Overview
- At the Junge Union’s Deutschlandtag in Rust, Friedrich Merz urged moderation, warned against lowering the pension level, and said he would support the bill in the Bundestag with a good conscience.
- The Junge Union and its 18-member Junge Gruppe reiterated they will not back the current package, arguing it adds roughly €120 billion in long‑term costs beyond the coalition agreement.
- The dispute has shifted from internal caucus talks to a public showdown at the youth congress, where leaders cast the issue as a test of generational fairness and party credibility.
- Separately in Berlin on Nov. 13, several pro‑Palestine activists used a hydraulic lift to reach the Brandenburg Gate roof, unfurled a banner reading “Never again genocide — Freedom for Palestine,” and were detained after about two to three minutes.
- Police heights teams and firefighters intervened, officers broke the lift cab’s windows to detain accomplices, rescue airbags were deployed, and a Bundeswehr emergency ambulance stood by as authorities process charges.