“There were different rounds within the coalition where we insisted very strongly that we should clearly reject this war,” Adis Ahmetovic, the leading foreign policy lawmaker for the SPD, told Deutschlandfunk radio earlier this week.
‘Economic and refugee fears’
But Merz is also being driven by the economic risks of a prolonged war, particularly as Germany’s energy-intensive manufacturing sector — which was already sputtering before the war started — is particularly vulnerable to cost spikes.
“Growth prospects are likely to continue to deteriorate,” Veronika Grimm, one of the country’s leading economists, wrote in an essay for German newspaper Handelsblatt. “For Germany, this means that hopes for a return to growth are once again being dampened.”
Germany is also expected to be among the EU countries most impacted if the escalating war in the Middle East creates a new refugee crisis.
Germany would be the most popular destination for Iranians fleeing the war, with 28 percent of Iranians identifying it as their most likely destination, according to a study by the Berlin-based Rockwool Foundation. That is due largely to the fact that Germany is already home to a large population of Iranian refugees.
These challenges come as Merz’s conservatives face a series of state elections in which rising anxiety over the economy and war abroad are playing a key part — and are helping propel the far right.
In view of the rising risks, Merz on Friday said he would work to develop a plan for ending the war through talks with the G7 and Israel.
“Germany is not a party to this war, and we do not want to become one,” Merz said. “And in that regard, all our efforts are focused on ending the war.”