excessive” that the satirist was coming before a court and facing a possible jail sentence.
Trump was wounded in an ear after a shooter fired a number of bullets from an assault rifle at him during a campaign event in the US state of Pennsylvania last July.
A firefighter watching the rally was killed and two others seriously injured during the shooting incident.
The shooter was also shot and killed.
https://p.dw.com/p/4xt1R
Skip next section Court rejects AfD complaint against “suspected extremist” label
07/23/2025July 23, 2025
Court rejects AfD complaint against “suspected extremist” label
A top German court has upheld the assessment of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party by the domestic intelligence agency as a “suspected right-wing extremist” group.
Tuesday’s ruling by the Leipzig federal administrative court on the assessment is final.
It upholds a May 2024 ruling by a higher administrative court in Münster justifying the assessment on the grounds that there was enough evidence suggesting anti-democratic tendencies in the party’s platform.
Among other things, the Münster court said, that there was a “justified suspicion” that a considerable part of its membership was in favor of degrading the legal status of German citizens “with migration backgrounds.”
The classification by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), of the AfD and its now disbanded youth wing makes it possible for the party to be monitored by all legal means.
These include recruiting undercover informants from among the party’s ranks.
The BfV’s “suspected” assessment was upgraded in May to a “confirmed” classification, but that has been suspended pending a court ruling that might take years to be issued.
However, some of the AfD’s regional branches are already being monitored as “confirmed” extremist by intelligence agencies in individual German states.
The AfD is the strongest opposition party in the German lower house of parliament, the Bundestag.
https://p.dw.com/p/4xswg
Skip next section Welcome to our coverage07/23/2025July 23, 2025
Welcome to our coverage
The DW newsroom in Bonn wishes all our readers guten Morgen on Wednesday, July 23!
We will be reporting on a meeting between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron as the two leaders seek to bolster their countries’ partnership at the heart of the European Union amid a myriad of challenges.
The evening will also see another momentous European encounter as Spain plays Germany in the Women’s European Championship semifinals in Zurich days after the German team snatched a dramatic win over France.
DW will bring you reports, analyses and explainers on these and other stories to keep you up to date with all the topics currently in focus in Germany.
https://p.dw.com/p/4xswy
