Skip next section Germany records over 1,000 suspicious drone flights this year
12/22/2025December 22, 2025
Germany records over 1,000 suspicious drone flights this year
Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has recorded more than 1,000 suspicious drone flights since the beginning of 2025, according to a report by the mass-circulation Bild newspaper.
The drone threat assessment has been conducted since the start of the year and incorporates findings from Germany’s military, the Bundeswehr.
“Military installations in Germany are frequently overflown, including places where Ukrainian soldiers are being trained — who may be carrying smartphones,” BKA President Holger Münch told Bild.
“The drone records which smartphones are present on site and may then later be able to identify them again on the Ukrainian front.”
He also said apprehending and questioning drone pilots remains a challenge. When asked whether the drones were always controlled by Russian actors, Münch said this has not been established with “100% certainty” but also voiced suspicions that many instances of drone activity were directed by state actors aiming to create insecurity.
https://p.dw.com/p/55nbc
Skip next section Doubts surrounding Merz’s centrist coalition
12/22/2025December 22, 2025
Doubts surrounding Merz’s centrist coalition
Nearly half of Germans now doubt that Germany’s conservative-led coalition will last until the next scheduled election, according to a new survey.
A YouGov poll for the DPA news agency found that 49% do not expect the government to survive the full term, with 17% predicting a coalition collapse as early as next year.
Another 32% believe the Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU/CSU and center-left Social Democrats (SPD) will make it through 2026 but fail to reach the end of the legislative period.
The center-right CDU/CSU bloc and the center-left SPD secured a narrow majority of just 12 seats in the Bundestag after the February 23 election.
The CDU/CSU won 28.5% and the SPD 16.4% in the vote. However, both parties have since slipped in opinion polls, with the Union now at 24–27% and the SPD at 13–14%, leaving them short of a majority in every recent survey.
After seven and a half months marked by frequent disputes, only 9% of respondents believe the level of infighting will ease next year, while 49% expect tensions to remain unchanged and 21% think they will intensify.
The coalition is set to navigate five state elections n 2026.
DW interview with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz
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https://p.dw.com/p/55o2E
Skip next section German firms test warheads for new kamikaze drone
12/22/2025December 22, 2025
German firms test warheads for new kamikaze drone
German defense companies have carried out explosive tests of warheads for a kamikaze drone.
Defense firms TDW and Stark Defence said the industrial trial on a test range in Bavaria was successful, producing a powerful detonation that punched deep holes through armored steel plates.
The companies said the test laid the groundwork for rapidly fielding the drone system with the German armed forces.
The weapon, known as Virtus, is classified as so-called loitering munition — a drone fitted with a warhead that can circle over a target area for extended periods before being directed via data link to strike.
https://p.dw.com/p/55oRB
Skip next section Weak economy cuts Germany’s raw material demand in 2024
12/22/2025December 22, 2025
Weak economy cuts Germany’s raw material demand in 2024
Germany’s industrial demand for raw materials has kept shrinking as both domestic production and imports fell again last year, according to the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) in Hanover.
The latest research, published on Monday, looks into the data recorded in 2024. According to the report, domestic output of mineral raw materials dropped to a new low of 475 million tons, down from 534 million tons in the already weak previous year.
BGR Vice President Volker Steinbach said the decline reflects ongoing economic stagnation, with high interest rates, persistent inflation, and elevated energy and transport costs weighing on industry and reducing demand.
The downturn has been broad. Over five years, Germany’s domestic raw material production has fallen by about one third. Imports also declined, slipping 2.8% from the previous year to 288 million tons.
Energy raw materials saw the sharpest pullback. Imports of coal, oil, and gas fell again, while imports of metals and non-metallic raw materials edged slightly higher compared with 2023.
https://p.dw.com/p/55ncj
Skip next section Welcome to our coverage12/22/2025December 22, 2025
Welcome to our coverage
Guten Tag from the former West German capital, Bonn, in the heart of Europe.
Join us as we browse key news from Germany, including reports of suspicious drones overflying military sites where Germany helps train Ukrainian soldiers, and the poll that found that 49% of German voters think the current government will not hold together until the end of its term.
Follow us here for this and the latest headlines throughout the day.
https://p.dw.com/p/55nr8
