Overview

• An Infratest Dimap Deutschlandtrend shows only 27% satisfied with Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s performance, government disapproval at 77%, CDU/CSU and AfD tied at 26%, and 56% dissatisfied with how democracy functions.
• At the informal EU gathering in Copenhagen, leaders discussed a continent-wide drone defense and Ukraine funding without agreement, with talks set to resume at the next European Council as Merz pressed for EU-wide bureaucracy cuts.
• Investigations by Report Mainz and Tagesschau detail multiple cases of cooperation between local CDU officials and AfD representatives in eastern municipalities, prompting internal CDU backlash and calls for consequences.
• Police in Kassel arrested three suspects after Middle East-related graffiti and window damage at a downtown building, with state security probing links to earlier politically motivated vandalism.
• After recounts and a formal review, Datteln’s election committee confirmed SPD’s André Dora as mayor by five votes, underscoring the weight of procedural checks in razor-thin local contests.