BERLIN, August 13. /TASS/. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called an emergency meeting to discuss mistakes made by the ruling CDU/CSU-SPD coalition and seek ways to address them, Bild reported.

According to the newspaper, at 9 p.m. local time (7 p.m. GMT) on Tuesday, the chancellor and leader of the Christian Democratic Union invited the party’s deputy chairpersons to the Federal Chancellery. Attendees included Education Minister Karin Prien, Saxony Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer, and CDU Secretary General Carsten Linnemann. The meeting is expected to cover recent mistakes by Merz, his Bundestag faction, and the coalition - in particular, restrictions on arms exports to Israel that have caused tensions within the CDU/CSU.

However, government spokesman Steffen Seibert told Bild that no emergency meeting had been called. "The German chancellor regularly meets with the deputy chairpersons of his party. This is just one of those sessions. Of course, they discuss the current situation," he said.

On August 8, Merz announced that the German government had decided to suspend the issuance of permits for weapons deliveries to Israel that could be used in the Gaza Strip. He explained the decision by citing "even tougher military action by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, which was decided on Thursday evening by the Israeli cabinet." The move drew sharp criticism from both CDU members and the CSU, the CDU’s Bavarian sister party.