Skip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
- German Interior Minister Dobrindt says Germany needs stronger powers to counter drones and hybrid threats
- Energy CEO Markus Krebb said rules designed for ‘peacetime’ are no longer enough against sabotage
- German inflation rose to 2.9% in August, its highest level since late 2023
- The increase was driven mainly by higher energy prices, especially fuel and heating oil
Here is a roundup of top stories from and about Germany on Thursday September 10, 2026:
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Skip next section Dobrindt warns of growing threats to German security09/10/2026September 10, 2026
Dobrindt warns of growing threats to German security
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has defended plans to give security authorities greater investigative powers, accusing critics of putting people’s safety at risk amid what he described as a heightened threat to Germany.
Speaking during a parliamentary debate on his ministry’s 2027 budget, Dobrindt, of the conservative Christian Social Union, said the proposed powers were necessary to “protect our freedom.”
“The threat level is high and is coming from different places,” Dobrindt said.
He pointed to an explosives-laden drone discovered at Leipzig/Halle Airport as evidence of the security challenges facing Germany, adding that Russia was clearly behind the incident and that it was “not an isolated event.”
Dobrindt has pushed for stronger measures against drones and hybrid threats. He said under his leadership, the federal and state governments have established a new joint drone defense center, while a Joint Center for Countering Hybrid Threats (GAZ Hybrid) opened in June.
“We are rebuilding the pillars of security architecture,” Dobrindt said on Thursday.
The Interior Ministry’s budget is set to increase by more than €950 million ($1.1 billion) to €16.7 billion ($19.5 billion).
The Federal Criminal Police Office and Federal Police are among the agencies set to receive additional personnel.
Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security, which is responsible for cybersecurity, is also due to receive more funding.
Sonja Eichwede, deputy parliamentary leader of the center-left Social Democratic Party, highlighted additional spending planned for the Federal Agency for Technical Relief, saying it was important for civil protection and disaster response.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5MMSkSkip next section Germany sees sharp fall in asylum applications, says interior minister 09/10/2026September 10, 2026
Germany sees sharp fall in asylum applications, says interior minister
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has defended the government’s tougher migration policy, pointing to a sharp fall in asylum applications and continued controls at the country’s borders.
“We have turned the migration wave into a migration turnaround,” Dobrindt, of the Bavarian conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), told parliament during a budget debate on Thursday.
He said first-time asylum applications were down by around 75% compared with 2024.
“That is the result of control, direction and a clear stance,” Dobrindt said.
Dobrindt said Germany was no longer Europe’s number one destination for irregular migration.
According to European Union asylum data released on Thursday, Germany recorded approximately 55,000 applications in the first half of 2026, making it the country with the fourth-highest number of applications.
According to Dobrindt, 60,000 attempted irregular entries had been prevented at Germany’s borders since the current parliamentary term began, while 1,700 suspected people smugglers had been arrested.
He said border controls would remain in place beyond September 15.
Dobrindt said the government was pursuing the same approach at European level.
He pointed to reforms of the EU’s Common European Asylum System and said Germany wanted to step up returns of people whose asylum applications had been rejected.
According to Dobrindt, 42,000 people without grounds to remain had been returned from Germany to their countries of origin.
He said the next goal was to reach agreements with third countries on so-called return hubs — centers outside the EU where rejected asylum seekers could be sent.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5MMAuSkip next section What prompted the warning on infrastructure?09/10/2026September 10, 2026
What prompted the warning on infrastructure?
Police this week arrested a 48-year-old man suspected of trying to sabotage power lines near coal-fired power stations in North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and Saxony.
Investigators believe he used homemade rockets to fire conductive material across high-voltage lines, causing short circuits in some cases. Several units at a power station near Bergheim, west of Cologne, were reportedly taken out of operation for several days, while two short circuits were caused at a substation near the Jänschwalde power station in Brandenburg.
Authorities have linked letters claiming responsibility for the attacks to the suspect. The letters reportedly justified the sabotage as part of a campaign against electricity generation from fossil fuels.
The case has intensified concerns about the vulnerability of Germany’s critical infrastructure. This includes sectors such as energy, information technology and transport whose disruption could lead to supply shortages, public-safety problems or other serious consequences.
https://p.dw.com/p/5MM4JSkip next section German inflation rises to 2.9% on energy costs09/10/2026September 10, 2026
German inflation rises to 2.9% on energy costs
Inflation in Germany rose to 2.9% in August, driven largely by sharply higher energy prices, the Federal Statistical Office confirmed on Thursday.
The annual rate was the highest since late 2023, up from 2.8% in July and 2.3% in June.
Energy prices rose 10.5% compared with August last year, accelerating from an 8.3% increase in July.
Motor fuels cost 27.7% more than a year earlier, while heating oil prices jumped 49.6%.
“Particularly noticeable was the rise in energy prices, especially for fuels, which was mainly caused by the Iran war,” said Federal Statistical Office President Ruth Brand.
Other household energy costs fell, however. Electricity prices were down 5.5%, natural gas including operating costs fell 2.9% and district heating was 1.0% cheaper.
Food prices were only 0.1% higher overall than a year earlier, after a 0.4% rise in July.
Some products became significantly more expensive, including eggs, up 15.2%, fresh vegetables, up 5.2%, and fish and seafood, up 4.4%.
Butter was 29.9% cheaper, while fresh fruit fell 5.6% and dairy products 5.5%.
Inflation across the eurozone also remains above the European Central Bank’s 2% target.
The ECB could raise its key interest rate on Thursday for the second time this year, from 2.25% to 2.50%. It increased rates in June for the first time in almost three years before leaving them unchanged in July.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5MLxgSkip next section Power boss calls for tougher protection of infrastructure09/10/2026September 10, 2026
Power boss calls for tougher protection of infrastructure
The chief executive of energy giant RWE, Markus Krebber, has called for stronger protection of Germany’s critical infrastructure after a string ofsabotage attacks on the power grid in several states.
“We have to learn lessons from these experiences, and quickly,” Krebber said at the energy company’s summer reception in Berlin.
He said current rules and bureaucratic procedures designed for “peacetime” were no longer adequate to deal with hybrid attacks on infrastructure essential to society.
Krebber criticized transparency rules that make details of critical infrastructure publicly accessible.
“The principle should actually be secrecy instead of transparency,” he said.
Companies such as RWE are allowed to monitor their own sites using technology including video sensors, Krebber said. But potential attackers often prepare outside company premises.
“We need to be able to detect threats earlier,” he said, arguing that critical infrastructure should also be monitored in public areas using all available technical means.
Krebber also raised the sensitive question of what he called “physical self-defense.”
If a drone were approaching and it was clear that it could cause major damage, “the solution cannot be to call 110,” he said, referring to Germany’s police emergency number.
He called for a broader debate on how security authorities, the public sector and companies could work more closely to protect critical infrastructure.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5MLxfSkip next section Welcome to our coverage09/10/2026September 10, 2026
Welcome to our coverage
Guten Tag from the DW newsroom in Bonn.
You join us as the head of German energy giant RWE calls for tougher protection of critical infrastructure after suspected sabotage attacks on the power grid.
RWE Chief executive Markus Krebber said Germany needs to learn lessons quickly.
Meanwhile, inflation in Germany has risen again, pushed higher mainly by energy costs.
Stay with us here for these stories and more of what Germany is talking about today.
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