Will Mertz Ally With Right-wing Radicals?
- 6.05.2025, 10:20
A political analyst explained what is holding back Germany's new chancellor.
Germany's new Chancellor Friedrich Merz will not have an easy time running the government. After all, the right-wing radicals will be the largest opposition faction in the current Bundestag, writes RBC-Ukraine.
In the current composition of the Bundestag, the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AdG) party will be the largest opposition faction, making it difficult for Christian Democratic Union (CDU) chairman Friedrich Merz to avoid contact with it. Especially given the parliamentary majority's minimal margin of victory.
"Merz will have a difficult time because, on the one hand, part of his political force demands that he hold the firewall at all costs. But on the other hand, there is a growing influence of the milieu that says that the firewall no longer carries as much weight, so it must be abandoned. These are primarily East German figures and various conservative publicists," Wiktor Sawinok, a political scientist and international analyst at the Western Institute in Poznan, told RBC-Ukraine.
According to him, the arguments of supporters of the abolition of the "firewall" boil down to two theses. The first is that the AdG is not ready for systematic work in the government and does not have the appropriate personnel, so its involvement in the coalition will lead to a decline in its ratings. The second - participation in the government will allegedly force the party to switch to more moderate rhetoric, as has already happened with other radical forces in European countries.
"With both of these arguments we can discuss, especially the second part, about softening the rhetoric, because we see that throughout its more than 10-year history, the AdG has been radicalizing its rhetoric," Savinok said.
Germany's New Chancellor
Germany held parliamentary elections this year, which were won by the conservative Christian Democratic and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) bloc led by Friedrich Merz.
On May 5, the CDU/CSU signed a coalition agreement with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). The Bundestag is expected to vote the very next day to elect Merz as the new chancellor.