Merz urged European nations to move swiftly to boost their defense spending and economic competitiveness in order to be able to exert power amid the “tectonic” shifts in the global order. At the same time, he urged Germans and other Europeans not to give up on the transatlantic alliance and NATO, advocating, in effect, a middle path.
“Despite all the frustration and anger of recent months, let us not be too quick to write off the transatlantic partnership,” Merz said, switching briefly to German. “We Europeans, we Germans, know how precious the trust on which NATO is based is.”
Merz sounded particularly grave about what he framed as the dire risks of the world entering a new era of great power rivalry.
“The world where only power counts is a dangerous place, first, for small states, then for the middle powers, and ultimately for the great ones,” he said. “I do not say this lightly. In the 20th century, my country Germany went down this road to its bitter end. It pulled the world into a black abyss.”
Mercosur a must for Merz
The German chancellor used his speech to set out a three-pronged plan for Europe to assert itself in the new world order: invest “massively” in defense, make its economies more competitive and stay united.
Merz argued that Europe must secure new trade deals around the world to boost its economic competitiveness, pitting the EU in direct opposition to Trump’s tariff policies.