Before the final votes in Germany’s election were counted, Friedrich Merz, the leader of the center-right Christian Democratic Union party, who is expected to become the next chancellor, promised a significant shift in relations with the United States.
In a post-election debate, he promised to confront a new reality: the Trump administration intends to reverse approximately 80 years of policy and raises the possibility of abandoning European security guarantees.
“My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA,” Merz told reporters Sunday.
Merz added, “I never imagined I would have to say something like this on a television show. But, as of last week, it is clear that Americans, or at least this segment of Americans, this administration, are largely unconcerned about Europe’s fate.”
Merz’s conservative CDU party won the most votes in Germany’s Bundestag, with 28.6%. The SPD, the party of incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz, finished third.
Trump and members of his administrations have long advocated for increased investment in NATO by US allies and for Europe to take responsibility for its own security.
“However, we have also made it clear for years — decades, even — that it is unacceptable that the United States and the United States taxpayer continues to bear the burden not only of the cost of the war in Ukraine but of the defense of — of Europe,” said Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser, last week.
He added, “We fully support our NATO allies. We fully support the Article 5 commitment. But it is time for our European allies to step up.”
Merz also discussed NATO, suggesting that the military alliance may need to be replaced by a new European security structure.
“I am very curious to see how we are heading toward the NATO summit at the end of June,” he told reporters. “Whether we will still be talking about NATO in its current form or whether we will have to establish an independent European defense capability much more quickly.”
His remarks came before the final votes were counted.
This month, Vice President JD Vance spoke at the Munich Security Conference, telling European leaders that the biggest threats they faced came from “within,” downplaying the security risks posed by China and Russia.
As Germany seeks to rebalance its relationship with the United States, the far-right Alternative for Germany, the second party in the elections, was ecstatic with their best ever showing.
Notably supported by Elon Musk, the AFD’s strong performance, which doubled their previous level of support, was hailed as a victory in and of itself.
It is the strongest showing by a far-right party in Germany since WWII.
“We achieved a historic result. “We have never been stronger in the federal parliament,” Alice Weidel, the party’s co-chair, told a cheering audience. “As an alternative for Germany, we have grown to be the second strongest force. And we have firmly established ourselves as the people’s party.”
Musk said on Monday in a social media post that it was “only a matter of time” before the AfD won an election.
