Following his party's success in the German election, Friedrich Merz met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. The two leaders discussed European security in light of the changing US stance on Ukraine.
Germany's likely next leader Friedrich Merz made an unexpected trip to Paris to meet French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday.
The visit occurs just a few days after his conservative CDU/CSU bloc secured the most seats in the election in terms of electoral victory.
What was discussed between Merz and Macron?
The trip was anticipated to include discussions on the recent shift in US policy on the conflict in Ukraine, as well as
Merz posted a photo of himself and Macron on social media late on Wednesday, thanking the French president for his "friendship" and "trust in German-French relations."
"We can accomplish great things together for Europe," Merz wrote on Instagram.
Since his center-right coalition, comprised of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU) of the state of Bavaria, secured a 28.5% share of the vote in Sunday's election, resulting in 208 seats in the German Bundestag.
With 630 seats in the Bundestag, the conservative grouping fell significantly short of the number needed to establish a government on their own. The second-largest party, the AfD, secured 152 seats following Sunday's election, but given the CDU/CSU bloc's decision to rule out collaboration with the far-right party, the conservatives are likely to consider forming a coalition with the outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD).
The upcoming coalition talks, which are not guaranteed to be successful, are scheduled to take place at a crucial moment for the continent, with leaders anxious that US President Donald Trump may negotiate a peace agreement with Russia without European participation.
Washington sided with Moscow twice in votes at the United Nations earlier this week.
Ukraine is insisting that no peace agreement can be reached without its approval.
It remains uncertain whether Macron and Trump share a common goal, despite their apparent rapport as they sat down to speak with the media and rekindled their relationship from the beginning of the US president's first term.
What happens next in Germany after the election?
Meantime, Merz is not expected to accompany Scholz to an EU summit, scheduled to take place in Brussels next month.
The CDU/CSU chancellor candidate does not require a "government internship" or "guidance" before taking office, Steffen Hebestreit, Scholz's spokesman, stated on Wednesday.
The government spokesman stated that Scholz would not attend the meeting on March 6, where EU leaders are expected to discuss the recent change in Washington's Ukraine policy.
There were rumors that Merz would attend the summit with Scholz, just as Scholz had accompanied Angela Merkel to a G20 summit in Rome in late 2021, shortly after Scholz won the German election.
Hebestreit rejected the comparison, stating that Scholz was acting in his previous capacity as Merkel's finance minister.
Germany's oldest center-left party, the SPD, suffered its worst performance in a federal election in over 100 years and lost the most votes compared to previous elections. Chancellor Scholz has announced that he will not be part of the next government.
Edited by. Louis Oelofse
I'm ready to help. Please provide the text to be paraphrased.