Berlin Cable

Amid tumultuous world events, Germany has become fearful of the future. Chancellor Friedrich Merz is right to try and address this.

The Christian Democrats and Social Democrats of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’ coalition government have made an effort to get along better. So far, however, they have failed to come up with the new approaches in security and economic policy that the country needs.

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has started an untimely, and ill-informed, debate about “German boots on the ground in Ukraine.” A more strategic and coherent foreign policy is still a long way off.

The German chancellor appeared to have no qualms about Donald Trump entering the war against Iran at Israel’s side in order to destroy the Iranian nuclear program. It remains unclear what follows from that.

Germany’s incoming chancellor needed two tries to get the necessary majority in parliament. This has overshadowed the start of Friedrich Merz’ new government, whose foreign policy setup actually looks promising.

The incoming government of Friedrich Merz needed the Greens to get an unprecedented financial package through parliament. The Greens delivered, in their own way.

The result of Germany’s election was largely as expected: CDU leader Friedrich Merz should be able to build a two-way coalition government with the big losers of the night, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’ Social Democrats (SPD). But much else is less clear.

The coalition-building after the election on February 23 is likely to become a moment of truth.

Elon Musk has been trolling Germany’s parliamentary election campaign during the holidays. His AI-supported interventions are unlikely to have much effect, but they remind the country that it needs new ideas—which so far are lacking.

The break-up of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’ coalition government was expected, but is still taking place at an extremely critical time. Its successor will have to set clearer priorities—and find greater fiscal space.

The pro-business Free Democrats are likely to leave the government early. It may be party leader—and finance minister—Christian Lindner’s last consequential mistake for a while.

Politically, the Scholz government seems finished, even if it manages to drag on for another year. Germany, which derived much of its foreign policy stance from its seemingly unshakable “stability,” does not look so stable all of a sudden.