The death toll from the mass crossing of migrants from Morocco into Spain's Ceuta enclave rose to 67 on August 1 and reached 72 by August 2 afternoon as confirmed by Al Jazeera; Euronews reported Spain's government had received intelligence warnings of the impending Ceuta migrant surge days before the crisis broke; Spain began construction of a maritime barrier at the Tarajal border area; and 22 European Union leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Romanian President Nicusor Dan, signed a joint letter criticising Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's migration policies

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz completed a cabinet reshuffle on July 29 amid a rising chorus of criticism from within his own CDU party; CDU members said morale is poor and that the removal of former transport minister Patrick Schnieder was handled badly; the reshuffle followed Jens Spahn's resignation as CDU/CSU Bundestag faction leader over a US surrogacy controversy; critics inside CDU said Merz, not Spahn, bears responsibility for the crisis atmosphere; external commentators argued the anger is factually misplaced

A 21-year-old suspect with alleged Islamist ties who drove a vehicle into Berlin's Christopher Street Day Pride crowd on July 26, killing one person and injuring 29, was tracked to a garden allotment in a Berlin suburb and fatally shot by police after charging officers with a knife; Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed government action and publicly questioned why the suspect had not been monitored by security services

Germany's CDU/CSU Bundestag faction announced on July 20 a special session for July 29 to elect a new parliamentary group leader after Jens Spahn resigned over reports he and his husband used a US surrogate, with several government ministers considered potential candidates and Chancellor Friedrich Merz having pressed for the decision before summer recess

After Jens Spahn resigned as CDU/CSU Bundestag faction leader on July 18 over a US surrogacy controversy, Chancellor Friedrich Merz told ZDF he wants the successor named before his summer recess, has not ruled out wider government personnel changes, and wants clarity by end of July

Spahn, a former federal health minister and senior ally of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, quit the CDU parliamentary group on July 18 after reports emerged that he and his husband had a child through a surrogate in the United States, surrogacy being illegal in Germany and formally opposed by the CDU

Foreign Minister Wadephul made the commitment at the Asunción Mercosur summit; France and five others had previously opposed; the trade pillar has applied provisionally since May

A 45-year-old German-Turkish man shot five employees dead at a mothers-and-children group home in northern Germany's Stade on Monday morning; a sixth died in hospital. Police describe it as an extended family tragedy, not terrorism.

Merz, Macron, Meloni, Starmer and Tusk meet in Berlin to harden NATO's European pillar before Ankara, sidelining Madrid over the 5% target

Eight heads of government commanding nuclear arsenals, G7 institutions, and the world's largest economies whose bilateral signals move markets and wars.

Berlin abandons the troubled €18bn anti-submarine warship line for eight TKMS MEKO A-200s, sinking Rheinmetall shares and lifting TKMS

France, the UK, Italy and Poland join Germany to coordinate Ukraine, Iran and burden-sharing

A commission hands Germany a capital pillar and life-expectancy retirement ages; the SPD and unions revolt

After the June European Council, Berlin rejects the MFF proposal and floats Ukraine 'associate membership'

Klingbeil defends ~€196bn in fresh debt as defence spending climbs toward €180bn by 2030

German troops to help fortify the Belarus and Russia borders as US engagement wavers

With a US–Iran framework deal, Berlin readies the Bundeswehr, under three conditions