Chancellor Merz travels to France, Poland – DW – 05/07/2025

We know that Chancellor Friedrich Merz was talking about crafting a unified response to US policies among other things with reporters aboard his plane to Paris on his first trip as German chancellor because Michaela Kufner, DW’s chief political editor, is traveling with him.

Germany’s new Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul emphasized the importance of Chancellor Merz’s first visits to France and Poland, saying it was important to “get the Franco-German axis back on track.”

Before travelling to Paris and Warsaw, Wadephul said both he and Merz shared the same wish of seeing European unity.

He also said Russia’s “war of aggression” in Ukraine is Europe’s significant problem in the east. 

Wadephul stressed the importance of the Weimar Triangle, the 1991 German, French, Polish alliance created to promote cooperation between the three countries for cross-border and European issues.

Germany should lead efforts toward a “core Europe” bloc in a manner that would facilitate a “common, credible foreign policy,” said Wolfgang Ischinger, a former German ambassador to the US and chairman of the Munich Security Conference from 2008 to 2022.

“The idea of a core Europe involves Germany, our classic partners in the Weimar Triangle — France and Poland — and other interested EU members, agree[ing] to accept majority decisions, rather than allowing every European a veto,” Ischinger told DW.

“And if we can’t speak with one voice at 27, maybe we can speak with one voice at six, or seven, or eight — and demonstrate [that] this core group [is] much stronger than a larger [EU] group that doesn’t agree on anything.”

Ischinger downplayed fears that the Trump administration was moving Washington away from the transatlantic partnership.

“I think we’re panicking a little too easily [when] discussing the transatlantic relationship. Not one American soldier has been withdrawn from Europe — or more specifically, from Germany. All the nuclear weapons which the United States has deployed in Germany and elsewhere in Europe … are still there. [In terms of] hardware, NATO is alive and kicking,” he said. 

The German government has voiced its concern about the escalating situation between South Asia’s two nuclear-armed powers.

“Following the horrific terrorist attack in Kashmir and the Indian military response to it, responsible action from both countries is urgently needed,” a Foreign Office statement said. 

“Escalation must be prevented and civilians protected. We are in contact with India and Pakistan. We continue to monitor the situation very closely.”

The Foreign Office said it would host a meeting of the government’s crisis committee on Wednesday.

It also urged Germans in the region to follow government travel and safety advice.

The crisis has made for a dramatic start to the term of office of Germany’s new Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, who was only sworn into office on Tuesday.

Matthias Miersch, the former secretary general of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), won a vote to lead the party’s parliamentary group. 

SPD is the junior coalition partner in the new government and has 120 seats or lawmakers in the 630-member parliament.

Miersch received 99 out of 119 votes. Some 18 representatives voted against him, with two abstaining.

He replaces SPD’s Lars Klingbeil, who is the new government’s vice chancellor and finance minister.

After Paris, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz Wednesday evening travels onward to Poland.

“I would hope for some common leadership in Europe,” a Polish government source told Reuters. “Germany has been somehow missing in these discussions over the past.”

One big question was how the Merz government planned to increase defence spending, the source said. He added that a reasonable approach would involve European countries collectively purchasing equipment.

In statements to German state broadcaster ZDF on Tuesday, Merz said he would speak to French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk about adopting a tougher European migration policy.

Merz’s Conservative-led government plans to further tighten migration by rejecting asylum seekers at land borders.

Merz arrives in Paris first, where he is due to meet with President Emmanuel Macron. The pair already share a good rapport, French officials have said.

“Merz has a deep knowledge of the world of finance and the economy, which is something that brings him closer to Macron,” Reuters news agency quoted a French official as saying.

In a post written in both French and German to congratulate Merz on his win, Macron on Tuesday said it was up to them to “make sure that the Franco-German engine and combined decision making is stronger than ever.”

Friedrich Merz is traveling to Paris and Warsaw on Wednesday, kicking off his first official trip as Germany’s new chancellor.

His visit comes amid his bid to showcase political stability in his government, renew relations with Berlin’s top allies and put his country back on the world stage.

But the CDU leader takes office amid turbulent times for Europe, with geopolitical challenges like Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The continent is facing tests in transatlantic relations, for example, with European leaders concerned with US President Donald Trump’s administration saying that it will no longer be the primary guarantor of security on the continent and that European nations should be responsible for their own defense. 

Germany’s export-oriented economy’s outlook also remains very uncertain with the Trump administration having slapped tariffs on much of the world, including the EU.

The bloc faces 10% duties on most goods from the US for a 90-day period that began on April 9. It’s not clear what comes next.

Friedrich Merz, of the conservative Christian Democratic Party (CDU), was elected chancellor in a second round of voting on Tuesday, after an unprecedented first round where he failed to secure enough votes. 

A total of 325 lawmakers voted in favor of Merz the second time around, bringing him over the necessary 316 threshold required to be chancellor in the 630-seat parliament.

The first round of voting stunned the country because it had never happened before in Germany’s postwar history. The incident sent social media into a frenzy.

The development underscored the fragility of the coalition partners, observers and opponents have pointed out.

The conservative bloc, CDU/CSU, and its junior partner, center-left SDP, had more than enough votes between them to secure Merz’s election in the first round.

It is not yet clear why it failed, but it will leave many wondering if the new coalition will be any more stable than the previous coalition that fell apart at the end of 2024.

Merz becomes Germany’s tenth postwar chancellor and the CDU’s sixth holder of the post. 

After failing to secure enough votes to be elected as chancellor on the first attempt,  Friedrich Merz was confirmed as chancellor after a second round of votes on Tuesday afternoon.

Seeking to move on from the bumpy start to his leadership, Merz set off for France and Poland on Wednesday to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Merz, who is 69 years old, has taken the reigns in Germany amid a struggling economy, an antagonistic president in the White House, a rising far-right populism and tensions over migration. 

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