Merz said that “the radiance of what we in the West call liberal democracy is noticeably diminishing,” adding: “It is no longer a given that the world will orient itself towards us, that it will follow our values of liberal democracy.”
“New alliances of autocracies are forming against us and attacking liberal democracy as a way of life,” Merz said.
Recent global turmoil has struck Germany with particular force. Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine and the erosion of the transatlantic alliance have compelled the country’s leaders to invest massively in rebuilding the relatively feeble German military. The energy shock that accompanied the Ukraine invasion and U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff wars have both hit German industry particularly hard.
But Macron too, speaking after Merz, echoed parts of the chancellor’s message, arguing that Europe is undergoing a “degeneration of democracy” due to attacks on various fronts — including from within.
“We are also threatened from the outside. But we should not be naive. On the inside we are turning on ourselves; we doubt our own democracy,” he said. “We see everywhere that something is happening to our democratic fabric. Democratic debate is turning into a debate of hatred.”
Much of that degeneration is due to online discourse on platforms controlled by U.S. and Chinese firms, said Macron.