BERLIN – Germany’s conservative leader Friedrich Merz is set to be sworn in as chancellor on Tuesday with a mission to revive the ailing economy and boost the diplomatic standing of the EU’s most populous country.
As US President Donald Trump has upended long-standing security and trade ties and reached out to Russia to end the Ukraine war, Merz has vowed to strengthen Berlin’s role in Europe as it responds to increasingly turbulent times.
“Germany is back on track,” the 69-year-old confidently said in a message to Trump weeks ago after his CDU/CSU alliance agreed to jointly rule Germany with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
But he faces a mountain of challenges from day one, including the rapid rise of the far-right and anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which took second place in February’s election and has won strong support from Washington.
In a session from 9:00 am (0700 GMT) Merz will seek a majority in the 630-seat Bundestag to become modern Germany’s 10th chancellor.
Once confirmed by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, he is then set to deliver the oath of office at noon.
His new government has already secured hundreds of billions of euros in fiscal firepower under a spending “bazooka” passed by the outgoing parliament, meant to rebuild crumbling infrastructure and the long-underfunded military while boosting an economy which has shrunk for two years.
The alliance of Germany’s two big-tent parties has said Germany would continue to support Ukraine as the United States looks to encourage a deal to end the war started by Russia’s invasion over three years ago.
Trump has heaped pressure on European allies, accusing them of spending too little on NATO and taking advantage of the United States through running trade surpluses, threatening tariffs especially painful to export power Germany.
