A positive result for Europe

The German election result enables the strongest member of the European Union to show the opportunity to show the weight of the economic, political and security transformation of Europe. Friedrich Merz, whose CDU/CSU won the most votes (28.5 percent) and 208 seats in parliament with 630 seats, explains that he is ready to lead these efforts. It remains to be seen whether the Social Democratic Party (SPD) (in third place with 16.4 percent and 120 seats) will be able to come up with a consensus CDU/CSU. It is not a matter of course that the disagreements within the SPD enable such cooperation to migrate to migration, since the positions of the two parties are very different on this topic. The fact that the official negotiations for a coalition only begin on March 6 (due to the carnival and state elections in Hamburg) suggests that the country's leaders are not entirely willing to show greater flexibility than usual.

There will be no power vacuum until the next government is formed. For example, after the 2021 elections, Angela Merkel stayed for 73 days before the outgoing SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz took over responsibility. The clear message from Washington that Europe has to take care of its own security from now on, and Donald Trump's encouragement by Vladimir Putin with his words and deeds has urged Merz to see the urgency of strengthening foreign policy and defense in Europe. “For me it has an absolute priority to strengthen Europe as soon as possible so that we can reach real independence from the United States step by step,” he said on Sunday. “It is clear that we Europeans can act quickly,” he added on Monday. France has welcomed the election result and is looking forward to warming up the French German axis in Europe.

Apart from the geopolitical dangers, Germany has to deal with the rise of the right-wing extremist AfD party, which doubled its percentage of 2021 and won 20.8 percent and 152 seats. “This is a last warning for the parties of the German Democratic Center to find common properties,” commented Merz. The increase in anti-EU-AFD may be alarming, but the election result enables the formation of a strong cable coalition and also underlines the need for a strong front against the exogenous and domestic dangers that are exposed to Germany and the EU. Now it is due to the two main parties of the “Democratic Center” to act quickly and to form a government that will contribute to the adaptation and thus to survive the Union.