Friedrich Merz set to take office as German chancellor
Jakub Krupa
Some 70 days after winning the parliamentary election in February, CDU/CSU leader Friedrich Merz will finally become the new German chancellor today, taking over from embattled Olaf Scholz. Incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of CDU carries documents, ahead of a Bundestag CDU/CSU fraction meeting, where a new chair will be elected, in Berlin, Germany. Photograph: Liesa Johannssen/Reuters
Last night, Scholz was given a formal send-off party – probably best described by the Economist's Tom Nuttall as 'think military parade crossed with Desert Island Discs and you're halfway there' – leaving the office to the sounds of Bach, Aretha Franklin's 'Respect' and the Beatles' 'In My Life.'
There will be time and place to properly sum up his term, acknowledging that whatever plans he may have had got quickly derailed by Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, three months into his chancellorship.
But today the focus will be on what's next with a number of extremely urgent tasks facing the new chancellor, not just in international politics or the economy, but with the broader crisis of people's trust that things work as they should.
In his farewell speech, summing up his three years holding the highest office in the country, Scholz said:
'Only if you (the German citizen) have confidence in democracy and its representatives can this democracy succeed. Earning this trust has always been the driving force behind my political commitment.' Outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz leaves after his military tattoo ceremony hosted by the Bundeswehr in honour of his service. Photograph: Getty Images
Merz will need to figure out – and figure out fast – how to keep that democratic confidence alive at a time when the far-right Alternative für Deutschland, the main opposition party now formally designated as an extremist force, comes top in some of the public opinion polls.
The Bundestag will sit from 9am Berlin time (8am London) to formally appoint the new chancellor, and later to confirm the members of his government, with media rumours that the first cabinet meeting will take place this evening, ahead of Merz's expected trips to Paris and Warsaw tomorrow.
We will bring you all the latest.
It's Tuesday, 6 May 2025, it's Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
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