The population must embrace unpopular measures or face further decline, Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said
Germans must embrace unpopular reforms to get through the “difficult time” the country is facing, Chancellor Friedrich Merz has warned.
Merz made the remarks on Friday during a public event in Saarbruecken marking 35 years since German reunification. The anniversary of East Germany’s absorption into the West was not entirely festive, as the chancellor focused more on the challenges the nation is facing.
“Our nation is in the midst of an important, perhaps decisive, phase in its modern history,” he stated. “Many things must change if they are to remain as good as they are, or even to improve.”
Germans should now “regroup and look forward with confidence and energy” to the future, as well as find “new unity in our country,” Merz said. Among the priorities, the chancellor named the country’s military buildup, an idea he has long espoused due to the alleged Russian threat.
“We must learn to defend ourselves again,” Merz stressed, claiming that “new alliances of autocracies are forming against us” and Germany’s “liberal way of life” is coming under attack “from both outside and within.”
Berlin has asserted itself as one of the key backers of Kiev in the conflict against Moscow. Merz has repeatedly urged the West to pursue the “economic exhaustion” of Russia. However, he admitted back in August that Germany itself has been experiencing a “structural crisis” rather than just temporary “weakness.” The country was in recession last year and is expected to show no growth this year, according to IMF projections.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who was hosted for the reunification celebrations by Merz, conveyed a similar message, urging all Europeans to embrace the hard choices.
“Our generation has a choice. To choose or allow the extremes, which are false promises in the face of this doubt, or to stand up again and decide to embrace our new era and make it an era of boldness and determination,” Macron stated.
The appearance of the French president at the event was criticized by ex-German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who argued that Merz should have picked “someone from Eastern Europe or Eastern Germany” instead.
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