Germany news: Conservative state premiers rally behind Merz

Below, you can review top stories from and about Germany from Wednesday, August 16, 2026:

Candidates for state premier in the upcoming election in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania faced off in a fiery debate.

Current state leader Manuela Schwesig of the Social Democrats ( SPD ) was on the offensive against Leif-Erik Holm of the far-right Alternative for Germany ( AfD ) in the televised debate.

The SPD is currently polling at 35%, with the AfD only two percentage points behind, according to the latest poll commissioned by the Bild newspaper.

Schwesig has said she is the only one who can keep the AfD out of power in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. She has called on voters to back the SPD over other parties like the conservative Christian Democratic Union or the Greens , which are polling at 7% and 5%, respectively. Meanwhile, the Left Party is gathering some 10% of the vote, according to pollster INSA between September 8 and 15.

Schwesig blasted the AfD's policies as xenophobic and warned of an exodus of skilled workers with immigrant backgrounds due to the climate of fear that the far-right populist AfD has created. Holm said that this fear was "a failure of politics over the past ten years," adding that xenophobia would decline if illegal immigrants were consistently deported.

On the topic of the economy, Schwesig touted her record of bringing jobs to the state through new multibillion-euro projects. Schwesig said the AfD was "hostile to the economy and will destroy jobs."

Holm, who reminded the audience that he is an economist, lost his temper during the exchange and accused Schwesig of "lying nonstop." As for his plans, he said he would cut taxes and "roll out the red carpet" for entrepreneurs.

Voters in Berlin go to the polls on Sunday in one of the most tightly fought state elections in the city's history.

Only a few percentage points separate the top four parties: the conservative CDU, the far-left Left Party, the far-right Alternative for Germany, and the environmentalist Greens.

It's impossible to predict what constellation of parties will end up governing the city.

With a third successive World Cup disappointment likely still sticking in most German football fan's throats like a bitter pill, new coach Jürgen Klopp will give the first clues of the direction he wants to take the national team on Thursday .

Klopp is expected to select a large squad well beyond the 23 players allowed on any given matchday, as he is selecting a troupe to cover four quickfire figures between September 24 and October 4.

Germany will play the Netherlands, Serbia and Greece twice during that 11-day period.

At his official presentation in July, Klopp said he was casting a very wide net , looking at 57 potential players for his Germany setup.

He's visited a host of matches and training sessions since his appointment. Klopp has also made it clear that he doesn't plan to issue early proclamations and declarations only to have to change his mind later on.

"I'm not going to hand out positions here now, or say where someone will never play again, or where he will always play now," Klopp said.

This refers in no small part to captain and star Joshua Kimmich, arguably Germany's best option at right back or in central midfield, who has had successful stints in both positions under different coaches in his career.

Germany's Olympic confederation, the DOSB, has said that President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will address next week's annual assembly in Baden-Baden.

He will be announcing the result of a decision on the country's next Olympic bid on September 26.

Munich, Berlin and Cologne, supported by the wider Rhine-Ruhr region, are all seeking the candidacy.

They will bid either for the 2036, 2040, or 2044 Summer Games, another decision the DOSB will vote on.

Whichever would-be host wins the right to run is sure to face stiff international competition.

Berlin notoriously hosted the Games in 1936 amid Adolf Hitler's rule, and Munich was the venue in 1972.

Since then, a number of German bids have failed. In some cases, most notably Hamburg's bid for the 2024 Summer Games aborted in 2015, the candidacy never even got off the ground as the local residents vetoed it in a referendum.

Both Munich and Cologne staged public votes that gained majority support for a bid. Berlin did not hold a public vote, but its state legislature voted in favor of the bid. A fourth would-be candidate, Hamburg, dropped out once more after residents again said no.

According to the dpa news agency, the German government has developed a 10-point plan of action to combat the abuse of social benefits, which is set to be implemented by the end of the year.

The plan's objective is to reduce the incentives for people to migrate to Germany in order to access its social welfare system, with the aim of ending the large-scale abuse of the social benefit system .

The government also intends to facilitate the identification of exploitative business models involving rundown or substandard properties used in schemes targeting vulnerable individuals.

The plan was developed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, led by Bärbel Bas , and the Ministry of the Interior, led by Alexander Dobrindt .

According to a media report, German intelligence has recorded an increase in disinformation about Chancellor Friedrich Merz that is believed to be linked to Russia.

"Since the end of June 2026, the frequency of these activities has increased further," the Handelsblatt business newspaper quoted the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany's domestic intelligence agency, as saying.

According to the agency, disinformation campaigns, which often involve videos designed to appear as if they were released by well-known media outlets, are primarily disseminated via X and other social media platforms.

Those involved in disseminating content centered on false information about Merz include the Matryoshka campaign and the Storm-1516 group, according to the intelligence agency.

In December 2025, the German government officially linked Storm-1516 to Russia after the group was found to have spread disinformation about the German national election in February 2025.

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The German Foreign Office announced that special permission had been granted for a Russian flight to facilitate the departure of officials following the closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn in response to an attempted drone attack on the airport attributed to Moscow .

The Russian aircraft landed at Cologne/Bonn Airport on Wednesday morning. Currently, aircraft registered in Russia are not permitted to fly to European Union countries due to sanctions imposed in connection with the war in Ukraine .

The German government announced that it would close the Russian Consulate General in Bonn in response to an alleged attempted drone attack at Leipzig Airport attributed to Russia. The consul general and other diplomatic staff must leave the country by Friday.

Russia, which categorically denies any involvement in the drone incident, ordered the closure of the German Consulate General in Saint Petersburg by September 18. Its staff has been instructed to leave the country.