German Chancellor Friedrich Merz: clear messages from the outset
At the start of his term in office, Merz made it clear what is important to him in foreign policy terms: peace for Ukraine and a strong role for Germany in the EU.
It’s no surprise that Paris and Warsaw are the first places a new German chancellor visits. For Friedrich Merz, dialogue with Germany’s European partners was particularly important - he flew straight to France and Poland the day after his inauguration. On the other hand, it’s new for a German chancellor to travel to a war zone on day four of his term in office - which illustrates just how great the challenges are that Friedrich Merz is facing.
With the “coalition of the willing” in Kyiv
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Open consent formTogether with French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, he visited Ukraine - as a sign of solidarity. The “coalition of the willing” talked with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy about a possible truce and called upon Russia to agree to a ceasefire.
What is at stake in Ukraine is nothing less than the peace order of our continent.
Ukraine was also one of the central topics - alongside plans to boost economic growth and promote orderly migration - in Merz’s first government statement in the Bundestag a few days later. “The outcome of this war will determine whether law and justice continue to apply in Europe and the world - or whether tyranny, military violence and the naked law of the strongest will prevail,” said Merz. “What is at stake in Ukraine therefore is nothing less than the peace order of our entire continent.”
Cooperation in Europe is the key
Merz had made it clear - not only during his talks in Paris and Warsaw, but also during his inaugural visit to Brussels on Europe Day (9 May) - that he saw cooperation in Europe as the key. Following the meeting with Merz, European Council President António Costa said that he believed “in the new energy and new will to continue building the European Union”.
Reliable partner for the United Nations
Friedrich Merz also attaches great importance to global cooperation within the framework of the United Nations. At a meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the German chancellor made it clear that Germany is ready to assume responsibility: “Particularly in times of countless crises, Germany remains a reliable partner and anchor for the multilateral system and thus for the United Nations.”
