Germany news: Rise in young people refusing military service

The Verdi union is calling for warning strikes at Deutsche Telekom, a global telecommunications company based in Bonn. 

Following a “disappointing second round of negotiations,” Verdi announced in Berlin that full-day warning strikes are planned nationwide this week. 

According to the union, employees from Lower Saxony, Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Berlin, and Brandenburg are being called on to walk off the job on Tuesday. Additional locations will follow throughout the week. 

Verdi is demanding, among other things, a 6.6% pay increase for approximately 60,000 unionized Deutsche Telekom employees nationwide over a 12-month collective bargaining agreement term, as well as a Verdi member bonus of €660 ($774) per year. 

The Telekom Group consists of 20 companies, each governed by its own collective bargaining agreement. Before the start of the new collective bargaining round, the group and the union agreed to negotiate jointly on behalf of all subsidiaries.

A 57-year-old German man died while on vacation in an Egyptian Red Sea resort after he was bitten by a snake during a "snake charmer" performance, German police said on Monday.

German police in the state of Bavaria, where the deceased hailed, said in a statement that the family of three was vacationing in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada in early April at the time of the incident.

The "snake charmer" performance was part of a hotel entertainment program, where two snakes were used. The police believe they were cobras, a highly venomous species. 

The show involved the snakes wrapping around guests' neck, and in the case of the deceased, police say one of the snakes crawled into his trousers, biting him in the leg.

The German holidaygoer suffered clear symptoms of poisoning. He was taken to a local hospital where he died, police said.

A police spokesman was cited by Germany's DPA news agency as saying the case was being investigated alongside Egyptian authorities. The spokesman added that the probe is not targeting the charmer.

A trial has begun in Stuttgart over an attack on a defense company in Ulm nearly eight months ago.

Proceedings were briefly halted after defense lawyers disrupted the session, preventing the defendants from being brought into court.

Prosecutors accuse five suspects aged 25 to 40 of taking part in the September 8 raid on Elbit Systems Deutschland, a German subsidiary of the Israeli defense group Elbit Systems. They caused about €1 million ($1.17 million) in damage. The defendants — three women and two men — were arrested at the scene.

Authorities say the group, allegedly linked to the activist network Palestine Action Germany, broke in through a side window and smashed computers, phones and other equipment. Sensitive lab instruments were also destroyed, while additional damage was reported to the building's facade.

The charges include membership in a criminal organization, joint property damage, trespassing and use of symbols of unconstitutional or terrorist groups. Hearings are scheduled through late July.

German authorities have seized nearly 700 kilograms (about 1,540 pounds) of cocaine in the port of Hamburg.

Customs and police say the drugs, with an estimated street value of more than €14 million (about $16.5 million), were found in a container from Brazil. A 34-year-old suspect linked to the receiving company was arrested, officials said.

The container had been flagged in early April during a risk analysis. Scans revealed irregularities, and a subsequent search uncovered 690 one-kilogram blocks of cocaine hidden among sacks of wood pellets.

The shipment originated in Brazil, part of a region known for large-scale cocaine production. Authorities say smuggling volumes have risen sharply in recent years.

Russia has released more information after it summoned Germany’s ambassador over an alleged meeting between a German lawmaker and a figure Moscow labels a terrorist.

The Foreign Ministry in Moscow says ambassador Alexander Graf Lambsdorff was called in after reports that conservative politician Roderich Kiesewetter met a Chechen exile leader in Kyiv.

Moscow says the meeting amounted to interference in its internal affairs and warned of "grave consequences."

A court in the western city of Koblenz found that border controls Germany has installed since 2024 come in violation of the European Union's Schengen Agreement on freedom of travel.

The Koblenz Administrative Court found the German police's acts when verifying a man's identity as he crossed from Luxembourg into Germany in June 2025 unlawful.

The plaintiff is Dominik Brodowski, a professor at Saarland University who was traveling by coach at the time of the incident in question.

German border controls have been in place since September 16, 2024, with three extensions. The latest runs until September 2026.

The court ruling specifically found fault with the extension stretching between March and September last year, during which the incident in question occurred.

Countries in the Schengen Area are allowed to make their own assessment of the threat situation. However, the court argued that Berlin's justification for the border controls in place lacked a "sound factual basis."

The decision is subject to appeal and the Interior Ministry is mulling whether to challenge it, according to a ministry spokeswoman.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz says he does not ‌see ⁠what ⁠exit strategy the United States has ​in the Iran war.

"An entire nation ​is being ‌humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially ‌by these so-called Revolutionary ‌Guards," Merz warned.

Read the full story here.

Rules introduced at German gas stations to cushion the effect of spiralling global oil prices on fuel costs for motorists in Germany amid the Middle East war have backfired, economists said on Monday.

In March, Economy and Energy Minister Katherina Reiche said gas stations would be permitted to raise fuel prices just once a day at noon.

However, the law has boosted retailers' profit margins on gasoline sales by five to six cents a liter, according to economists at the ZEW institute and the Duesseldorf Institute for Competition Economics, who compared wholesale prices to the pump prices at 15,000 gas stations.

The economists found that prices now peaked at noon before falling only gradually over the course of the day and bottoming out the next morning.

That has left fewer windows during the day for drivers to obtain relatively cheap fuel compared to before the introduction of the law.

"The reform was successful in increasing price transparency but failed to reduce price levels," the economists said. "If anything, it had the opposite effect."

"Low-price windows become more salient and easier to anticipate. However, this simplification comes at a cost: Prices are systematically elevated during the midday period," they added.

 The economists found no robust effect for diesel prices, however.

An Economy Ministry spokesman said the study was inconclusive as it did not consider the actual amounts sold at different times of day.

"The study does not specify exactly what volumes are purchased at what price, but simply plots the price curve," he said. 

"The law already lays down that we will carry out checks, and we will, of course, keep a constant eye on the situation," he added.

Germany's foreign minister has traveled to New York for a UN Security Council meeting expected to focus on the Strait of Hormuz.

Johann Wadephul called on council members to take responsibility over the Iran war as he departed, saying stronger action would bolster the international order.

He urged the United Nations to become the "central hub of current crisis diplomacy" and criticized how often members block action in the council.

"Time and again, far too often, individual parties with their conflicting interests block the UN Security Council," Wadephul lamented.

Permanent members China, Russia and the United States have frequently used their veto power to stall initiatives aimed at resolving conflicts.

Wadephul is expected to speak during a debate on maritime security, with discussions likely to focus on restoring oil and gas shipments through the strategic waterway.

The number of cyclists killed in road accidents across Germany rose to 462 in 2025, an increase of 3.8% over the year before, the Federal Statistical Office said on Monday.

The number of cyclist fatalities was up by a whole 20.6% compared with 2015, according to the figures, a rise that is attributed to there being ever more e-bike users.

Around 217 of the deaths in 2025 involved e-bikes, up from just 36 a decade earlier.

The statistics suggested that older cyclists are more at risk of dying in a road accident, with 61.5% of those killed in 2025 aged 65 or above.

Altogether 51.3% of cyclists involved in fatal accidents in that age group were on pedal bicycles and 61.5% on e-bikes.

Overall, 16.4% of fatal road accidents across Germany in 2025 involved a cyclist, the Wiesbaden-based agency said.

A separate trial has begun in Berlin against a young Syrian man accused of planning an attack.

Prosecutors said the 23-year-old faces charges including preparing a serious act of violence, financing terrorism and distributing propaganda for terrorist organizations.

The man had plotted a knife attack on "infidels" and Jews in Berlin, authorities said.

The unidentified man allegedly bought a knife and materials to build explosives off the internet, and looked up content about "martyrdom" and "jihad" on social media platforms like Telegram and TikTok, prosecutors said.

He had allegedly hoped to build an explosive vest for a suicide attack.

A Syrian man is appearing in court in Germany, accused of torture, brutal interrogations and the deaths of dozens of detainees.

Prosecutors say the 48-year-old is appearing before the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, charged with 70 counts of murder and crimes against humanity.

He is accused of working as a guard at a Syrian intelligence prison in Damascus in 2011 and 2012, where he allegedly took part in interrogations involving abuse and torture.

Prosecutors allege detainees were subjected to electric shocks and beatings, with at least 70 dying as a result of the violence and harsh detention conditions.

The defendant has been in pretrial detention since his arrest in May 2025.

Russia has summoned Germany's ambassador over alleged contacts between German politicians and terrorist groups.

Ambassador Alexander Graf Lambsdorff was called to the Foreign Ministry in Moscow for a meeting at 11 a.m. local time, his office said. No details about the accusations were provided. Lambsdorff said he would attend.

"I will, of course, comply with the summons. I consider it unlikely that the Russian side will be able to substantiate its allegations," Lambsdorff said in advance, according to a spokesperson.

Further information was expected after the meeting. Relations between Germany and Russia have been strained for years.

Applications for conscientious objection have continued to rise in Germany, according to a report, amid a tense security environment and the introduction of a new military service law.

The reform, which took effect in January, introduces mandatory screening for young men born in 2008 or later, aimed at boosting voluntary military recruitment. Parliament would be able to activate compulsory service if recruitment targets are missed.

The news comes a day after Bavarian state premier Markus Söder called for the reintroduction of compulsory military conscription.

The newspaper Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung reported that 2,656 people applied in the first quarter of the year, citing data from the Federal Office for Family Affairs and Civil Society Functions.

By comparison, there were 2,998 applications in all of 2024 and 3,867 in 2025, according to government data. If the trend continues, 2026 could see the highest level since conscription was suspended in 2011.

At the same time, some applicants have reversed earlier decisions. There were 781 such cases last year and 233 in the first quarter of this year.

Germany’s military spending has surged by more than a fifth, reaching €97 billion (about $114 billion) in 2025.

A report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says the 24% increase made Germany the world's fourth-largest defense spender. Global military spending hit a record high in 2025.

Only China, Russia and the United States are spending more. Globally, military expenditure rose 2.9% to about $2.89 trillion. SIPRI said the main driver was a 14% increase in Europe, marking the fastest annual growth in Central and Western Europe since the end of the Cold War.

Germany has now recorded three straight years of double-digit growth, spending 2.3% of GDP on defense — exceeding NATO's 2% benchmark for the first time since 1990. Berlin aims to raise that to 3.5% by 2029. European NATO members together spent $559 billion in 2025.