Netanyahu, Trump and the far right: What Merz said the day after German election
CDU leader Friedrich Merz said he wants to start negotiations for a coalition agreement with the Social Democrats from next week at the latest.
"Germany needs a government that is capable of taking action and has a parliamentary majority behind it," said Merz.
But coalition talks are not the only thing on the likely soon-to-be chancellor's mind.
During a press conference, Merz covered several topics, including changes to German-US relations with Donald Trump in office and the rise of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which came second in the election with just over 20 percent of the vote.
Merz also talked about his plans to make sure Benjamin Netanyahu can visit Germany - despite an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister.
Merz said he would seek good ties with the United States under President Trump but was also ready for "the worst-case scenario".
"I hope that we can convince the Americans that it is in our mutual interest to maintain good transatlantic relations," Merz told reporters.
"But as always, you have to deal with the worst-case scenario," he said, warning that "all the signals we are receiving from the United States indicate that interest in Europe is decreasing".
Merz also said he had a "lengthy" call with Emmanuel Macron late Sunday, as the French president headed to Washington to meet with Trump.
"We discussed the topics he wants to address with the American president, and I found that there was complete agreement between what he wants to say and what I want to say" on transatlantic ties, Merz said.
Trump blindsided European allies when he declared his readiness to resume diplomacy with Russian President Vladimir Putin and to hold talks without the involvement of European nations or Kyiv.
US President Donald Trump signs an executive order enacting tariffs in the Oval Office of the White House on February 10, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
He has repeated Russian talking points about Ukraine's supposed responsibility in starting the war, raising concern in Europe that he would agree to Moscow's terms.
US Vice President JD Vance also caused shock in Europe this month when he used a speech at a security forum in Munich to criticise the EU on issues ranging from immigration to free speech.
'Last warning'
Merz said that the surge of the far-right AfD to 20 percent voter support was "the last warning" to the country's mainstream parties.
The anti-immigration AfD scored its best-ever result in the election after a campaign marred by a spate of deadly car-ramming and stabbing attacks blamed on migrants.
Merz has vowed a crackdown on immigration and a "zero tolerance" law and order drive to ease public fears and win back voters drifting to the far-right party.
"This is really the last warning to the political parties of the democratic centre in Germany to come to joint solutions," Merz said at a Berlin press conference.
Merz pointed to the especially strong gains of the far-right party in the ex-communist east, the AfD's heartland, which in post-election maps was bathed in blue, the AfD's party colour.
He said his own conservative party colleagues had warned him that the eastern region was "only a few years ahead of you in the west" and that "if you do not solve the problems, then you will have the same problem".
Co-leader of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Alice Weidel and co-leader Tino Chrupalla hug at the end of their press conference in Berlin, on February 24, 2025. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)
Merz added that "we must work together to see that we solve the problems in Germany" in order to "gradually deprive this party of its breeding ground".
Speaking to reporters on Monday, AfD co-leader Alice Weidel described the AfD as "a people's party" that could appeal to a broad cross-section of society.
She also highlighted the fact that the AfD had done "very well" among young voters, hailing this as an "indicator that we are the party of the future".
Plans to meet Netanyahu
Merz also told reporters he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and voice support to him.
"I told him that we should see each other soon after the government is formed," Merz said.
"In the event that he plans to visit Germany, I have committed myself to find a way to ensure that he can visit Germany and leave again without being arrested."
Netanyahu's office said he had congratulated Merz and that the German election winner had invited the Israeli premier to visit.
"Merz thanked the prime minister for his call and said he would invite him for an official visit to Germany, openly defying the ICC's scandalous decision to label the prime minister as a war criminal."
The ICC issued arrest warrants in November for Netanyahu, former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas's slain military chief Mohammed Deif.
The court is investigating Israel's conduct in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, launched after the Palestinian militant group's deadly October 7th, 2023, attacks.
The ICC said it had "reasonable grounds" to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore "criminal responsibility" for the war crime of starvation in Gaza, as well as the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.
Netanyahu has dismissed the move as anti-Semitic.
Merz said it was a "completely absurd idea" that an Israeli prime minister could not visit Germany.
The Berlin government had previously said it was "examining" the ICC warrant and that it was bound by the court.
But German officials carefully avoided saying whether they would act on the warrant, referring to Germany's "great responsibility towards Israel" as a consequence of the Holocaust.
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