CDU leader once sidelined by Merkel loves private planes, hates tax bureaucracy, and backs Ukraine
Friedrich Merz arrives at the wedding of the then German finance minister Christian Lindner in his private plane, July 2022.Friedrich Merz arrives at the wedding of the then German finance minister Christian Lindner in his private plane, July 2022.In July 2022, the prevailing political mood in Germany was grim. The economic powerhouse was on the brink of a recession, with Russia threatening to cut off its gas supplies. There were widespread fears of a decline in prosperity.
“I use less fuel with this small aircraft than any company car owned by a member of the federal government,” he insisted – and for that reason, he said, he would continue to fly at every opportunity. The 69-year-old is an apparently role-model husband of more than 40 years, a father and grandfather, as well as a Catholic by birth who still lives in Brilon, the west German town in which he was born. His profile could hardly be more of a contrast to Merkel, a twice-married, child-free Protestant woman who grew up in the communist GDR.
Re-elected as an MP in 2021, it took him three attempts to be voted party leader. He finally succeeded and since January 2022 has been Germany’s main opposition leader and Scholz’s bete noire. As the government struggled with myriad challenges Merz became expert at rubbing salt into the wounds of the ailing “traffic light” alliance.
The incident “had a certain charm about it”, Mariam Lau, a commentator with Die Zeit, said in a recent documentary, Mensch Merz! The Challenger. “But it was also the affected performance of a populist.” Merz is a staunch supporter of Ukraine, insisting Germany’s backing of Kyiv will not wane under his watch. Unlike Scholz, he has said he would back an increase in Ukraine’s capacity to strike Russian territory, and on a visit to Kyiv on Monday told Vlodomyr Zelenskyy he would provide Kyiv with the long-range Taurus missiles it has doggedly been requesting of Berlin.
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