Merz’s manoeuvres on world stage fail to quell doubts about his leadership

 

Analysis

Merz’s manoeuvres on world stage fail to quell doubts about his leadership

Deborah Cole

in Berlin

The German chancellor’s high-wire statesmanship on Ukraine has done little to alleviate his domestic woes

 

Wed 13 Aug 2025 18.32 CEST

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/13/merz-manoeuvres-on-world-stage-fail-to-quell-doubts-about-leadership-germany

 

Friedrich Merz hosted the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Wednesday as a weakened leader 100 days into his term, with his attempts to rally western support for Kyiv and wrangle Donald Trump failing to silence his domestic critics.

 

The German chancellor took the initiative for Wednesday’s lightning round of telephone conferences bringing in EU leaders, Trump and his vice-president, JD Vance. Zelenskyy’s surprise arrival in Berlin to sit in on the calls underlined Merz’s starring role in the diplomatic efforts.

 

He has often cut a sure-footed figure on the world stage since taking office in May, including largely holding his own in an Oval Office face-off with Trump in June, but Germans remain unconvinced by their leader’s performance overall.

 

A poll this week showed the far-right Alternative für Deutschland overtaking Merz’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc by two points, making it the strongest party with 26% support in a fractured electoral landscape. The CDU/CSU, which won February’s general election with nearly 29% of the vote, now claims only 24% of voter intentions.

 

The last time the AfD came out on top in the Forsa poll was in April, in a period of political limbo between the election and Merz’s new government taking office.

 

“Mr Merz has already become unbearable after just 100 days – it’s time for an AfD government!” the party’s co-leader Alice Weidel crowed on X.

 

The junior coalition partners, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), received just 13% support, down three points from February, meaning that if an election were held this weekend, the current governing alliance, which is already showing significant cracks, would fail to win a majority.

 

Merz, a divisive figure in German politics for decades with a long-nursed grudge against his fellow Christian Democrat Angela Merkel, has struggled to reverse a deep pessimistic streak that has taken hold in Europe’s top economy.

 

GDP growth has failed to show a significant turnaround and is expected to flatline again this year.

 

The government’s decision in June not to deliver a reduction in electricity tax for households and small businesses also angered many voters, and a divisive debate about the pension age has taken a political toll.

 

On migration, which Merz has attempted to wrest as an issue from the AfD, his government has shown mixed results with a series of court setbacks and a simmering dispute with Poland over migration complicating his efforts to appear decisive.

 

Even before taking office, he had spearheaded a major spending package for domestic defence, infrastructure and aid to Ukraine. But fiscal hawks in his own camp, who trusted him to safeguard German budgetary rectitude, were appalled by a measure they saw as a violation of his previous campaign promises.

 

Merz, who had no experience in government before becoming chancellor, has won the respect of many western allies for his staunch support for Ukraine as Trump’s backing has wavered.

 

The formulation of his stance on the war in Gaza, however, has proved politically dicey, alienating many of his closest allies and the Israeli government as he draws praise from the SPD.

 

After weeks of growing criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu’s military campaign in the strip as the civilian death toll rose, Merz last week made the shock announcement that Germany would no longer approve shipments of weapons that could be used in Gaza until further notice.

 

Prominent members of the CDU/CSU bloc accused him of failing to inform them in advance of a brash decision they said betrayed Germany’s responsibility for Israel’s security since the Holocaust. Voters, many of whom are critical of Israel’s escalatiing military action in Gaza, welcomed the move.

 

Merz’s effort to convince Trump not to sign off on a deal with Russia at Friday’s summit with Vladimir Putin “over the heads of the Europeans and Ukrainians” looked to be another high-wire act of statesmanship, having failed to secure a seat at the table in Alaska for Zelenskyy.

 

Matthias Gebauer, the security correspondent for the influential weekly Der Spiegel, said the European approach had been to “shower Trump with praise and deference and try to teach him a little about how to seal a peace deal”.

 

“The best-case scenario as seen in Berlin would be the Europeans convincing Trump not to act hastily” and to keep up the pressure on Moscow, he said.

 

“But everyone knows that chances aren’t very good. Trump is very impatient when it comes to Ukraine, and he cares much less about European interests than he does about the prospect of a quick deal with Putin.”