People in Iran want freedom: they get bombs, fear and terror

3:20 p.m.: Now Heide Reichinnek can answer it directly. It begins with the situation in Iran. People are happy about the death of the dictator Khamenei. But now comes the but: “The people in Iran want freedom: they get bombs, fear and terror.”

“How deep must their morass of hatred of Jews be?”

3:18 p.m.: Now he is also taking on the left with the same enthusiasm. They also got lost between the “hammer, sickle, Palestinian scarf and watermelon,” said Spahn after the Left regional association in Lower Saxony declared itself to be the “first anti-Zionist regional association” at its party conference. The anti-Semitism commissioner in Brandenburg also resigned “because he can’t take it anymore.”

Spahn asks: “How deep must the morass of hatred of Jews be among them?” The left is infiltrated by Hamas sympathizers. He then aims at an equation for which there is clear protest from the left: “Right and left together in the morass of anti-Semitism.” He called on left-wing parliamentary group leader Reichinnek to clearly distance themselves from it.

“You have completely lost your way between: Mao, Maga, Moscow”

3:16 p.m.: Jens Spahn is in a good mood today and is taking on the AfD. “How can you want to fight irregular migration and Islamism, but have no interest in overthrowing the mullahs’ regime?” asks the CDU parliamentary group leader in the direction of the right-wing populists. “They are and will remain a Putin party,” said Spahn. “Now they are also supporting the Islamist terrorists in Tehran.”

And he adds: “You have completely lost your way between: Mao, Maga, Moscow, between Tehran and terrorism,” said the CDU parliamentary group leader. “Betrayal of the fatherland and fraud on taxpayers. Those are the two things that are at their core,” he says.

“As if they were saying: buy more and more of the drug that is destroying you”

3:06 p.m.: Then Dröge comes back to the end of combustion engines and the heating law, the core green issues. “The fossil age is over,” she shouts in the direction of Merz. If the EU continues to rely on oil and gas, that will become a problem. You should be honest with people. Continuing to promote fossil fuels is counterproductive. “It’s as if they’re telling people: Buy more and more of the drug that’s destroying you,” says Dröge.

3:02 p.m.: Despite everything, Dröge would vote for the summer fund again. “100 billion for climate protection is right,” she says. They also don’t want to deny the people in Ukraine help. Shortly afterwards she comes back again: “The Taurus is important now,” says Dröge. Merz promised it and should finally deliver the cruise missile to Ukraine.

2:58 p.m.: Green party leader Katharina Dröge is angry that, in her view, the federal government has done nothing with the special fund. “You missed this opportunity,” says Dröge. She would have been ashamed to put herself in front of the economy like that.

“Russia, Putin, Trump – it is these interests that they represent here”

2:54 p.m.: “Russia, Putin, Trump – it is these interests that they represent here,” says Dirk Wiese in direct response to the AfD. And then follows up with regards to the relatives affair.

“They fill their pockets and give it to their relatives. That’s just embarrassing,” says the SPD parliamentary group leader. This disqualifies the AfD’s criticism of the federal government.

2:52 p.m.: SPD parliamentary group leader Dirk Wiese jumps to Merz’s side as the CDU’s coalition partner. The war in the Middle East is not ours.

“Do we need special debt to cover the core budget”

2:49 p.m.: Chrupalla also offers the solution: He wants Germany to buy Russian gas and oil again. He believes it would be cheap and the economy would be doing well again. It’s not just the opposition that is skeptical.

2:48 p.m.: Now Chrupalla comes to the special funds. “You, Mr. Merz, are not managing to keep up with the billions in taxes, but on the other hand you need the special debts to cover the core budget,” says Chrupalla, putting his finger in the wound.

2:46 p.m.: Chrupalla demands that the government should finally deport Islamists

2:44 p.m.: Now Tino Chrupalla from the AfD is speaking as the leader of the largest opposition party. Those who start wars also have to provide evidence, says Tino Chrupalla in relation to the Iran war. “Equal rights must apply to everyone,” said Chrupalla.

Merz on war against Iran: “We would have advised against it”

2:40 p.m.: Merz ends his government statement.

2:38 p.m.: Now Merz speaks briefly about domestic politics. He races through the topics. There are structural reforms, the economy and much more. The Chancellor makes the move mainly because there is derisive laughter and comments from the opposition.

2:37 p.m.: We mustn’t act as if we’re going to close the curtains and let the storm pass,” says Merz about the crises that the world has to deal with.

2:35 p.m.: “We will not take part in this,” said the Chancellor. There is no mandate from the UN, NATO or the EU for this. Nevertheless, if necessary, we will not turn away from securing peace in the region after the end of the war.

2:34 p.m.: Now Merz is talking about Iran. “We would have advised against it,” he says of the war. “The times in which the Iranian regime can threaten the world must end,” says the Chancellor. But he caveats: “We have made it clear that we have many questions about the war,” said Merz. “There is no clear concept yet.”

No consideration for election campaigns in an EU country

2:32 p.m.: The EU must quickly reach an agreement on the 20th sanctions package against Russia. “We must not take any account of a single country that intervenes against it for domestic political reasons and because there is an election campaign,” said Merz in the direction of Viktor Orban.

2.30 p.m.: A conversation with Donald Trump was about the entry into force of the customs agreement; this must finally come. He also spoke to the US President about the war against Ukraine.

2:28 p.m.: Now it’s about trade policy. There are new trade agreements. This already exists with Mercosur and India. More would follow.

“Politics that creates room for maneuver,” Merz calls it. They would create opportunities for German crafts, industry and everyone here. That’s why these are important.

“What we don’t need in terms of regulation has to go”

2:26 p.m.: Merz says there are new key questions for the EU Commission: “Where can existing regulations be simplified? Where can they be deleted without replacement?”. “Whatever regulation we don’t need has to go,” said the Chancellor.

2:25 p.m.: The regulation should also be simplified in the area of ​​artificial intelligence.

2:22 p.m.: Merz gives concrete examples of de-bureaucratization. Merz announces a uniform corporate legal form for Europe. Young startups fail in 27 different legal systems in the member states. “The 28th regime is supposed to change that,” explains Merz.

“The others are also dependent on us”

2:19 p.m.: “We no longer want to sell ourselves short,” announces Merz. “The others are also dependent on us,” he says, sounding like a chancellor who has discovered power politics. “We’re learning that we can use that too.” They want to exert pressure as a Europe of 450 million people. “100 million more than in the USA,” says Merz.

2:17 p.m.: “When something begins to fade, the will to assert oneself also grows,” says Merz. This is expressed through “self-respect”.

2:16 p.m.: “Under these conditions, for us in Germany, a united Europe is the only guarantee we have for our future,” says Merz about the EU.

2:15 p.m.: Merz says they wanted to reduce this bureaucracy. There should be a reform program for more competitiveness: digitalization, reform of social systems, curbing migration and restructuring the Bundeswehr.

2:14 p.m.: “We are experiencing geopolitical upheavals like we haven’t experienced in a long time. We are experiencing a reform backlog in the European Union that we haven’t experienced in a long time,” said Merz. Fuel prices, inflation and many other prices are rising, also caused by excessive bureaucracy.

2:11 p.m.: Merz first speaks about the value of democracy and points out that March 18th has not received the status it deserves as a holiday for democracy.

2:10 p.m.: The Chancellor now takes the lectern in the Bundestag.

Given that it lasts around two and a half weeks Iran war The consequences of the continued attacks by Israel and the USA are likely to be for the Gasoline and energy prices as well as the stability of the Middle East and Gulf regions will be one of the priorities. As usual, the 20-minute government statement will be followed by a debate lasting around 60 minutes.

Merz was critical of Trump

At the beginning of the week, the Chancellor was extremely critical of the US actions in the Iran war and the demands of US President Donald Trump for NATO’s commitment to securing the Strait of Hormuz, which is important for oil deliveries.

In addition to the Iran war, the heads of state and government of the EU states also want to discuss the situation in Ukraine at their summit in Brussels this Thursday in view of the billions in aid for Kiev blocked by Hungary and the planned new sanctions against Russia. Other topics will include competitiveness, the internal market, the EU’s next multiannual financial framework as well as European defence, security and migration.