Key events
Major material damage from Leipzig drone attack prevented ‘only by pure chance,’ Merz says
In his comments, Merz also responded to the attempted drone attack at Leipzig airport last month, saying it had been prepared in Russia over an extended period and that a disaster was only narrowly averted.
“This attack was planned in Russia for months and was specifically targeted at Germany, and only by pure chance was major material damage and harm to people prevented,” Merz told the parliament.
Russia has rejected any involvement in the drone incident at Leipzig airport.
Chancellor Merz, AfD’s Weidel clash over German policy on Ukraine, migration, economy
Over in Germany, AfD’s Alice Weidel said in the Bundestag the result of the Saxony-Anhalt election over the weekend showed “the people finally want a change in policy,” saying the ruling coalition should be “over.”
She also harshly criticised the government’s track record on migration, “war propaganda” against Russia, and on energy, calling for resumption of deliveries through the Nord Stream pipeline.
“You failed to understand the message the voters in Saxony-Anhalt sent you last Sunday. But that hardly matters, because your time is up anyway,” she told chancellor Merz.
Responding to her comments, Merz said Weidel “is and will remain a destructive force,” as he pledged Germany “will continue to support” Ukraine, “because it is defending our freedom too.
“You are openly demonstrating the downright grotesque reversal of who is the victim and who is the perpetrator,” he said in a speech, which was repeatedly interrupted by AfD.
Merz also strongly criticised Weidel’s “remigration” proposals, saying they amounted to an attempted “ethnic cleansing based on origin and skin colour,” which would leave Germany “no longer able to function” as one in six skilled workers are of immigrant background.
“Not a single nursing home will remain open, and not a single hospital in Germany will remain open, not a single restaurant will be able to operate in Germany. That would be the result of your immigration policy,” he said, while stressing that his government will push to tighten its policy against irregular migration.
Morning opening: ‘Too little response’ to Russian strikes on Ukraine, Zelenskyy says
Jakub Krupa
At least two people died were injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine overnight, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying “there has been too little response from the international community to these strikes.”
Two people were killed, three injured and 16 evacuated after a strike on the Starokozache border crossing with Moldova. Four people were injured after a Russian drone struck an apartment building in Kyiv. More strikes were reported in Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr.
“A response is needed – Moscow must not go into the winter believing that it can get away with missile and drone terror without consequences. The aggression must be stopped here and now, before it spreads any further,” Zelenskyy said.
He called for “effective” sanctions against Russia and support for Ukraine, saying “the partners who can help know exactly what is needed every day.”
The Russian defence ministry said that its forces had struck a Ukrainian cargo vessel carrying military equipment in the Black Sea en route to the port of Odesa, as well as a warehouse in Kyiv, belonging to a company manufacturing drones, Russian news agencies reported.
I will keep an eye on this.
Elsewhere, Germany’s embattled chancellor Friedrich Merz is facing AfD’s leader Alice Weidel in a general debate in the Bundestag this morning after a bruising result in the Saxony-Anhalt state election on the weekend. I will monitor it for key lines.
Over in Oslo, Norway will bid farewell to King Harald V with a funeral paying tribute to the 35-year reign of the monarch, with many international guests expected to attend.
Lots to cover.
It’s Wednesday, 9 September 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
