Germany news: Nord Stream sabotage suspect's trial opens

Skip next section What you need to know

What you need to know

• Serhii K. is believed to be one of several people involved in the September 2022 explosion at the Nord Stream gas pipelines
• Chancellor Friedrich Merz is scheduled to deliver a major policy statement amid sinking popularity and coalition infighting
• Germany's foreign minister will meet his Bulgarian counterpart following drone attacks in the Black Sea

Here is a roundup of all the headlines across Germany on Wednesday, October 14:

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Skip next section Proposed sugar tax faces criticism

October 14, 2026

Proposed sugar tax faces criticism

According to German media reports, the ruling coalition of Chancellor Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Social Democrats (SPD) has found a compromise for a planned tax increase on sugar.

The law would impact sugar drinks in particular, and is set to come into effect on July 1 of next year. There is reportedly going to be an exception for small-scale producers.

CDU state premier of Hesse, Boris Rhein, slammed the plan on Wednesday. Rhein told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper that this "expensive tax" (a phrase that rhymes in German) would simply result in companies passing on the extra expense to consumers.

Rhein accused the coalition of pretending the measure was about health when really it was so "the populace can continue to plug up holes in the federal budget at the cash register."

https://p.dw.com/p/5OELP

Skip next section Nord Stream sabotage suspect goes on trial in Hamburg

October 14, 2026

Nord Stream sabotage suspect goes on trial in Hamburg

The much anticipated trial of Serhii K., whose last name is withheld due to Germany's privacy laws, will begin in Hamburg today. 

K. is accused by investigators of leading a group comprising professional divers, an explosives expert, and a boat skipper who plotted to travel to the remote section of the Nord Stream gas pipelines off the Danish coast and blow them up.

The series of explosions ruptured Nord Stream 1, which Moscow had switched off a month earlier, and destroyed Nord Stream 2, which had yet to come into operation at the time.

A former Ukrainian military officer, K's case has led some investigators to point at Kyiv as orchestrating the entire plan, as the pipelines controversially delivered Russian natural gas to Europe.

The attack came seven months after Russia's fullscale invasion of Ukraine, when European countries were taking steps to drastically decrease their reliance on Russian fuel.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has vehemently denied any official connection to the attack.

K. was apprehended in Italy in 2025 and extradited to Germany. His specific charges are: being an accomplice to a war crime by attacking civil energy infrastructure, disruption of public services, causing an explosion and destroying structures.

5 things you need to know about Nord Stream

https://p.dw.com/p/5OEJs

Skip next section Welcome to our coverage

October 14, 2026

Welcome to our coverage

A hearty guten Morgen from the DW newsroom in Bonn.

It's a day for political and legal battles today, as a man suspected of being part of a conspiracy to blow up a major gas pipeline between Russia and Europe goes on trial.

Later, Chancellor Friedrich Merz will give a sweeping address on his future policies as government approval ratings sink to a record low.