In an interview with German tabloid Bild, published on Sunday, Merz gave an insight into his foreign policy planning for his first days in office which is expected to start on 8 May.
“I will … immediately travel to Paris and very quickly travel to Warsaw," he said.
The incoming German leader said it was important for Berlin to “work together very well, very quickly” with the French government and to collaborate “on a par” with Poland.
That’s nice. The bad news is that he will be back sooner or later.
And knowing him, he will say something terribly stupid in both of these countries, which will make them upset with us
I do sincerely want to congratulate him on the idea of visiting France and Poland. The article is right, Scholz fucked up in that regard. But as you say, Merz embarrassing himself is likely. I hope he meets Duda, that sounds like a fun combo.
BILD. Always a great …. “Tabloid”
What a charismatic talker. I could listen to him for hours. /s
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I don’t think its appropriate for a German nationalist to make any kind of approach to those two countries. At least he’s not Austrian
Sorry, cheap joke. He seems like a piece of work, though
German nationalist
While he does have nationalist tendencies, that’s not really how I would refer to him anyway.
German corporatocrat (he has ties to and worked for blackrock)
Obviously, your idea of Merz is far more valuable than mine - I researched his status and political stances for two minutes and don’t live within his area of influence. If he’s OK as a leader and people under him aren’t losing their rights that’s good.
You could call him BlackRock national with a provincial background. Merkel played with his political power ambitions for decades and he took that personal.
Nationalism simply isn’t a good description for him, but opportunists like him sometimes become nationalists to achieve something (e.g. Trump). He might be an enabler of nationalists though.
If I’m not mistaken, it’s more his old-established, pro-employer, cultural-hegemonist party that won and less he as a symbol.
Semi-regardless of his party political affiliation, it is a good thing that the the constitutional office of chancellor reaches out to neighbours in diplomacy to strengthen or upkeep connection.
He’s a decidedly sub-par leader in my eyes. But that is mostly because he’s far-right-appeasing, lying, and power-hungry.
