Italian MEP Nicola Procaccini, a confidant of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, echoed that sentiment.
“Germany was once considered a pillar of stability,” he told ANSA. “That is no longer the case.”
Roderich Kiesewetter, a lawmaker in Merz’s CDU, argued that Germany must make real military commitments in order to gain the confidence of many of its allies.
“What’s needed now is a credible German contribution to Europe’s deterrence posture [against Russia],” Kiesewetter told POLITICO. Merz, he added, “must meet [Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk] with a tangible and credible military and personnel commitment.”
Topping the agenda, however, will be forging a common European approach to U.S. President Donald Trump, especially given his unpredictability.
“They’re probably thinking in scenarios,” Dominik Tolksdorf, a transatlantic expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations, said of Merz’s talks with his European counterparts. “The worst thing that could happen is that the NATO summit evolves into a similar confrontation as Trump’s meeting in the White House with Zelenskyy. Of course, the Europeans want to avoid that by all means.”
That leaves Merz with a delicate assignment on Wednesday: projecting that he’s up to the task of leading Europe in deeply uncertain times, while attempting to restore his political strength at home.
Nette Nöstlinger and Oliver Noyan contributed reporting.
