Overview

• Chancellor Friedrich Merz defended his reform push in the Bundestag’s general debate, calling the moment one of the country’s most challenging, as interruptions prompted an order from President Julia Klöckner and he replied, “Ich halte das aus.”
• The government plans about €520.5 billion in core spending for 2026 with roughly €174 billion in new borrowing, drawing AfD attacks over a “Schuldenorgie” and sparking clashes over climate, social policy and growth.
• President Donald Trump used his UN address to urge Europe to immediately stop buying Russian energy and linked any new U.S. sanctions to such a halt, while praising Germany based on incorrect claims, prompting German criticism and calls for stronger UN engagement.
• Green leaders argued Merz should have represented Germany in New York, as SPD politician Alexander Schweitzer said Berlin would not be bossed around by Trump; Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul briefly left the UN session to speak in the Bundestag.
• Beyond Berlin’s federal debate, the Volksentscheid Baum campaign pressed the Abgeordnetenhaus to pass its BäumePlus law by October 9 or face a renewed referendum drive, and Saxony’s Michael Kretschmer demanded more defense contracts for the East and warned—citing what he says he heard in Berlin—of a potential ILA move back to Hanover.