U.S. President Donald Trump greeted Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrat victory in the German elections with apparent enthusiasm: proof, he said, that Germans like Americans, were tired of “the no common sense agenda, especially on energy and immigration”. “THIS IS A GREAT DAY FOR GERMANY, AND FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF A GENTLEMAN NAMED DONALD J. TRUMP. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL” wrote Trump, all in capital letters.
Merz’s first reaction was decidedly cool. At a roundtable discussion Sunday night, he said it had become apparent over the past week that the Trump administration was “indifferent to the fate of Europe.” The “top priority” of the new German government, Merz said, is “to strengthen Europe as soon as possible to achieve step by step true independence from the United States.”
The reference is first of all to neighboring Ukraine, after Trump branded President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator” and basically accused Kyiv of starting the war (which began exactly three years ago, on Feb. 24, 2022, with Russia’s invasion).
Merz also added that he wants to form a government as soon as possible. How soon he will succeed is yet to be seen, but “the world is not waiting for us” he said.
The main road to government seems to be the Grand Coalition with the SPD as a minority partner. The SPD obtained the worst result of its history with 16,5%, but it was enough to gather 120 seats in the Bundestag: with the 208 seats of CDU-CSU, the two parties would reach a slim majority of 328 seats in the 630-seat Bundestag.
Election night saw the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland soar to almost 20%, doubling its score. But Merz’s CDU-CSU has always ruled out an alliance with AfD, which would comfortably remain in opposition with as many as 152 seats. The Greens, with 85 seats, would be a cumbersome ally for Merz, while FDP’s Liberals and populist BSW did not pass the 5% threshold to get in the Bundestag.
The Merz government’s task will be very broad and complex. It involves European defense, the strength of the EU (his party colleague Ursula von der Leyen sits at the helm of the European Commission), and solving the economic crisis that plagues Germany.
During the election campaign, the future chancellor promised a hard stance against immigration– an almost obligatory move in the face of the virulent rhetoric of the far-right AfD. But the reality of the facts says that Germany needs foreign workers to get out of the crisis. It remains to be seen how Merz will solve the equation.
