Germany will send Bundeswehr soldiers to assist Poland on its eastern border with Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave Berlin says the deployment is purely defensive Meanwhile, tourist numbers in the German capital have dropped, apparently affected by weak consumer confidence
Here is a roundup of the main headlines from Germany on Saturday, December 13:
Berlin tourism falls short of 30 million stays
Fewer tourists have visited Berlin this year, leaving the city set to miss a key milestone in 2025, the head of its tourism agency has said.
Burkhard Kieker, chief executive of Visit Berlin, told the Tagesspiegel that overnight stays would end up just below 30 million.
Berlin recorded 30.6 million overnight stays in 2024.
By the end of October, the Berlin-Brandenburg Statistics Office had counted 24.8 million stays, down 4.1% from the same period last year.
Kieker said the slower recovery was mainly due to weak consumer sentiment in Germany and Europe and a lack of broader economic momentum.
He added that traffic at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport remained about 30% below pre-coronavirus levels, while tourism overall was still around 9% below 2019 levels.
Germany plans troop role in securing Poland’s eastern border
Germany has announced plans for its armed forces, the Bundeswehr, to help secure Poland’s eastern border with Belarus and Russia.
The Defense Ministry said on Saturday that several dozen German soldiers were set to join Poland’s Operation Eastern Shield from April 2026, with the mission initially running until the end of 2027.
A ministry spokesperson said the core task of the German troops in northern and eastern Poland would be engineering work.
This was described as building positions, digging trenches, laying barbed wire and constructing anti-tank obstacles. No further duties are planned.
The operation has been underway since May 2024 in border areas with Moscow ally Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave.
The measures are aimed at strengthening defenses against a possible attack on NATO member Poland.
The deployment does not require parliamentary approval, the ministry said, because it is not considered an armed foreign mission under German law and is not expected to expose troops to direct military confrontation.
Welcome to our coverage
Guten Tag from DW’s newsroom in Bonn.
Danke schön for joining us as Germany plans to send several dozen Bundeswehr soldiers to support Poland’s border defenses with Belarus and Russia.
The troops are set to join Poland’s Operation Eastern Shield from April 2026, carrying out engineering tasks such as digging trenches, laying barbed wire and building anti-tank obstacles.
The mission is planned to run until the end of 2027 and does not require parliamentary approval, as it is not classified as an armed foreign deployment.
Follow us here for this and the latest headlines throughout the day.