Skip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
- Heatwave: Germany in the grip of extreme heat
- Defamation or democracy: Chancellor Merz insists he can handle insults
- Defense Minister Pistorius to inspect troops in Lithuania
Welcome to DW’s coverage of what’s making the news in Germany on Monday, 22 June, 2026. You can catch up on the weekend’s news here.
Skip next section Pistorius to attend German troop exercise in Lithuania06/22/2026June 22, 2026
Pistorius to attend German troop exercise in Lithuania
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is expected in Lithuania on Monday where he will observe a NATO exercise featuring predominantly German troops stationed in the Baltic country.
Operation “Freedom Shield 2026” is set to include around 2,900 soldiers including 2,300 from Germany as well as around 800 vehicles from eight NATO member states.
The German troops are from the Panzerbrigade (tank brigade) 45 which is to be permanently stationed in Lithuania with an eventual full strength of 4,800 personnel by 2027. Around 1,800 of them are already in place.
The deployment marks the first time that such a high number of German troops have been stationed abroad in the history of the modern Bundeswehr – Germany’s armed forces.
Pistorius hopes that the majority of German soldiers will sign up voluntarily to join the brigade on NATO’s eastern flank, just 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from the border with Belarus – but accepted that a certain percentage may have to be ordered there.
Specialists in technology, logistics and nuclear, biological and chemical defense are said to be in particular short supply in comparison to the much higher number of combat troops.
“The most important thing for me is that the brigade is capable of performance its task,” said Pistorius.
Infrastructure for the brigade, on the other hand, is not going to be a problem, with Lithuanian Defense Minister Robertas Kaunas saying that the country’s biggest ever military construction project was ten months ahead of schedule.
“This project represents a milestone in German-Lithuanian relations,” he told German newspaper Welt. “This is enormously important for deterrence on NATO’s eastern flank and for the security of Lithuania and the territory of the entire alliance.”
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https://p.dw.com/p/5FpDzSkip next section Heatwave: Could temperatures in Germany reach 40°C?06/22/2026June 22, 2026
Heatwave: Could temperatures in Germany reach 40°C?
Like much of Europe, Germany is set to continue baking throughout this week with the country in the grip of a major heatwave.
On Sunday, the German Meteorological Service (DWD) said that the usually cooler regions in the north of the country would be affected and even predicted that temperatures could reach 40°C (104°F) in certain parts of the southwest.
The intense heat brings with it an increased chance of severe storms, as in Berlin, where the fire brigade attended around 160 call-outs over the weekend.
Trees were blown over and some of the 300 stages hosting the “Fête de la Musique” music festival across the city were damaged but, fortunately, no serious accidents or injuries were reported.
However, there was one fatality in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt where sudden torrents of rain caused a motorway accident in which a driver lost control of a vehicle. One woman died and four other passengers were injured.
According to the DWD, temperatures are not expected to drop until the end of the week.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5FozHSkip next section Merz: Not bothered by insults but state institutions must be protected06/22/2026June 22, 2026
Merz: Not bothered by insults but state institutions must be protected
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has insisted that he’s not bothered by personal insults – but he wants to adapt the law to protect state institutions and government offices from general defamation.
“If someone calls me an idiot, then that’s up to them,” he said at the German government’s annual Open Day on Sunday, when government ministries open their doors to allow visitors to look behind the scenes. “I’m of a different opinion, but it doesn’t make it a crime.”
Merz admitted that he had pressed defamation charges in the past when subjected to personal insults but insisted that he has stopped doing so and hasn’t taken any such action since becoming Chancellor.
The debate around where the boundary lies between freedom of expression and personal insult has flared up in Germany since prosecutors pressed charges against a student who held up a supposedly derogatory banner about Merz at a demonstration in Berlin. Some social media users have also received fines for comments on social media which were found to be defamatory.
Merz said that charges were generally pressed by state prosecutors rather than by politicians themselves and said he was “surprised” by the high number of cases – but he did say that state institutions and positions ought to be protected from defamation in order to maintain respect for the democratic system.
“The moment state offices are defamed, the fun stops,” he said, differentiating between the person and the position. “We need to be able to combat that as a society because that’s no longer freedom of expression; that damages our democracy.”
To that end, Merz said he is open to reforming Paragraph 188, the German law that protects politicians from insult, defamation, and libel under certain circumstances.
https://p.dw.com/p/5Fp0WSkip next section Welcome to our coverage06/22/2026June 22, 2026
Welcome to our coverage
Guten Morgen! Welcome to DW’s coverage of what a sunny Germany is talking about on Monday, 22 June, 2026.
Like much of Europe, Germany remains in the grip of an intense heatwave with experts predicting that temperatures may even hit the 40°C mark (104°F) in some areas.
Amid a debate about what people can say about politicians, Chancellor Friedrich Merz has insisted that he’s not personally bothered by insults, but he draws the line at defamation of state institutions and wants to adapt the law accordingly.
Meanwhile, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is expected in Lithuania where he will visit German troops stationed in the Baltic country and observe military exercises.
And finally, a new survey suggests that many Germans dream of finding a new job abroad, although presumably not because they want to escape the heat.
Stay with us for these stories and more.
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