Overview
- In a government statement to the Berlin House of Representatives, Mayor Kai Wegner said the city’s crisis response worked and restored power sooner than first projected, while pledging to fix structural weaknesses.
- He acknowledged failing to disclose that he played an hour of tennis on the first day of the outage, a lapse that drew accusations of deceit and calls for his resignation from opponents.
- Authorities say a suspected left‑wing extremist arson attack on a cable bridge cut electricity to about 100,000 residents, affecting 45,000 households and more than 2,000 businesses, with service fully restored by January 7.
- The Greens’ parliamentary leader Werner Graf pressed Wegner to admit mistakes and show visible leadership, and welcomed the Federal Public Prosecutor taking over the investigation.
- Political analysis in Berlin points to damaged trust in Wegner and a higher likelihood of three‑party coalitions after the September election, even as the SPD signals it wants the current alliance to hold.