New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz yesterday set off on his first trip abroad to France and Poland in a bid to renew relations with the country’s top allies and show that Germany is back on the world stage despite a bumpy start to his government.
While already planned, the trip comes only a day after Merz was elected chancellor by parliament on the second round of voting. His unprecedented failure to succeed on the first round underscored disunity in the coalition of his conservatives and Social Democrats.
Still, hopes are high among Germany’s allies that Merz will restore German leadership in Europe after years of infighting within former chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-way coalition and its implosion in November last year.
Photo: Reuters
Merz was taking office as Europe scrambles to agree on security guarantees for Ukraine as part of any ceasefire deal with Russia and to negotiate a trade accord with Washington after US President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs.
“After years of internal bickering and political navel-gazing under the previous government, what’s needed now is German leadership that doesn’t just observe European policy, but helps shape it,” said Jana Puglierin, head of the Berlin office of the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank.
“Merz’s chances of achieving this are good. He plans to centralize foreign and European policy in the chancellery — making it the nerve center of decisionmaking,” she said.
For the first time in years, the chancellery and the foreign ministry would be run by the same party. Merz also wants to establish a national security council in the chancellery to better coordinate foreign, development and defense policy.
The 69-year-old conservative, who was a deputy in the European Parliament from 1989 to 1994 and later took a hiatus from politics to work as a business consultant, has said he wants to fix relations with top European allies.
Fractious relations with the US have made that all the more imperative. The very night of his election, Merz emphasized the need for Europe to pursue greater independence in defense from the US.
He has also expressed uncertainty about the future of the NATO alliance. As such, he appears more receptive to French proposals on European strategic autonomy and common defense, analysts said.
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