Greens and CDU agree Baden-Württemberg deal

The state of Baden-Württemberg's Greens and conservatives have forged a coalition deal after weeks of talks.

Meanwhile, unions are staging May Day rallies to demand better work conditions and a wealth tax.

It was a roundup of the top headlines from and about Germany on Friday, May 1, 2026.

This blog is now closed.

Germany sees fewer asylum claims in April
Germany received 6,144 asylum applications in April, according to Interior Ministry data, a significant drop compared with the same month last year.

The figures show a nearly 32% fall from April 2025, when the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees counted 9,108 first-time applications.

In the first three months of 2026, Germany saw 22,491 initial asylum applications, a 37% fall from the previous year.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt hailed the drop, saying the country had "turned a wave of migration into a migration turnaround."
Last May, Germany extended and expanded temporary controls at its borders with other European Union states.

The measures included deploying thousands of additional federal police officers, authorizing more entry refusals for those without valid documents, or people suspected of irregular entry.

Border staff have been ordered to turn back asylum seekers, apart from pregnant women, children and other vulnerable people.

The German data chimes with a similar trend across the 27-member bloc, where asylum applications last year dropped by about a fifth to 780,200.

Reforms to the EU's asylum system are set to be rolled out next month, with new rules allowing EU states to deport migrants more easily to third countries to which they have no prior connection.

German workers decry planned health care, welfare cuts
Labor activists across Germany marked International Workers' Day on Friday, with rallies and street protests.

In Berlin and other cities across Germany, workers took to the streets as trade unions organized hundreds of rallies under the slogan "Our jobs first, your profits second."
The demonstrations, on what is a public holiday in Germany, targeted the government's planned cuts to health care and social security benefits.

Unions are calling for the preservation of the eight-hour workday, secure pensions, and higher taxes on the rich.

At the main rally in Nuremberg, Yasmin Fahimi, president of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), urged members to stay ready for action.

"You must remain ready for a fight in the coming weeks and months," Fahimi said.

"Anyone who attacks the level of pension provision is provoking a major social conflict.

We are capable of mobilizing against this pension theft, and we will fight it off."
Lufthansa says it found lost Oscar statuette
Germany's flagship carrier Lufthansa said it had found an Oscar statuette belonging to Pavel Talankin, the Russian director who won best documentary this year for "Mr.

Nobody Against Putin," which had been lost while he flew with the airline from New York to Frankfurt on Thursday.

Lufthansa offered its "regret" over the incident, saying it had embarked on an internal search "with the utmost care and urgency" to recover the Oscar.

Read more about how the airline reacted to the mishap .

Vice Chancellor Klingbeil hits back at Trump, backs Merz
German Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil has defended Chancellor Friedrich Merz against criticism from the United States, pushing back at President Donald Trump .

Klingbeil’s remarks came after Trump hit back at Merz, and Germany, over the chancellor's assertion that Tehran had "humiliated" Washington.

Klingbeil, who is also Germany's finance minister, said his country does not need tips from Trump amid the Iran war.

He urged the US president to instead focus on securing peace talks.

"We really don't need any advice from Donald Trump right now.

He should see the mess he's made.

He should make sure that serious peace talks are now being held in Iran," Klingbeil said at a Labor Day event in Bergkamen in the Ruhr region.

Read more about how Klingbeil questioned Trump's approach to war with Iran .

German Chancellor Merz criticizes US over Iran war
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Greenpeace criticizes Germany's fuel tax cut
Greenpeace has criticized Germany's new fuel tax cut, calling for the measure to be scrapped quickly.

Mobility expert Marissa Reiserer said the policy risks benefiting oil companies and drivers of large combustion-engine cars rather than reducing fuel use.

Lower taxes on petrol and diesel have taken effect, with the temporary measure aimed at easing price pressures linked to the Iran war .

Fuel taxes were reduced by 16.7 cents per liter (19.5 US cents), with expected state revenue losses of up to €1.6 billion.

Greenpeace argued the approach moves in the wrong direction and instead pointed to public transport solutions, highlighting the success of Germany’s low-cost transit ticket model in cutting car use and supporting climate goals.

The €9 Deutschlandticket , which offered unlimited rides on local and regional transportation, was introduced for three months in 2022 and was enthusiastically embraced by the public.

There have been successors, but they have become more expensive.

At the same time, deputy parliamentary leader of the center-left Social Democrats Armand Zorn urged oil companies to pass on the tax cut to consumers, saying prices at the pump should fall accordingly and warning that "price gouging must end quickly."
How Germans feel about daily fuel price freeze
Lufthansa to help search for lost Oscar statuette
Germany's flagship carrier Lufthansa said in a statement that it deeply regretted the disappearance of an Oscar statuette on one of its flights.

The Oscar belonged to Pavel Talankin, the Russian director who won best documentary this year for "Mr.

Nobody Against Putin." The statuette went missing after he was forced to check the award into hold luggage on a flight from New York to Germany.

Airport security prevented the filmmaker from taking the statuette on the plane, saying it could be used as a weapon.

When Talankin arrived in Frankfurt, the box it had been placed in was not found.

"We deeply regret this situation," Lufthansa said in a statement.

"Our team is handling this matter with the utmost care and urgency, and we are conducting a comprehensive internal search to ensure that the Oscar is found and returned as quickly as possible."
Speaking ​to the online magazine Deadline after arriving in Germany on Thursday, Talankin said it was "completely baffling how they ​consider an Oscar a ‌weapon." He said he had brought the trophy with him into the cabin on previous flights on various airlines he had flown with "and there never was any kind of problem."
His documentaty was based on footage that Talankin, a 35-year-old videographer, gathered at a school where he ⁠worked in Russia's Chelyabinsk region ​to show how students were exposed to pro-war messaging.

He fled Russia in 2024.

Germany plans new emergency food stock system
Germany has unveiled plans to expand emergency food reserves with more ready-to-use supplies stored across industry and retail.

Agriculture Minister Alois Rainer said the system would include items like canned goods kept not only in state depots but also at manufacturers and in warehouses on company sites.

Rainer said an initial €30 million ($35.2 million) would be needed as start-up funding, with annual costs later estimated at €70 to €80 million.

He plans to anchor the funding in the federal budget through a constitutional exemption mechanism.

Because stored products have limited shelf life, they would be rotated into regular sales before expiring.

"This creates additional work in logistics, and this must, of course, be fairly financed, because the security of supply for the population is crucial," the minister said.

Despite the involvement of the private sector, Rainer said the state remained responsible for ensuring food supplies.

"In a crisis, it must ensure the population's supply, and we are committed to fulfilling that responsibility," he said.

Freiburg looks ahead with belief after late Braga blow
Bundesliga side Freiburg has turned its focus to the return leg after a late Europa League semifinal defeat, insisting that belief remains strong.

"Nothing is over," goalkeeper Noah Atubolu said, adding that "everything is possible in the second leg." Coach Julian Schuster also pointed to the team's resilience, saying the performance showed Freiburg can compete "on equal terms."
The squad now aims to turn anger into energy, said defender Philipp Treu, with players highlighting the next game as a chance to respond.

"We showed what we can do," he said, adding the team is ready to "go all in" for a place in the Istanbul final.

Oxfam flags widening pay gap in Germany
Income inequality in Germany has widened since the COVID-19 pandemic, with executive pay rising sharply while real wages remain below pre-2019 levels, an analysis for the charity Oxfam has found.

The report says pay for 25 CEOs in the DAX 40 increased 56% since 2019, from about €4.5 million ($5.3 million) to nearly €7 million, while workers' real incomes have yet to fully recover.

Globally, Oxfam said, top executive pay rose 54% between 2019 and 2025, while real wages for workers dropped 12% over the same period.

Average CEO compensation climbed from $5.5 million to $8.4 million dollars, meaning a typical worker would need about 490 years to earn the same amount.

"While the purchasing power of employees in Germany is still weaker on average than in 2019, and the current surge in inflation is burdening many households, the salaries of top managers are exploding," said Manuel Schmitt, social inequality expert at Oxfam.

"They are becoming increasingly detached from the reality of many people who already have to ask themselves daily how they will pay for energy, rent, and food.

This ever-increasing inequality is also a threat to our democracy."
The report also found that nearly 1,000 billionaires received a combined $79 billion in dividends in 2025.

On average, a billionaire earned more from dividends in under two hours than a worker makes in a year.

Right-wing violent crime hits highest level since 2016
Germany has recorded the highest number of right-wing violent crimes since 2016, according to government data.

A response to a query by the socialist Left Party showed 1,598 such offenses were reported to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) for 2025 — up from 1,488 the previous year.

Most cases involved bodily harm or aggravated assault, the DPA news agency cited the response as saying.

The figures can still rise due to delayed reporting or cases where political motives are identified later.

Overall right-wing crime slightly declined, the BKA said, falling to 42,544 cases from 42,788.

Typical offenses include incitement, insults, and defamation of the state, while violent crimes range from assault to arson and public order offenses.

Relative to population, eastern states recorded the highest rates.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania led with 145 offenses per 100,000 residents, followed by Saxony-Anhalt with 142 and Brandenburg with 139 — all three eastern states were well above the national average of 51.

The southern, wealthy states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg had the lowest rates at 28.

Authorities note the figures also reflect how intensively police investigate politically motivated crime .

In Brandenburg, a surge in 2024 was linked to rising polarization and election-related tensions.

What's fueling right-wing extremism in young German men?

Greens, CDU reheat state 'pizza coalition' deal in Baden-Württemberg
The Green Party and conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) have reached a coalition agreement in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg after weeks of tough negotiations.

Lead negotiators Cem Özdemir from the Greens and Manuel Hagel from the CDU said both sides had fought hard, describing the outcome as more than a minimal compromise and a "reform coalition."
Outgoing state premier Winfried Kretschmann, who has led the state since 2011, is set to be succeeded by his fellow Green Özdemir .

The deal is set to be presented next week, with party approval and Özdemir’s planned election as state premier on May 13 to follow.

The coalition partners have already decided on the allocation of state ministries.

A black-green alliance of the Greens and conservatives in Germany is also known as a "pizza coalition" after young politicians from the CDU and Greens started meeting informally in a pizzeria in Bonn when the city was still Germany's capital.

As the junior partner, the CDU takes key portfolios, including the interior, economy and transport ministries, while the Greens will oversee finance, social affairs, environment and housing.

Key personnel decisions remain unresolved, including whether CDU state head Hagel will become interior minister.

Both parties, which have governed together since 2016, ended up tied at 56 seats each after the March 8 election, complicating talks and fueling tensions during the campaign.

Hagel said the government aimed to deliver practical solutions rather than headlines, highlighting education and equal opportunity as core priorities.

German regional vote reveals economy worries and SPD decline
Guten Tag from the DW newsroom in Bonn.

You join us as after Germany's Greens and the conservative Christian Democrats announce they have struck a deal on governing the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg.

The coalition formed is expected to see well-known Green figure Cem Özedemir take over from his long-serving predecessor as state minister.

Meanwhile, trade unions plan to stage hundreds of May Day rallies across the country to protest job cuts and reductions to social benefits.

Stick with us here for more on those and other stories that Germany is talking about today.