Friedrich Merz is the frontrunner to become Germany’s next leader after February’s elections. If he succeeds, he’ll face huge challenges: restoring economic growth after two years of recession, and delivering political stability after the infighting of the outgoing coalition. Experts warn that the stakes for a Merz-led government will be high: failure to deliver could fuel the far right. In this edition of Berlin Briefing, DW’s Richard Walker and Michaela Küfner break it all down with writer John Kampfner. Who is Friedrich Merz? Why did he have a feud with Angela Merkel? How would he deal with Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, the Ukraine war and the challenge of China? And can he deliver the reboot that he says Germany needs?
Links:
Michaela Küfner on Friedrich Merz vs Olaf Scholz: https://youtu.be/WaBvj_GqbRE?feature=shared
John Kampfner: https://www.jkampfner.net
DW’s Christoph Hasselbach on Friedrich Merz & Donald Trump: https://www.dw.com/en/donald-trump-germany-politics/a-71365721
DW’s Rosalia Romaniec on Merz’s party and Ukraine: https://www.dw.com/en/german-election-2025-ukraine-defense-spending-nato-cdu-csu-v2/a-71277591
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