German conservative leader Friedrich Merz, the country’s presumed next chancellor, is not expected to accompany outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz to a special EU summit in Brussels next month.
Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Scholz would not take Merz to the March 6 meeting, where EU leaders are expected to discuss the recent shift in US policy on the war in Ukraine. Merz does not need a “government internship” or “hand-holding” ahead of taking power in Berlin, Hebestreit added.
“Changes of government are very common in democracies,” said Hebestreit, who argued that it would be impractical for all 27 EU leaders due to attend the meeting to bring their successors or opponents. “Arriving with two or more government leaders would not necessarily speed up the consultations.”
Scholz, a Social Democrat, will remain in office until a new government is formed, likely under Merz’s center-right alliance of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU).
German Jewish activist Hanna Veiler said she wants to move out of Germany given the far-right AfD’s high share of votes in the federal election on Sunday.
“For me, a red line has been crossed in this federal election, and I have made up my mind: I will leave Germany,” said the president of the Jewish Student Union of Germany.
One in five Germans, she said, “knowingly gave their vote to a party that is largely right-wing extremist.”
The AfD won 20.8% of Sunday’s vote, nearly doubling its support since the last general election in 2021. It is now Germany’s second-largest party.
Veiler said she was not sure where she would go but added, “The main thing is that I need some distance from Germany.”
Friedrich Merz is scheduled to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Wednesday evening, US news magazine Politico and German largest newspaper Bild reported.
The spokesperson for Merz’s party declined to confirm when asked about the Paris meeting, according to the German dpa news agency.
Merz’s first trip overseas after winning Sunday’s election will likely include a discussion on European defense in light of the abrupt US change in Ukraine policy.
Earlier in the day, Macron had informed other European leaders in a video conference about his recent talks with US President Donald Trump.
The French president was the first European leader Trump received in the White House in his second term. Macron and Trump met on Monday.
