Shock and embarrassment in Berlin! Friedrich Merz was only elected as the new German Chancellor by the Bundestag in the second round of voting. This never happened before in the history of the Federal Republic.
Is he already damaged goods before he can bring the show on the road? Can his coalition still work together in a spirit of trust? And what about his ambitious plans for Europe?
Questions for our panel in this edition from the European Parliament: Damian Boeselager, from the German Volt Party sitting with the Greens, Anna Stürgkh from Renew Europe (Austria) and Siegfried Mureșan, from the European Poeple’s Party (Romania).
The era Friedrich Merz started with a bang. The 69-year old did not receive the required majority of 316 votes in the first round. Nobody expected this!
In the three months after the snap elections that turned his Christian Democrats into the biggest force in the Bundestag, Merz has already come under sustained attacks from fellow conservatives and their media allies for giving too much away to the Social Democrats, his coalition partner.
And that was even before he entered the chancellery! The question is: who were the dissenters, Christian Democrats or Social Democrats – or both? Some called them traitors. One thing is certain: the new government will start with a serious amount of mistrust within its own ranks.
Too bad, as there are huge expectations in Berlin and Brussels that Merz revives the economy, brings Europe back on track, repairs the sputtering French-German engine, reigns in Trump and tames migration. Will it finally come to all that?
The second topic was the political thriller in Romania where the far-right Eurosceptic George Simion has won the first round of the Romanian presidential election rerun.
The rerun was necessary after the highest court of the country had annulled last December’s election due to attempted Russian manipulation. A decision that was sharply criticized by the global far right, including the Trump administration. A victory for Simion could have a serious impact on Europe, say political observers.
On May 18th, voters will face a stark choice between two radically different candidates, Simion and Nicusor Dan, the mayor of Bucharest.
Simion, the leader of the Nationalist Alliance for Romanian Unity Party, has increasingly aligned his rhetoric and position with those sympathetic to the Kremlin interest. In a recent and widely criticized statement, Simion claimed that Russia poses no threat to NATO.
His opponent is Dan, an independent candidate with a background in mathematics and a strong pro-European progressive orientation. Voters, therefore, must decide between two fundamentally different visions.
Will Romanians maintain the country’s pro-European course? Or will anti-EU forces prevail?
Finally, the panel discussed the aftermath of the big blackout that struck the Iberian peninsula and parts of France recently.
Traffic lights failed, elevators stopped, electronic payments broke down – and across cities, people stepped in to help one another. The blackout was likely triggered by technical issues, although the exact cause remains unclear.
Could it happen again elsewhere in Europe? Are we prepared for a major energy security crisis?
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