Germany’s parliament is increasingly fractured due the rise of radical parties on both sides of the spectrum. Merz has said he refuses to govern with the radical-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is now polling in second place at 19 percent. Meanwhile, the newly formed populist-left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) is in fifth place with 7 percent.
“Preoccupied with ourselves“
Much of the political conversation so far has centered on Germany’s domestic issues, rather than on how the country will deal with the massive global challenges it now confronts, from Donald Trump’s return to the White House — and the possibility that he’ll stop U.S. military support for Ukraine — to the breakdown of the free trade that has long underpinned Germany’s export-oriented economic model.
Scholz, for example, barely mentioned Ukraine in his comments during Monday’s parliamentary debate. When he did mention the war it was mainly to reinforce the message that he is the prudent choice to prevent an escalation in the fighting given his refusal to provide Ukraine with German-made Taurus cruise missiles.
“We will not do anything that puts our own security at risk and that is why we are not supplying any cruise missiles, a far-reaching weapon that can have a deep impact on Russia,” Scholz said. “And we are certainly not sending any German soldiers to fight in this war, not with me as chancellor.”
Merz, on the other hand, criticized Scholz for failing to keep his promise, following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, to fundamentally rebuild Germany’s depleted armed forces after decades of disarmament.
But he offered few details on how he would pay for such a military expansion, other than to say it would be a budgetary priority.
