Overview

• Chancellor Friedrich Merz is scheduled to visit the German Navy on Thursday in Rostock, transfer by helicopter to the frigate Bayern, and deliver a press statement on board around midday.
• Marine planning outlines a capability demonstration at sea featuring live firing, an air-defense exercise with Eurofighter jets, anti-submarine warfare drills, and a damage-control and casualty-care simulation on board.
• Units slated to participate include the corvette Magdeburg, tender Donau, the Sea Lynx helicopter, the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, the P‑3C Orion, and the mine-clearance support vessel Rottweil.
• Rostock hosts the Marinekommando and since October 2024 the multinational CTF Baltic headquarters, and the federal purchase of the Warnowwerft in 2022 has expanded naval maintenance capacity.
• Regional Green and BSW leaders criticize the event as an inappropriate militarized display and argue it overlooks local social and economic concerns.