The head of the winning Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU), Friedrich Merz, undertook his first international trip just three days after the German elections, indicating the need to revive the Franco-German axis in the face of increasingly deteriorating transatlantic relations.
Connecting the probable next German chancellor to his European crisis diplomacy already appears to be as important to Emmanuel Macron, who just returned from a trip to Washington and discussions with President Donald Trump.
Earlier today, Macron gave EU leaders an update on his discussions. For the first time in December 2023, he had received opposition leader Merz in the Élysée Palace. Since then, Merz has emphasised his positive relationship with Macron.
There were no immediate specifics available about the topics of discussion. Still, German media stated that the two leaders agreed on several collaborative initiatives and were in agreement on a number of other topics.
Merz’s trip to Paris coincided with a sharp decline in transatlantic trade and defence ties, the same day that US President Donald Trump declared he would impose 25% tariffs on the European Union (EU), said the bloc was established to “screw the US,” and rejected Ukraine’s bid to join NATO.
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