Europe’s leaders have sounded lately like they are waiting for a mystery hero to stand up to an unruly America and a menacing Russia. Instead, they got Friedrich Merz.
Germany’s likely next chancellor has made it clear he wants to take the driver’s seat on the European stage after the German election, which his Christian Democrats are tipped to win.
Merz complained vocally that the incumbent chancellor, Olaf Scholz, had left it to Emmanuel Macron to convene an emergency European meeting on Monday, after US President Donald Trump had all but sidelined Europe’s leaders from negotiations on the future of Ukraine.
“That is not the role I envisage for Germany,” Merz said.
Merz wants to hold such summits in Berlin and turn Germany from “a sleeping middle power into a leading middle power”.
This includes leading the response to the generational challenge posed by an American president dishing out tariffs and striking deals with authoritarian countries, while Europe musters little more than group photos of its dour-looking leaders at the Elysée Palace.
At the Munich Security Conference last weekend, Merz held court like a chancellor, meeting US vice-president JD Vance, who snubbed both Scholz and China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi.
Can Merz succeed where Europe’s collective approach is currently failing?
At first glance, Merz brings little to the table that qualifies him as a leading hero. He has neither Obama’s swagger nor Macron’s grandiose vision, let alone Angela Merkel’s reputation for integrity and selflessness.
Merz exudes villain vibes.
His appearance has been unfavourably compared to Mr Burns from The Simpsons. Perhaps Gru, the anti-hero from Despicable Me, is a more apt comparison.
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