Caroline Voaden, Lib Dem MP who was the party's leader in the European Parliament 2019/20, told The Independent: "Germany’s new Chancellor has said the quiet part out loud: Europe can no longer rely on America for its security and must forge its own path.
Friedrich Merz, leader of Germany’s centre-right conservative party (CDU), is set to become the country’s new chancellor after provisional results confirmed his mainstream conservatives had won the national election.
Britain’s Liberal Democrats echoed calls from the likely new German chancellor, adding Mr Merz said the “quiet part out loud”.
Mr Merz's conservative bloc wants to ally with Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD), who came in third, after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged to a historic second place.
The likely new German chancellor has welcomed Sir Keir Starmer’s interest in resetting European Union relations following Brexit.
