Background: German state interior ministers previously warned about security risks of a potential AfD-led government in Saxony-Anhalt. Now, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) has stated he will prevent the AfD from accessing classified information if the party enters government, citing its proximity to Russia and potential Russian funding. He expressed grave concern about the AfD potentially winning an absolute majority in the Saxony-Anhalt state election and warned of the party's anti-democratic intentions. Additionally, Pistorius addressed AfD-supporting soldiers, advising them to reconsider their choice in the interest of democracy.

Over the weekend, tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Erfurt, Germany, to demonstrate against the AfD party congress. Thuringian police reported that the demonstrations were largely peaceful, recording 65 criminal offenses and 13 administrative violations, including property damage, assault, and violations of assembly laws. A civil rights organization criticized the police response as excessive. Despite blockades and protests, the AfD congress proceeded on schedule as delegates arrived early to avoid disruptions.

Several Berlin SPD Bundestag members criticized the federal coalition's plan to ban states from expropriating large housing corporations, calling it a 'gift to the Left' ahead of Berlin's state election. The plan, agreed by the CDU/CSU and SPD coalition, aims to protect private housing investment. Critics note it contradicts a 2021 Berlin referendum that supported expropriation. The Left party and Greens also opposed the ban.

In an ARD summer interview, SPD leader Lars Klingbeil defended the coalition's reform package requiring sick notes from day one of illness, arguing it is a pragmatic compromise to avoid unpaid waiting days. He acknowledged the package will bring burdens for all citizens, citing necessary reforms in pensions and healthcare. Klingbeil also discussed the 2025 budget with record new debt of over €203 billion, partly due to military modernization against Russia.

Background: Germany's Federal Court of Justice ruled partially in favor of the Jehovah's Witnesses in a dispute over a Nazi-era archive sold to a military museum. The ruling came two days after a new memorial to persecuted Jehovah's Witnesses was unveiled in Berlin's Tiergarten park, near the site where Gestapo arrested members in 1936. The memorial has drawn criticism from historian Tim B. Müller, who argues that the modern Jehovah's Witnesses do not legitimately represent the Nazi-era victims due to schisms in the Bible Student movement, and from author Stefanie de Velasco, who described the group as a 'totalitarian' sect and wished the memorial focused on individual suffering rather than heroism. The article also details the broader history of Jehovah's Witnesses persecution under the Nazis, including the execution of nearly 300 conscientious objectors, and notes that persecution continued in the Soviet occupation zone and East Germany, where 6,740 were imprisoned and 65 died in custody.