Germany news: Govt reportedly mulls change to retirement age
What you need to know
- German tabloid Bild claims it saw a draft proposal by the government to increase the age of retirement by three years
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz has proposed that Ukraine become an 'associate' member of the European Union
- Danish authorities are reportedly deciding how to handle the beached carcass of 'Timmy' the whale
Here are the latest headlines from across Germany on Thursday, May 21:
Skip next section Danish authorities hope to move 'Timmy' the whale before body explodes05/21/2026May 21, 2026Danish authorities hope to move 'Timmy' the whale before body explodes
Following the death of 'Timmy', a local humpback whale whose saga of becoming trapped in a shallow northern Germany bay and then being subjected to repeated rescue attempts was followed closely in northern Europe, Danish authorities now have to decide what to do next.
Timmy's body is now laying on a popular Danish beach. When whales die and are left on land, there is a good chance that the gases building up in their stomach can create a massive explosion, so removing the carcass is both necessary and dangerous.
German authorities are reportedly assisting their Danish counterparts in the attempt to remove Timmy's body and perform an autosopy so as to better understand why the whale was unable to reenter the wild safely.
Whale 'Timmy' found dead near Danish island
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https://p.dw.com/p/5E5G9Skip next section Rescuers recover body of Romanian tourist after Görlitz house collapse05/21/2026May 21, 2026Rescuers recover body of Romanian tourist after Görlitz house collapse
Rescue workers in the eastern German city of Görlitz said they had recovered the body of a 25-year-old Romanian tourist three days after a building housing rental flats and vacation apartments suddenly collapsed.
Another Romanian tourist, aged 26, and a 48-year-old Bulgarian-German man remain missing. Rescue workers have said they hope to find the pair alive, but that the chances diminished every hour.
Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the incident. Görlitz mayor Octavian Ursu said that a gas leak may have been invovled.
A picturesque town on the Polish border, Görlitz is often used by filmmakers to depict scenes set in Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
https://p.dw.com/p/5E5C0Skip next section Merz asks EU to make Ukraine 'associate' member05/21/2026May 21, 2026Merz asks EU to make Ukraine 'associate' member
In a letter to EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa, Chancellor Merz has proposed making Ukraine an "associate" member of the European Union.
This would bring it closer to the bloc, but not grant the same voting rights allowed to member states. Kyiv has applied for full membership, but that process can take over a decade while the necessary conditions are met.
Read more about Merz's proposal in our report here.
https://p.dw.com/p/5E5BySkip next section Report: Government wants to raise retirement age to 7005/21/2026May 21, 2026Report: Government wants to raise retirement age to 70
Politicians have been reacting to a report from German tabloid Bild that the government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz is planning to raise the age of retirement from 67 to 70 years old.
According to the report, the age will be raised to 68 in the 2040s, 69 in the 2050s, before finally reaching 70 in the 2060s. Bild wrote that the 13-person committee working on the reform proposals also wants to reduce the rate of pension payments slightly in order to keep the system sustainable.
With a long-stagnating birthrate, supporting older generations has been a source of debate in Germany for decades. Experts have warned that without immigration, the pension system will collapse.
The alleged proposal was heavily criticized by opposition parties, unions, and even the workers' rights arms of Merz's own center-right Christian Democrats (CDU).
However, later on Thursday, a spokesman for Merz's office dismissed the Bild report as speculation. Junior coalition partners the Social Democrats (SPD), who control the Labor Ministry, said they would decline to comment on unsubstantiated reports.
Germany's coalition government split over reform agenda
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https://p.dw.com/p/5E50aSkip next section Even without a victory, Freiburg prove they have something special05/21/2026May 21, 2026Even without a victory, Freiburg prove they have something special
Bundesliga side Freiburg might have lost their first ever European final to Aston Villa, but their European run is a reminder that success in football can be achieved without big spending or a loss of identity.
Read our analysis of yesterday's Europa League championship game here: Freiburg's Europa League final proof another way can work.
https://p.dw.com/p/5E50ZSkip next section Welcome to our coverage05/21/2026May 21, 2026Welcome to our coverage
Elizabeth Schumacher | Zac Crellin EditorEin wunderschönen guten Morgen from a sunny and warm Bonn.
Today we are looking at the latest debate over securing Germany's future via pension reform, as well as recent developments with Ukraine's European Union membership and the announcement of Germany's World Cup squad.
Stay tuned for the latest headlines, analyses, and reports from across Germany.
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