Germany news: Baltic summit plans hybrid-threat task force

This blog is now closed. Here is a roundup of top stories from and about Germany on Friday, August 28, 2026:

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt says that Baltic and European leaders at a special hybrid security meeting agreed to plans to set up a new security task force and to enhance collective drone defense capabilities.

The assembled politicians discussed "urgent security policy questions for a shared future in the Baltic Sea region," Dobrindt said amid the meeting at the Mürwik naval training center in Flensburg on Germany's northeast coast

"Foreign powers are trying to attack our security with hybrid measures, to destabilize our democracies, to weaken our economy," he said. "Drone attacks, cyber attacks, spying, disinformation, arson attacks on critical infrastructure, covert operations and the use of 'disposable agents' are all rapidly increasing in number."

Dobrindt warned that the recent past had shown a pronounced increase in the "quality and intensity" of such attacks and surmised that "we must prepare ourselves for the hybrid threat situation continuing to intensify."

He said the shared goal was to bolster defense against such hybrid threats.

"We want to investigate, deter and defend altogether more quickly," Dobrindt said, saying they wanted to work together to transform the Balitc from a "collective risk area" into a "collective defensive area."

The assembled politicians from Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden, Norway and Ireland — the current holder of the rotating EU presidency — had a working lunch at the Mürwik base amid the talks.

They were also taken out on the Baltic Sea in a German Federal Police motorboat.

Germany intends to continue referring to the body of water between the US and Canada as Lake Ontario, despite US President Donald Trump's decision to rename it as "Lake America" amid his growing rift with Canada.

"This is an American decision to refer to this lake by a different name. For the time being, it has no further implications for other countries," said a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry on Friday. "As far as we are concerned, it remains Lake Ontario, which is the customary name."

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The spokesman went on to argue that "in the US, football is called 'soccer,' but that doesn't mean it's called 'soccer' in other countries as well."

When asked whether the decision could culminate in fresh Trump resentment toward Berlin, the spokesman said that naming of waterways "should not be a reason to harbour political resentment toward anyone."

Earlier this year, Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz engaged in a public rift after the German leader said the US was being "humiliated" at the negotiating table with Iran amid the war. Trump then announced a reduction in the number of US troops in Germany .

Berlin 's Mayor Kai Wegner says the city-state's government is being blackmailed by hackers who breached several sectors of its administration earlier in this month.

"Berlin has become a victim of a serious crime," Wegner said, albeit adding that the state "will not allow itself to be blackmailed."

German news magazine Spiegel reports that the hackers are demanding 30 bitcoin or just over €2 million (roughly $2.3 million).

As a result of the cyber attack, departments like city planning, construction, housing, mobility, transportation and environment and climate protection were all isolated from the state government network for around a week, starting on August 14.

Among other things, it meant that it was not possible to apply for or pay out housing benefits for several days.

At first, officials said they did not believe sensitive data had been captured. Then on Wednesday of this week, the state government said it was possible that personalized or non-public information might be affected.

According to Spiegel , a ransomware group known as Rhysida is claiming responsibility in a post on the dark web, saying it had secured some 6 terabytes of data and putting a countdown to the time of its publication alongside a demand for 30 bitcoin.

Rhysida gained notoriety in 2023 when it hacked the online information systems of the British Library and published leaked material when it was not paid the bitcoin ransom it demanded.

German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil is the guest on this Friday's " Interview der Woche " political podcast by public broadcaster ARD.

Much of the interview revolves around domestic policies directly in Klingbeil's ministerial wheelhouse, like the sugar tax , planned income tax reforms , and Germany's difficult economic situation more generally.

But when the discussion turned to fuel prices in Germany, which are nearing their all-time highs from much earlier in the year once again, the Social Democrat (SPD) leader Klingbeil wasted no time in pointing to the external factors in play.

"First of all you have to say that this is the fault of Donald Trump , who started this irresponsible war in Iran ," Klingbeil said. "These are the effects, which people are now feeling at the fuel pumps. Therefore the most important thing — and I will be in the US next week for the G20 finance ministers' summit — and the most important message to the US is: Bring this war to an end. That's the first point."

Klingbeil said that the second issue should be to address oil companies "profiteering" as a result of the unrest in Iran and the Gulf, arguing that consumer prices were not a fair reflection of the oil prices or economic fundamentals.

He said he wanted the question of windfall taxes on oil companies to once again be discussed at an EU level .

"The oil companies are making gains on the back of this geopolitical situation," Klingbeil said. "They are filling their pockets and that needs to be stopped, which is why I'm lobbying for the windfall tax and am saying that the proceeds that are raised should be redirected to consumers — which could be achieved by reducing fuel prices."

For a two-month period, Germany dipped its taxes on gasoline and diesel to try to relieve the pressure on prices at the pumps. But this measure expired without renewal in July and prices have since returned close to their highest-ever levels, from earlier in the year. Other smaller factors like the low water levels on the River Rhine impacting freight transport have also played a more minor role in driving up prices in some parts of the country.

A German court on Friday sentenced an 81-year-old man to life in prison for the rape and murder of a US tourist over 30 years ago.

Amy Lopez was 24 when she was raped and killed by the convicted man in 1994.

Hans S., whose last name is not given as per Germany's privacy laws, was only arrested earlier this year, when police were finally able to identify him using new DNA technology.

German Bundesliga sides Bayer Leverkusen , TSG Hoffenheim and SC Freiburg have found out their opponents in European competition for this season.

In the Europa League, Europe's second-tier international club competition, Leverkusen and Hoffenheim will both face French giants Olympique Lyon, Turkish side Besiktas and OFI from the Greek island of Crete.

The final of this year's Europa League will take place in Frankfurt — extra motivation for the German clubs to reach a final on home soil.

In the third-tier Conference League, SC Freiburg will also face Greek and Turkish opposition in the form of Panathinaikos and Trabzonspor respectively. The latter made headlines this summer when they signed Egyptian star Mohamed Salah .

Last season, Freiburg reached the final of the Europa League in Istanbul, where they lost to Aston Villa. Coincidentally, this season's Conference League final will also be in Istanbul, in the same stadium, so Freiburg will be aiming for redemption.

Bayer Leverkusen (Europa League): Olympique Marseille (h) Olympique Lyon (a) RB Salzburg (h) Dinamo Zagreb (a) NK Celje (h) Lech Poznan (a) Besiktas (h) OFI Crete (a)