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BERLIN (Reuters) – Opposition leader Friedrich Merz, a front-runner to become Germany’s next chancellor, said Donald Trump’s second term would clear the European Union as he hosted EU heavyweights in Berlin.
“I think Trump is predictable,” Merz said at a press conference alongside Manfred Weber, head of the conservative European People’s Party (EPP), the largest group of lawmakers in the European Parliament.
“In this regard, I think we can prepare for the fact that there will be more clarity in the coming weeks and months and that there will be more problems,” he added.
Merz, head of Germany’s CDU/CSU bloc, is in line to succeed Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose uneasy alliance with the Greens and pro-business Free Democrats collapsed in November over plans to the opposite of revitalizing the country’s declining economy.
Merz said Europe needs to unite in order to be respected in the world, especially in the United States, and that Trump’s inauguration on Monday “will accelerate our efforts to pool our strength and work together.”
Trump’s hawkish stance should be seen as an opportunity, also in terms of joint European military procurement, he added.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the heads of state and government of countries including Sweden, Finland and Austria are among those who attended the two-day meeting in the German capital.
In a joint statement, the EPP said that the priorities for 2025 are for Europe to win its competitiveness, reduce irregular migration and strengthen security in the face of “advertisement campaigns of foreign authorities , terrorist attacks, organized crime and hybrid warfare on our borders.”
According to a Yougov poll released this week, Merz’s conservative party will take 30% of the vote in Germany’s February 23 election, making it the most likely candidate to lead the party. or any of the future. Scholz’s SPD is lagging behind with 18% of the vote, according to the poll.
