Germany: Berlin Pride attack prompts calls for clampdown
Deutsche Welle · LC · trust 41/100
German conservatives are calling for a tougher course on suspected Islamists after the deadly Christopher Street Day attack in Berlin. The presumed attacker was released from detention this May. DW has the latest.
https://p.dw.com/p/5HoZg The terror act in Berlin has triggered calls for a new criminal policy Image: Michael Kappeler/dpa/picture alliance Advertisement Skip next section What you need to know What you need to know Senior German politicians are calling for strict penalties and intelligence reform following the Berlin attack The suspected Berlin Pride attacker Abdul B. was a known Islamist radical Number of unaccompanied minors entering Germany nearly halved last year, German authorities say Plastinator Gunther von Hagens, creator of "Body Worlds" anatomy exhibits, dies at age 81 Here is a roundup of some of the top headlines from and about Germany on Monday, July 27, 2026.
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07/27/2026 July 27, 2026 Merz: Still too early for political consequences Addressing reporters in Berlin, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said it was still too early to clarify political consequences of the Berlin van ramming.
At the same time, Merz said that his government will look into the attack, which police say was committed by a Berlin-born man who was a known Islamist extremist.
"Most of all, we will have to answer the question: How is it at all possible that a man with this classification here in Berlin could have approached the Christopher Street Day undisturbed and commit this attack?"
07/27/2026 July 27, 2026 German Chancellor Merz pledges to 'protect and defend' freedom Commenting on the Berlin attack this Saturday, Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the victims were celebrating "openness, diversity, and freedom" and "were attacked by an Islamist" over those values.
"We will do everything to protect and defend this freedom, openness and liberality," Merz told reporters at a Berlin press conference.
"That is a mission of a government, but also of the society," he added.
Published 07/27/2026 Published July 27, 2026 last updated 07/27/2026 last updated July 27, 2026 What else has happened in Germany today? We are taking a brief pause from our coverage of the Saturday attack to bring you more stories making headlines in Germany.
A new report indicates a sharp reduction in the number of unaccompanied children and minors crossing Germany's borders.
According to the Federal Statistics Office, the number of minors taken into care after entering Germany dropped from 30.800 to 16.500 in a single year.
This change is also reflected in the overall number of children taken into state care in Germany — the authorities placed around 56,900 children into a foster family or a state facility last year, which is a drop of around 18% compared to 2024. The 2024 numbers had already shown a 7% reduction.
In the latest step of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's reshuffle, lawmaker Franziska Hoppermann is set to become general secretary of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
On Monday, sources told dpa that Merz had proposed Hoppermann, the conservative party's treasurer, at a closed-door meeting in Berlin. She will replace Carsten Linnemann, who is set to take over the Health Ministry.
Hoppermann's appointment is the latest change within Merz's conservative-led government , sparked by the resignation of parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn .
Gunther von Hagens, the physician who invented plastination, has died. On Monday, his family and the Institute for Plastination in Heidelberg announced his passing on Friday at the age of 81.
In the 1970s, von Hagens developed a preservation technique in Heidelberg for turning cadavers into anatomical specimens, which became known worldwide through his "Body Worlds" exhibitions.
He had been suffering from Parkinson's disease for many years.
07/27/2026 July 27, 2026 Terrorists still 'relentless' in spreading propaganda Talking to DW, terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler said the suspected attacker, Abdul B., was "very close, and potentially, even a member of the 'Islamic State' which means that we have the hardest, most extremist misinterpretation of Islam possible in the world."
"All extremist milieus always have a call to action. Either by peaceful means, if we talk about what is called in Germany 'legalistic Islamism' i.e. change and destroy the political system and the free, democratic society by non-violent means — or in the case of terrorist Islamism, by violent means," he said.
"Now, the queer, LGBTQ+ community is a symbol for these guys for a free, open and Western society, and therefore very very high on the list of symbolic targets to attack."
Schindler, who serves as a senior director of the international Counter Extremism Project NGO, warned that the terrorists remained "relentless."
"There are far more terror attacks that get prevented in Germany than the ones that actually happen. But the other side is relentless, every day they are trying to motivate individuals to attack," Schindler told DW.
He pointed to social media platforms, claiming that the networks were failing to cooperate with security forces and "remove the harmful content which leads people to radicalize."
07/27/2026 July 27, 2026 WATCH: Berlin Pride attack — what we know now Watch the DW livestream below for updates on Saturday's van attack at the Berlin Pride parade, which left one person dead and dozens others injured.
07/27/2026 July 27, 2026 German conservatives urge clampdown on potential terrorists in wake of Berlin ramming Senior politicians from the CDU/CSU conservative block are calling for harsher penalties, intelligence sharing and other reforms to deal with violent extremists following the latest attack in Berlin.
Police have identified the attacker as Abdul B., a German national with Lebanese…
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