Friedrich Merz officially unveiled his cabinet appointments, featuring several surprising choices including MediaMarktSaturn CEO Karsten Wildberger as Digital Minister and Katherina Reiche as Economics Minister. The CDU formally approved the coalition agreement with the SPD, with Merz deliberately tempering expectations in his address to party members, noting "no euphoria" was warranted given the challenges ahead.
CSU leader Söder presented his ministers with rhetoric against the Greens, promising "Leberkäs statt Tofu-Tümelei." The appointments revealed a cabinet heavy on business expertise but light on traditional political backgrounds.
In international developments, Putin announced a three-day ceasefire in Ukraine from May 8-11 to celebrate Victory Day, building on the diplomatic momentum from the Trump-Zelensky meeting in Rome. A major power outage struck Spain and Portugal, causing transportation chaos across the Iberian Peninsula, though German authorities confirmed the country's power supply remained stable.