Germany's Merz inaugurates a historic new brigade in Lithuania and pushes for security spending
VILNIUS, Lithuania — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared that 'the security of our Baltic allies is also our security' as he traveled to NATO partner Lithuania Thursday to inaugurate a German brigade meant to protect the alliance's eastern flank in the face of mounting worries about Russia .
He said Berlin's strengthening of its own military sends a signal to its allies.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NATO agrees ambitious defense spending expansion
NATO leaders agreed their most ambitious military expansion since the Cold War. The US and NATO leadership are pushing to increase the alliance's spending target from 2% of each member country's GDP to 5%, including 1.5% on related defense expenditures such as logistics and cybersecurity. While major countries such as the UK are holding out on the higher target, arguing that the priority should be pushing all allies to meet their existing commitment, the deal is expected to be finalized in a summit this month. The alliance also pledged a five-fold increase in surface-to-air defense systems, and set out a detailed list of each country's specific contributions to NATO's military capabilities.
CNBC
38 minutes ago
- CNBC
Musk vs. Trump drama dominated in D.C., but Germany's Merz quietly walked away with a win
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump was dramatically overshadowed by the U.S. leader's spat with Elon Musk. But it was still seen as a win for Merz. "Being sidelined is not necessarily always a bad thing," Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro at ING, told CNBC on Friday. "In fact, it might have even helped Merz as the Musk distraction was also deviating attention away from more controversial topics. It was a high-stakes trip for Merz, who is just a few weeks into his chancellorship, especially given the treatment other leaders have gotten from Trump in the Oval Office in recent months. As such, Merz is unlikely to be disappointed about the outcome — especially given the potential downsides. "Having avoided an escalation in the Oval Office is already an achievement these days," Brzeski added. Merz arrived in D.C. with a full agenda that ranged from strengthening relations between the U.S. and Germany, to tariffs — which could significantly impact key German industries — as well as U.S. support for Ukraine in its war with Russia and higher NATO defense spending. While we don't know what was discussed behind closed doors, Merz was seemingly able to address most of these points with Trump, political strategist Julius van de Laar told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Friday. "I think what Friedrich Merz got across is that he hopes that the U.S. president will continue to support Ukraine," he said, noting that the issue had gathered momentum recently given several significant attacks. Merz was able to pick up on this, and draw links to the anniversary of D-Day a day after their meeting. "And he said the United States played a great role in ... freeing Europe from the Nazi regime back then, and so he's hoping that Donald Trump will ... say we're going to get engaged again and help Europe become free of dictatorship," van de Laar said. Merz making this point was important in the context of highlighting the U.S-German relationship, according to Jackson Janes, senior resident fellow at the German Marshall Fund. Speaking to CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe," he also pointed out that Trump was gifted his grandfather's birth certificate by Merz, "making the point 'you have a relationship with Germany in your own family.'" Janes also noted that Merz highlighting Germany's plans for higher defense spending would have marked a positive note in the discussion. Germany recently changed its fiscal rules to allow for higher defense spending, and Merz's government seems to be making it a priority. The chancellor has promised a financial push to boost the German military, and the country's foreign minister has suggested support for Trump's proposal that NATO members spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defense. Meanwhile, the sensitive topic of Germany's far-right party, the Alternative fuer Deutschland, was seemingly avoided. Officials in the Trump administration have in recent weeks come out in support of the party after German intelligence services classified it as a "proven right-wing extremist organization." This led to clapbacks from German politicians, with Merz himself warning the U.S. not to get involved. The classification of the AfD is currently on hold amid a legal challenge. All in all, Merz's visit to D.C. was seen as "a home run or a hole in one," van de Laar said. ING's Brzeski also suggested that the trip laid good foundations between the leaders. "There seems to be some common grounds between Trump and Merz, which could be the seeds for a more constructive relationship," he said. Merz even appeared to get some compliments from Trump, with the president commending him for his English skills and saying that while "difficult," the German leader was a "very good man to deal with." Following the meeting, Merz appeared satisfied, saying in a social media post that the atmosphere was "really good," and that the two have much in common. "I am coming back with the feeling that we can speak on the phone any time," he said, according to a CNBC translation. But even an in-person reunion might not be too far off: a Trump trip to Berlin is already being planned, Merz told German media.
an hour ago
Germany's Merz says he found Trump open to dialogue and committed to NATO
BERLIN -- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday, a day after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, that he encountered a U.S. administration open to discussion and returned confident that Washington remains committed to NATO. Merz described his Oval Office meeting and extended lunch with Trump as constructive but also candid, noting that the two leaders expressed different views on Ukraine. "Yesterday, in the meeting at the Oval Office, I expressed a distinctly different position on the topic of Ukraine than the one Trump had taken, and not only was there no objection, but we discussed it in detail again over lunch," Merz said in Berlin after his return. Thursday's White House meeting marked the first time the two sat down in person. Merz, who became chancellor in May, avoided the kind of confrontations in the Oval Office that have tripped up other world leaders, including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa. The two leaders opened with pleasantries. Merz presented Trump with a gold-framed birth certificate of the president's grandfather, Friedrich Trump, who emigrated from Kallstadt, Germany. Trump called Merz a 'very good man to deal with.' The American administration, he said, is open to discussion, listens, and is willing to accept differing opinions. Add he added that dialogue should go both ways: 'Let's stop talking about Donald Trump with a raised finger and wrinkled nose. You have to talk with him, not about him." He said he also met with senators on Capitol Hill, urging them to recognize the scale of Russian rearmament. 'Please take a look at how far Russia's armament is going, what they are currently doing there; you obviously have no idea what's happening,' he said he told them. 'In short, you can talk to them, but you must not let yourself be intimidated. I don't have that inclination anyway.' Merz, who speaks English fluently, stressed the need for transatlantic trust and said he reminded Trump that allies matter. 'Whether we like it or not, we will remain dependent on the United States of America for a long time,' he said. 'But you also need partners in the world, and the Europeans, especially the Germans, are the best-suited partners. 'This is the difference between authoritarian systems and democracies: authoritarian systems have subordinates. Democracies have partners — and we want to be those partners in Europe and with America.' He reiterated that the U.S. remains committed to NATO, particularly as Germany and others boost their defense spending. Trump has in the past suggested that the U.S. might abandon its commitments to the alliance if member countries don't meet defense spending targets. 'I have absolutely no doubt that the American government is committed to NATO, especially now that we've all said we're doing more. We're ensuring that we can also defend ourselves in Europe, and I believe this expectation was not unjustified," Merz said. "We've been the free riders of American security guarantees for years, and we're changing that now.'
