The chairman of the Union faction operates a subsidiary foreign policy.
(Photo: dpa)
The German opposition leader is traveling to Ukraine this week, ahead of the chancellor and despite the president’s invitation, to hold political talks there – so spontaneously that even leading party members were surprised by the news.
Officially, Friedrich Merz is about solidarity with Ukraine. In fact, it’s an affront. The 66-year-old pursues a secondary foreign policy and is abandoning his self-declared course of being a constructive leader of the opposition.
Merz had skilfully followed the course so far: as parliamentary group leader of the CDU and CSU, he urged the traffic light coalition to agree to arms deliveries to Ukraine. He even helps Olaf Scholz in the dispute over the 100 billion euro package for the Bundeswehr – by repeatedly referring to his “Zeitenwende” speech and insisting on what the Chancellor announced in it at the end of February and what the vehemently defend against the peace romantics of the SPD: Solidarity with the Ukraine; 100 billion euros that really benefit the Bundeswehr and not things that fall under an expanded security concept, as well as a permanent two percent of the gross domestic product for NATO’s defense capabilities.
The traffic light thus knows that it must stand by its chancellor and organize its majority itself.
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A trip to Kyiv, however, is usually undertaken by someone in the opposition who is about to hold a federal election. Instead, Merz seems to have the final sprint in the North Rhine-Westphalian election campaign in mind. If the CDU lost the government majority there, it would also affect the Sauerland. He had promised the party new impetus when he was elected chairman in January. For weeks now, Merz has been doing everything to ensure that the NRW-SPD hoped-for Draft Scholz is lame and there is no change.
Merz could have met Klitschko – in Berlin
Merz himself has ten campaign appearances in NRW this week alone. The presidiums of the CDU and CSU chose Cologne for a joint meeting to decide on a security policy paper. So there are enough stages to present yourself as the leader of the opposition. Why then also Kyiv?
If it were just about solidarity, Merz could have shown it long ago: Wladimir Klitschko was in Berlin at the beginning of April, met Chancellor Scholz and Finance Minister Christian Lindner. Nothing is known of a meeting with Merz. Klitschko’s brother Vitali is the mayor of Kyiv and his party belongs to the European Conservative family. A handshake would have been a strong symbol of solidarity.
More: Merz to Scholz: “It’s hesitation, procrastination, anxiety”