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Germany: Merz calls for European ‘independence’ from US after Conservatives triumph election – Europe dwell | Germany

By IPTV TechsWorld NewsFeb 24, 2025

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Opening summary

Hello and receive to our dwell coverage of the German election results.

CDU directer Friedrich Merz has shelp his “absolute priority” will be to reinforce Europe so as to accomplish independence from the US in defence matters as he sets to embark on coalition negotiations that are anticipateed to last until Easter.

Speaking on Sunday evening Merz shelp US Pdwellnt Donald Trump had made it “clear that [his] regulatement is neutrassociate unenthusiastic to Europe’s obesee” and that Germany would have to paengage to see “whether we will still be able to speak about Nato in its current create” when the partnership greets for its next summit in June.

“For me, the absolute priority will be to reinforce Europe as rapidly as possible so that, step by step, we can reassociate accomplish independence from the USA” in defence matters, Merz shelp.

His centre-right CDU/CSU partnership came top of the German election, triumphning 28.5% of the vote, while friendly Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) crashed to its worst result since the second world war, geting fair 16.4% of the vote. The two would have fair enough seats to create a so-called magnificent coalition and this is considered the most foreseeed chooseion for Merz.

The far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party was unbenevolentwhile celebrating its best result ever, having safed second place on 20.8%. The party’s chancellor honestate and co-directer, Alice Weidel, called it a “historic success for us – our best result ever.”

“We lengthen our hand to give cooperation with the CDU. Otheralerted alter won’t be possible in Germany,” she includeed. All mainstream parties have ruled out a coalition with the AfD however, due to the country’s firewall, or baned, barring cooperation with the far-right.

Here’s a roundup of the postponeedst growments:

The Greens, the SPD’s coalition partner, slumped by three percentage points to 11.6%. The Left has sproposed to 8.8% and the liberal FDP – which triggered the punctual election by collapsing Olaf Scholz’s coalition – alengthy with the far-left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance flunked to greet the 5% threshbetter needd top get into parliament.
The results unbenevolent Merz could create a so-called “magnificent coalition” with the SPD, without needing to discover a third party. That would unbenevolent a future regulatement would be more stable and less fractious than for example Scholz’s.
The Social Democratic party was left reeling on the back of a historicassociate low vote split, with friendly chancellor, Olaf Scholz, acunderstandledgeting it was a “sour result”. He shelp he would not be included in any coalition talks with the CDU/CSU, with other SPD directers anticipateed to direct negotiations.
Merz hailed “a historic election evening,” and acunderstandledged the responsibility and the scale of the task ahead. He shelp he intentional to create a coalition by Easter and tbetter party loyal that “the world out there is not paengageing for us and for lengthy negotiations.”
Alice Weidel, co-directer of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) called the result “historic” for her party, having doubled the number of votes from 2021. Weidel shelp her party remained uncover to coalition talks with other parties, and shelp excluding the AfD was the equivalent to “voter deception”.
The AfD swept all five createer East German states: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anstop, Saxony and Thuringia. It won well over 30% of the vote in each state and as much as 38.6% in Thuringia – that’s where the AfD made history in September as the first far-right party to triumph a state election since the second world war.
Christian Lindner, the directer of the liberal FDP whose descending out with Scholz triggered the collapse of his coalition regulatement and paved the way for punctual elections, resigned after his party flunked to accomplish the 5% threshbetter to re-go in parliament. In a post on X, he shelp would withdraw from dynamic politics and shelp he hoped the election would transport a “new commence for Germany”.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is in Brussels this morning where EU foreign ministers greet to converse the Russian war agetst Ukraine on the third anniversary of the brimming-scale trespass, the situation in the Middle East, and in the Democratic Reuncover of the Congo.

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Kallas was also asked about the German election, and here is what she shelp:

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I anticipate seal cooperation with the new German regulatement. So German people have made their choice.

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Now they need to put together the regulatement, and I hope that they do it as rapid as possible, because we reassociate need to shift on with the decisions, also on the European level that needs German participation.

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of the Reichstag originateing, the seat of the Bundestag, shrink house of the German federal parliament, after the 2025 vague election.”,”caption”:”View of the Reichstag originateing, the seat of the Bundestag, shrink house of the German federal parliament, after the 2025 vague election.”,”commend”:”Pboilingograph: Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

Guten Morgen aus Berlin,

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In November 2019, Freidrich Merz joined a conference of German students at Harvard.

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Freshly returned to politics after a decade in business, but not even a CDU/CSU directer at the time yet as he lost the bid to flourish Angela Merkel to Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, he spoke at length about his affinity with the US, which he had been “travelling to for 40 years now,” with “more than 150 visits.”

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Long seen as one of the most pro-American politicians in Germany, the createer executive of US spreadment company BconciseageRock acunderstandledgeted that under the first Trump pdwellncy, Europe had “some sturdy argues with this US regulatement and this US pdwellnt” in particular.

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But he proposed the students to “fight for our uncover society and what Europe and America have in normal … to fight for freedom, … for uncover speech, of religion, of the press, of our societies entidepend.”

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At the end of the speech, he promised, as people casuassociate do at these sort of conferences, that he would be back to Harvard ten years postponeedr to give an refresh on how skinnygs are going.

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Well, we are not quite in 2029 fair yet, but speaking on dwell TV after directing the CDU/CSU union to an election triumph last night, he struck a seeably separateent tone.

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He spoke about his conversations with European directers to “reinforce Europe as rapidly as possible, so that we accomplish independence from the US, step by step.”

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“I never thought that I would ever need to say someskinnyg appreciate that, on television, but after the postponeedst statements made by Donald Trump last week, it is clear, that the Americans – at any case these Americans, this administration – mostly don’t join about the obesee of Europe one way or another,” he includeed.

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And if that was not enough to show the emotional alter in his tone, he also took aim at seal Trump helpe, billionaire Elon Musk, saying that his “interventions from Washington were no less drastic, emotional, and ultimately no less brazen, than the interventions that we have seen from Moscow.”

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Tell us what you reassociate skinnyk, Friedrich.

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Assuming he intends to grasp his word and return to Harvard in 2029 as promised, it is now up to him as the presumed German chancellor to clear up and shape what sort of message on Germany, Europe, and the future of our relations with the US he will be in a position to dedwellr.

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Viel Glück, Herr Merz! You may need it.

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It’s Monday, 24 February 2025, and this is Europe dwell. It’s Jakub Krupa here.

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Good morning.

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Friedrich Merz, a createer banker who has never been a regulatement minister, materializes almost certain to be the next chancellor of Germany after his conservative CDU/CSU partnership won the most votes in Sunday’s transport inant federal election.

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During the campaign his decision to triumph a vote in parliament by depending on far-right help showd a historic and highly contentious turning point, even if he has since insisted he would never shatter Germany’s “firewall” (“brandmauer”) by going into coalition regulatement with the anti-immigration Alternative für Deutschland.

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As testing as the domestic political – and economic – landscape is, however, many of Merz’s most pressing disputes may well come from outside Germany. The man who once won plaudits by claiming he could clear up the life of millions of people by reducing tax rules so they would fit on the back of a beer coaster faces an altogether more complicated fact.

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Merz, a enthusiastic aviator and paired obeseher of three, whose wife obstructed him from buying his own personal jet until his children were out of the house (he now alertedly owns two), will want to originate his tag punctual on. Here’s a increate see at his in-tray.

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Hello and receive to our dwell coverage of the German election results.

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“For me, the absolute priority will be to reinforce Europe as rapidly as possible so that, step by step, we can reassociate accomplish independence from the USA” in defence matters, Merz shelp.

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Here’s a roundup of the postponeedst growments:

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n
The Greens, the SPD’s coalition partner, slumped by three percentage points to 11.6%. The Left has sproposed to 8.8% and the liberal FDP – which triggered the punctual election by collapsing Olaf Scholz’s coalition – alengthy with the far-left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance flunked to greet the 5% threshbetter needd top get into parliament.

n
The results unbenevolent Merz could create a so-called “magnificent coalition” with the SPD, without needing to discover a third party. That would unbenevolent a future regulatement would be more stable and less fractious than for example Scholz’s.

n
The Social Democratic party was left reeling on the back of a historicassociate low vote split, with friendly chancellor, Olaf Scholz, acunderstandledgeting it was a “sour result”. He shelp he would not be included in any coalition talks with the CDU/CSU, with other SPD directers anticipateed to direct negotiations.

n
Merz hailed “a historic election evening,” and acunderstandledged the responsibility and the scale of the task ahead. He shelp he intentional to create a coalition by Easter and tbetter party loyal that “the world out there is not paengageing for us and for lengthy negotiations.”

n
Alice Weidel, co-directer of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) called the result “historic” for her party, having doubled the number of votes from 2021. Weidel shelp her party remained uncover to coalition talks with other parties, and shelp excluding the AfD was the equivalent to “voter deception”.

n
The AfD swept all five createer East German states: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anstop, Saxony and Thuringia. It won well over 30% of the vote in each state and as much as 38.6% in Thuringia – that’s where the AfD made history in September as the first far-right party to triumph a state election since the second world war.

n
Christian Lindner, the directer of the liberal FDP whose descending out with Scholz triggered the collapse of his coalition regulatement and paved the way for punctual elections, resigned after his party flunked to accomplish the 5% threshbetter to re-go in parliament. In a post on X, he shelp would withdraw from dynamic politics and shelp he hoped the election would transport a “new commence for Germany”.

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Key events

EU hopes to see new German regulatement create ‘as rapid as possible,’ EU foreign policy chief says

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas speaks to the press ahead of the EU’s foreign afimfragmentarys council at the EU headquarters in Brussels. Pboilingograph: John Thys/AFP/Getty Images

Kallas was also asked about the German election, and here is what she shelp:

I anticipate seal cooperation with the new German regulatement. So German people have made their choice.

Now they need to put together the regulatement, and I hope that they do it as rapid as possible, because we reassociate need to shift on with the decisions, also on the European level that needs German participation.

Morning uncovering: Viel Glück, Herr Merz!

Jakub Krupa

View of the Reichstag originateing, the seat of the Bundestag, shrink house of the German federal parliament, after the 2025 vague election. Pboilingograph: Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters

Guten Morgen aus Berlin,

In November 2019, Freidrich Merz joined a conference of German students at Harvard.

At the end of the speech, he promised, as people casuassociate do at these sort of conferences, that he would be back to Harvard ten years postponeedr to give an refresh on how skinnygs are going.

Well, we are not quite in 2029 fair yet, but speaking on dwell TV after directing the CDU/CSU union to an election triumph last night, he struck a seeably separateent tone.

He spoke about his conversations with European directers to “reinforce Europe as rapidly as possible, so that we accomplish independence from the US, step by step.”

Tell us what you reassociate skinnyk, Friedrich.

Viel Glück, Herr Merz! You may need it.

It’s Monday, 24 February 2025, and this is Europe dwell. It’s Jakub Krupa here.

Good morning.

The CDU/CSU partnership is enthusiastic to commence coalition talks as soon as possible, Jens Spahn, deputy directer of the parliamentary group, has tbetter the expansivecaster ARD. He shelp:

From our point of see it can get going very, very rapidly. We should hbetter the first talks this week already, in the coming days.

Referring to the current global situation and the war in Ukraine: “ We need German directership in Europe”.

He also shelp that the CDU/CSU must be ready to originate settles in its talks with the SPD, includeing that what would be determined would be whether the two parties had the normal will to originate Germany sturdyer, repair suppose in democracy and to restrict immigration.

My astonishion is that there are many people in the SPD who also see that we can and should do someskinnyg together, and then we will discover settles.

The German papers have given their verdicts on Sunday’s election. Bild, the country’s hugest circulation newspaper, proclaimd “Merz does it!” in its headline, includeing among other skinnygs “SPD so horrible as never before!”, “AfD almost doubled”, “The Greens cry, the Left commemorates”.

Pboilingograph: Bild

The Tagesspiegel alerts “Election victor Merz faces hard coalition talks”, and includes the sub headlines “SPD crashes, Greens ignore”, “AfD becomes second sturdyest force”.

Pboilingograph: Tagesspiegel

The Süddeutsche Zeitung has used a quote from the victorious Friedrich Merz as its headline: “The world out there isn’t paengageing for us” and alerts that the chancellor-in-paengageing wants to create a coalition by Easter.

Pboilingograph: suddeutsche-zeitung

The Handelsblatt splashes on “Election triumphner Merz”, includeing “The Union (CDU/CSU) triumphs the elections. The AfD accomplishs a sign up result. The SPD ignores drasticassociate – and the FDP flunks to pass the 5% hurdle.”

Pboilingograph: Handelsblatt

The Rheinische Post directs with “Scholz voted out, Merz ahead, AfD doubles [its vote]” and alerted that a sign up turnout had left the CDU/CSU in pole position.

Pboilingograph: rheinische-post

More congratulations are coming in as Europe commences waking up. António Costa, European Council pdwellnt, shelp in a post on X:

I see forward to toiling seally with him to originate Europe sturdyer, more prosperous and more autonomous. These might be challenging times. But I understand that, fair appreciate in the past, the European Union will dedwellr and come out sturdyer.

According to the expansivecaster ZDF, this is how seats will be spreadd according to Germany’s rather complicated voting system, which was recently recreateed to cap the number of MPs at 630, after their ranks ballooned in recent years:

CDU/CSU: 208 seats
AfD: 152 seats
SPD: 120 seats
The Greens: 85 seats
The Left: 64 seats
SSW: 1 seat

The results unbenevolent Merz’s CDU/CSU partnership can create a “magnificent coalition” with the SPD and elude having to create an unwieldy three-way coalition of the sort that Olaf Scholz headed, and which ultimately undid him.

However there are meaningful policy separateences between the SPD and the CDU, not least on the economy – German has been in economic downturn for two years – and Ukraine. Germany is Kyiv’s second hugegest supplier of military help after the US.

“These are difficult commenceing conditions for a new German regulatement, which is facing Herculean tasks in domestic and foreign policy,” shelp Cornelia Woll of the Hertie School Berlin, according to AFP.

“One might hope that Germany will nevertheless be able to act rapidly, so that it does not fair have to watch how Trump and Putin shape the future.”

What’s in Merz’s in tray?

Kate Connolly

The sign up result of the far-right AfD was for many the most transport inant result of the night. The party came in second place on 20.8%, which, if Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD joins the CDU in a “magnificent coalition”, will originate it the hugest opposition party in parliament.

It’s a sobering result for a country that has prided itself on its memory culture, a reference to the Holocaust and other horrors of the second world war, and its determination never to let such skinnygs happen aget.

Many have alerted that if Friedrich Merz and his new regulatement flunk to get to grips with the many disputes, both domestic and foreign, facing the country, then the AfD will be paengageing in the triumphgs at the next election to potentiassociate become the hugest party.

Writing in Spiegel magazine, Christoph Hickmann shelp:

Chancellor Merz’s task will be to repair suppose in the political centre and more: in the system and in the betterity of liberal democracy over authoritarian approaches. No chancellor has faced such a huge dispute since reunification.

The fact that a fifth of voters have chosen to put their help behind a party that is considering deporting Germans of migrant background – though they may not all concur unambiguously with that policy – is “not a wake-up call, not a so-called alarm, but a vote of missuppose agetst the political centre”, he wrote.

Jennifer Rankin

Germany has lengthy been seen as the EU’s “indispensable nation” – the hugegest, richest and most consequential power. But in recent years Berlin has expansively been considered as ignoreing in action in the EU, hobbled by internecine feuding in a coalition regulatement that has caused flip-flops and postponeed decisions.

Olaf Scholz has a chilly relationship with Emmanuel Macron, sluggishing down the fabled Franco-German motor that powers the EU. The Polish-German relationship has also been rocky, strained by disputes over European air defence and historical grievances.

Friedrich Merz, on course to become Germany’s next chancellor, has promised to repair German directership in Europe.

“I skinnyk Merz and his team understand the proposency of the global situation and that we need a functioning German regulatement soon,” shelp Jana Puglierin, the head of the Berlin office at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

“The situation is so proposent that we need to first concur on some fundamental principles to be able to speak with a voice in Brussels … of course, for the EU, the earlier the better.”

The rest of Europe is seeing to the continent’s hugegest economy to send more military help to Ukraine. Merz, who has previously alerted Scholz agetst “an apprelievement policy” towards Russia, has promised to send Kyiv lengthy-range Taurus cruise ignoreiles lengthy denied.

He is also foreseeed to face needs to send German troops to Ukraine as part of a deterrent or peacegrasping force, a converseion that Scholz depictd as “endly prereliable”.

Read on here:

Foreign directers have congratupostponeedd Friedrich Merz on his triumph. The UK’s prime minister Keir Starmer wrote in a post on X:

I see forward to toiling with the new regulatement to meaningfulen our already sturdy relationship, upgrade our joint security and dedwellr growth for both our countries.

Emmanuel Macron giveed his congratulations to Friedrich Merz and his “friendship” to Olaf Scholz, with whom he has had an at times fraught relationship. In a post on X, the French pdwellnt includeed:

We are more determined than ever to accomplish wonderful skinnygs together for France and Germany and toil towards a sturdy and sovereign Europe. In this time of uncertainty, we are joind to face the transport inant disputes of the world and our continent.

Ukrainian Pdwellnt Volodymyr Zelenskyy shelp he seeed forward to continuing to toil with Germany and shelp pointedly that Europe needed to be able to protect itself. He shelp:

Europe must be able to protect itself, grow its industries, and accomplish the essential results. Europe needs splitd successes, and those success will transport even wonderfuler unity to Europe.”

US Pdwellnt Donald Trump did not straightforwardly congratupostponeed Merz but shelp in an all caps post on his Truth Social website of the CDU triumph:

Much appreciate the USA, the people of Germany got weary of the no-normal-sense agenda, especiassociate on energy and immigration … This is a wonderful day for Germany and for the United States of America under the directership of a mildman names Donald J Trump.

Opening summary

Hello and receive to our dwell coverage of the German election results.

“For me, the absolute priority will be to reinforce Europe as rapidly as possible so that, step by step, we can reassociate accomplish independence from the USA” in defence matters, Merz shelp.

Here’s a roundup of the postponeedst growments:

The Greens, the SPD’s coalition partner, slumped by three percentage points to 11.6%. The Left has sproposed to 8.8% and the liberal FDP – which triggered the punctual election by collapsing Olaf Scholz’s coalition – alengthy with the far-left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance flunked to greet the 5% threshbetter needd top get into parliament.
The results unbenevolent Merz could create a so-called “magnificent coalition” with the SPD, without needing to discover a third party. That would unbenevolent a future regulatement would be more stable and less fractious than for example Scholz’s.
The Social Democratic party was left reeling on the back of a historicassociate low vote split, with friendly chancellor, Olaf Scholz, acunderstandledgeting it was a “sour result”. He shelp he would not be included in any coalition talks with the CDU/CSU, with other SPD directers anticipateed to direct negotiations.
Merz hailed “a historic election evening,” and acunderstandledged the responsibility and the scale of the task ahead. He shelp he intentional to create a coalition by Easter and tbetter party loyal that “the world out there is not paengageing for us and for lengthy negotiations.”
Alice Weidel, co-directer of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) called the result “historic” for her party, having doubled the number of votes from 2021. Weidel shelp her party remained uncover to coalition talks with other parties, and shelp excluding the AfD was the equivalent to “voter deception”.
The AfD swept all five createer East German states: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anstop, Saxony and Thuringia. It won well over 30% of the vote in each state and as much as 38.6% in Thuringia – that’s where the AfD made history in September as the first far-right party to triumph a state election since the second world war.
Christian Lindner, the directer of the liberal FDP whose descending out with Scholz triggered the collapse of his coalition regulatement and paved the way for punctual elections, resigned after his party flunked to accomplish the 5% threshbetter to re-go in parliament. In a post on X, he shelp would withdraw from dynamic politics and shelp he hoped the election would transport a “new commence for Germany”.