Pistorius brushes off SPD leadership talk

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has ruled out a change of leadership at the top of his center-left Social Democrats after an electoral slump.

Meanwhile, two major automakers face a legal challenge.

DW has the latest.

Here are the latest updates from across Germany on Monday, March 23:
Top German court to rule on climate lawsuits
Germany's Federal Court of Justice (BGH) is set to rule on two climate lawsuits against BMW and Mercedes-Benz over future combustion engine sales.

The cases, brought by environmental group DUH, seek to ban the companies from selling new combustion-engine cars from November 2030.

At the core is whether companies can be legally required — beyond existing state regulations — to take stronger climate action.

Their case draws on a landmark 2021 Constitutional Court ruling that required the government to strengthen climate protections to safeguard future freedoms.

Lower courts in Munich and Stuttgart rejected the lawsuits, but the BGH will now decide whether major emitters can be held accountable in civil court.

Can German carmakers survive the EV shakeup?

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Pistorius rejects calls for SPD leadership overhaul
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has rejected calls for a full leadership change for his center-left Social Democrats (SPD) after a major state election loss, saying he is not seeking additional roles.

The SPD, which has led coalition governments in Rhineland-Palatinate continuously for 35 years, was pushed out of the top spot by Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats in Sunday's election.

Speaking to the DPA news agency during a visit to Tokyo, Pistorius called the result in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate "very poor," adding that it did not reflect the strong campaign led by state premier Alexander Schweitzer.

However, he added: "Neither the party nor the coalition needs a personnel debate right now.

That would be irresponsible, and I am not available for that.

Given the global situation and the challenges we face in Germany, we have other problems to deal with.

We need to focus on our work in government."
Pistorius, who is consistently ranked as the most popular SPD politician and one of the most popular political figures in German, stressed the focus should remain on government work rather than internal personnel changes.

His comments come after SPD lawmaker Doris Schröder-Köpf called for a complete leadership reshuffle and suggested Saarland Premier Anke Rehlinger and Pistorius for top roles, including replacing Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil.

Sunday was a double whammy for Germany's oldest political party, with the Greens defeating long-time SPD incumbent Dieter Reiter in the mayoral election for the Bavarian capital, Munich.

Guten Tag from DW's newsroom here in Bonn.

You join us as the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) licks its wounds after a bruising defeat in the Rhineland-Palatinate state election.

The defeat has led to soul searching among some in the party, which has presided over a multitide of coalitions in the southwestern state for the past 35 years
However, the SPD's most popular politician Boris Pistorius has said the time is not right for a debate about the party leadership.

You can follow this and other stories in our Germany news blog on Monday, March 23.