But the most testing leader for Merz will be Donald Trump, who in one month has upended the certainties of postwar German foreign policy – an icy reality for Merz’s Christian Democratic Union party, a traditional ally of the US Republican party.
“I think Merz and his team understand the urgency of the global situation and that we need a functioning German government soon,” said Jana Puglierin, the head of the Berlin office at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Janis Emmanouilidis, deputy chief executive at the European Policy Centre, said Merz has been extremely careful not to say anything “which might cost him in his own party”, where many do not want debt-brake reform or eurobonds.
Since the US vice-president, JD Vance, met the far-right leader Alice Weidel and attacked European democracies, Merz, a lifelong transatlanticist, sounds less optimistic about striking deals with Trump, Puglierin said.
Emmanouilidis expects Merz to enjoy better relations with Tusk and Macron, although said it would be difficult for relations “not to get better”.
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