SPD youth wing casts doubt over coalition pact, Trump mulls ‘temporary’ pause on car tariffs, murder investigations begin after teen falls from Hamburg high-rise, and more news from around Germany on Tuesday.
SPD youth wing casts doubt over coalition agreement
As the Social Democrats (SPD) kicked off a two-week ballot to approve the black-red coalition pact, the head of the Jusos youth wing has rejected the agreement and called for “significant improvements”.
According to chairman Philipp Türmer, the tough crackdowns on social welfare and migration laid out in the coalition agreement go too far. The fact that many plans are dependent on financing makes the pact a “ticking time bomb”, he added.
“Our vote is against,” Türmer told RTL. “Significant improvements would be needed for the Jusos to vote in favour.”
More than 358,000 SPD members will be able to vote on the coalition agreement with the CDU/CSU from Tuesday – including around 70,000 ‘Juso’ members aged 14 to 35. The ballot will be conducted online and last until midnight on April 29th, with the results announced the following day.
Trump mulls temporary pause on car tariffs
US President Donald Trump appears to be considering another exemption to his tariffs policy – this time for the auto industry. According to the White House, this would give car manufacturers in the US time to adjust their supply chains and start manufacturing more parts domestically.
“I’m looking at something to help some car companies do that,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, adding that auto firms needed to switch their production from foreign countries to the United States.
“They’re going to make them here, but they need a little bit of time,” he said.
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On March 27th, the US President struck a blow to the German auto industry by announcing 25 percent tariffs on all cars and parts manufactured abroad.
Though major manufacturers like Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagen have factories in the US, they all import more than half of the cars they sell there.
READ ALSO: How will Trump’s car tariffs impact Germany?
Five arrested after teenager’s deadly fall from balcony
Sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine risks ‘escalation’, Kremlin says
The Kremlin on Monday warned Germany against supplying Taurus missiles to Ukraine, saying a proposal by incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz’s risked escalating the three-year conflict.
The air-launched missile, jointly developed by Germany and Sweden, can reach targets up to 500 kilometres away.
Outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz had ruled out sending them to Kyiv, but on Sunday Merz said he was open to the idea provided Germany had agreed with its European partners.
“He is agitating on the side of toughening his position and in favour of various steps that can — and will — inevitably lead to a further escalation of the Ukraine situation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of Merz.
A Ukrainian police officer inspecting the body of a victim killed in a missile attack in Sumy, northeastern Ukraine, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Photo: Ukrainian Emergency Service / AFP
The comments came shortly after Russia attacked the Ukrainian city of Sumy with two ballistic missiles, killing at least 34 people and wounding more than 100 others. World leaders condemned the Russian missile strike, which was one of the deadliest attacks in months.
Russia has long criticised Western countries for supplying long-range weapons to Ukraine, arguing Kyiv uses them to strike targets deep inside Russian territory. Both the United States and the UK have supplied long-range missiles to Ukraine.
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German watchdog gives go-ahead to Commerzbank acquisition
Germany’s competition watchdog has given the green light for Italian bank UniCredit to acquire a larger direct stake in German lender Commerzbank, removing another hurdle on the way to a possible takeover.
UniCredit could acquire up to 29.99 percent of Commerzbank, the federal cartel office (BKA) said in a statement.
A significant minority stake would “strengthen UniCredit’s market position in the private and corporate banking business in Germany”, BKA chief Andreas Mundt said in the statement.
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There were, however, “significant competitors” active in all areas of activity, Mundt said.
UniCredit currently holds just over nine percent of Commerzbank directly, making it the second-largest shareholder after the German government which owns 12.1 percent.
Indirectly, it holds a further 18.6 percent of its German rival via derivatives, according to figures from Commerzbank.
The European Central Bank also said in March that UniCredit could boost its stake in Commerzbank, Germany’s second-largest lender, to 29.9 percent.
READ ALSO: Germany’s Commerzbank to cut thousands of jobs
Germany pledges €125 million for Sudan on eve of aid meet
Germany will provide €125 million in humanitarian aid for Sudan, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday, on the eve of an international conference on the situation in the war-torn country.
The funds will go towards helping international and local aid organisations to “bring urgently needed food and medicine to people in need” in Sudan and the wider region, Baerbock said in a statement.
Paramilitaries in Sudan known as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been at war with the army since April 2023.
The conflict has essentially divided Sudan in two, with the army holding sway in the north and east, while the RSF controls most of Darfur and parts of the south.
The war has killed tens of thousands, uprooted more than 13 million and created what the International Rescue Committee has described as “the biggest humanitarian crisis ever recorded”.
Soldiers arrive at the Allafah market in an area recently recaptured by the Sudanese army from the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/AP | Uncredited
An international conference on the situation in Sudan will take place in London on Tuesday, co-hosted by Britain, Germany, France, the EU and the African Union, the German foreign ministry said.
The Sudanese army and the RSF militia were both unwilling to come to the table, according to the ministry.
“The focus in London will therefore be on working with our African partners to identify options for unrestricted humanitarian access, protection of the civilian population and a political solution to this bloody conflict,” said Baerbock.
With reporting by Paul Krantz, DPA and AFP.
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