Associated Press analysis
Friedrich Merz, who is on track to become Germany's 10th chancellor since World War II after national elections, has said he will prioritize European unity and the continent's security as he confronts the new Trump administration and Russia's war in Ukraine.
Merz said on Monday that his conservative bloc had won enough seats in the national election to build a coalition with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
He added that talks would begin in the coming days and last several weeks.
The main issues would be foreign relations, migration and the economy, he said.
Merz has said he will not work with the far-right anti-immigration party AfD (Alternative for Germany), despite the party finishing second.
The 69-year-old conservative leader won Germany's national election with 28.5 percent of the vote.
"I am also aware of the scale of the task that now awaits us," he told supporters after his victory on Sunday night.
"The outside world is not waiting for us, and it is not waiting for prolonged coalition talks and negotiations."
Merz, a lawyer by profession, saw his career decline under former Chancellor Angela Merkel in the early 2000s and even left politics for several years. Despite his political experience, he has never served in government before.
Rivalry with Merkel
Merkel has described Merz as a brilliant speaker and praised his desire for leadership, although she has acknowledged that this was a problem in their relationship.
“We are almost the same age… We grew up completely differently, which was more of an opportunity than an obstacle,” she wrote in her book “Freedom.”
"But there was a problem, from the beginning: We both wanted to be the boss," she said.
Merkel sought to consolidate her control of Germany's center-right after the Union narrowly lost national elections in 2002. She removed Merz from the position of leader of her parliamentary group, taking on that role herself, in addition to leading the Christian Democratic Union party. She continued to lead Germany from 2005 to 2021.
Leaving politics
Merz did not actively engage in politics for several years after leaving Parliament in 2009.
He practiced law and headed the supervisory board of the German branch of investment manager BlackRock. During this period, he often traveled on business to the United States and China, although he never lived outside Germany.
“Friedrich Merz is probably the most international chancellor Germany has had since the war — if he becomes chancellor,” said Volker Resing, who wrote the newly published biography “Friedrich Merz: His Road to Power.”
Merz "relies on personal initiative, on individual freedom, on creativity and motivation. And only then on the state," Resing said.
Political comeback
Merz launched his political comeback after Merkel resigned as leader of the CDU in 2018 and announced that she would not seek a fifth term as chancellor.
However, he was narrowly defeated by centrist candidates in 2018 and early 2021.
Merz went on to be elected as party leader on the third attempt, following the center-right's defeat by the current chancellor, Olaf Scholz, in the 2021 German election. He consolidated his power by also becoming the leader of the Union Parliamentary Group.
According to Resing, “Merz’s way of doing politics” is not to avoid confrontation at all costs. Instead, he maintains a perspective that “a certain amount of provocation can start a real debate and perhaps a real development in motion.”
During the election campaign, Merz promised to strengthen Germany's economy again and limit irregular migration.
With President Donald Trump back in the White House and tensions rising over how to resolve the war in Ukraine, Merz, who has long supported a strong transatlantic relationship, said after his victory that his top priority is to unite Europe in the face of challenges from the United States and Russia.
"I have no illusions about what is happening in America," he told supporters. "We are under such great pressure ... my absolute priority now is really to create unity in Europe."
Was he flirting with the far right?
Merz decided to tighten Germany's immigration laws at the top of the election campaign after a migrant killed two people in a knife attack in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg last month.
He brought a non-binding proposal to parliament, calling for migrants to be turned back from Germany's borders. The proposal was narrowly passed thanks to votes from the far-right AfD.
This led his opponents to accuse Merz of breaking a taboo by supposedly working with the AfD, which led to a public denunciation by Merkel.
Critics pointed to this episode as an illustration of what they say is Merz's tendency toward impulsiveness.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest against Merz's proposal, as well as the rise of the far right.
Merz has insisted that he has done nothing wrong and that he has never worked with the AfD, and has also reiterated that he will "never" cooperate with the party if he becomes chancellor.
Roots in rural Germany
Merz represents his rural region in Germany's parliament — an area where people are "down to earth, maybe a little reserved," Resing said. "That's what shaped him: rural life."
As a politician, Merz has always defended conservative values and emphasized the importance of family.
He met his wife, Charlotte, who is now a judge, while he was studying law. The couple have three grown children.
Merz joined the CDU in 1972 and was elected to the European Parliament in 1989. He first entered the German Parliament in 1994.
In the pilot's seat
As a passionate pilot for his hobby, Merz sometimes flies his small plane from his home in the Sauerland region of western Germany to Berlin early on Monday mornings.
He has continued to fly, despite the long hours imposed on him by his job as opposition leader and occasional criticism that he has a rich man's hobby.
"When you talk to him about flying, his eyes light up," Resing said. "He says when you're on a cloud, that's freedom."/ REL (A2 Televizion)
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