Against Scholz and for Ukraine — Who is candidate Merz's
Germany will hold snap elections to the Bundestag, the German parliament, on Sunday, February 23. According to media reports, incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz is losing his chances of winning. Among the other main candidates for the post is Friedrich Merz from the conservative Christian Democratic and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) bloc.
Find out what is known about Merz, how he plans to change the German government, and what he thinks about the Russian-Ukrainian war in the Novyny.LIVE article.
Career of Friedrich Merz
Friedrich Merz is well known in Germany as a lawyer and politician. After graduating from university, he worked as a judge and practiced law. He later became a member of the European Parliament and was elected to the Bundestag in 1994, where he worked on economic legislation.
In 2000, he became leader of the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) parliamentary group, but served only two years, as the group was defeated in the 2002 elections.
He was replaced as faction leader by Angela Merkel, who then removed him from office and blocked his proposed tax reform. He, in turn, criticized her decisions.
Currently, Merz is one of the leading candidates for the position of Germany's chancellor. Among his competitors are the incumbent chancellor Olaf Scholz, the leader of the Alliance 90/The Greens Robert Habeck, and the leader of the far-right, pro-Russian party Alternative for Germany, Alice Weidel.
Merz's personal website features the slogan "Bringing Germany Forward Again". The homepage also includes a countdown to the government elections.
Mertz's attitude to the war in Ukraine
Friedrich Merz is called Scholz's main critic and supporter of Ukraine. He was one of the first to visit Ukraine at the beginning of the full-scale war. He arrived in Kyiv in May 2022 and visited the destroyed Irpin and other cities in the region.
He had previously criticized the construction of Nord Stream 2, arguing that it exacerbated conflicts. After the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, he called for the pipeline project to be halted.
As a candidate for Germany's chancellorship, he has repeatedly spoken about the war in Ukraine. He believes that the West does not aim to defeat Russia, but Ukraine must restore its sovereignty and territorial integrity. In his view, the balance of power looks dire, as Ukraine’s allies have done too little, too late.
At the Munich Security Conference, he stated that Ukraine’s NATO membership should not be taken off the table, despite Chancellor Olaf Scholz insisting that Ukraine cannot join at this time. In Munich, he also met with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"Germany is one of our largest partners and strongest defenders of life, and we truly appreciate it, especially the air defense assistance—thousands of lives have been saved," Zelenskyy wrote on Facebook.
Earlier, on February 17, Germany announced a new military aid package for Ukraine.
As a reminder, Olaf Scholz, stated that Ukraine will not be able to become a member of NATO in the near future due to the refusal of the United States of America to take this step.