Chancellor Merz travelled to Ankara this week for the NATO summit. There, he held talks with the heads of state and government on, amongst other things, defence spending, the common defence industry and support for Ukraine.
Ankara, 7 July 2026: Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his wife Charlotte were greeted with flowers at Ankara Airport. The Chancellor attended the two-day NATO summit in the Turkish capital. He was accompanied, amongst others, by Federal Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius.
To kick off the political talks, Chancellor Merz met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The main topic was continued military support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s war of aggression.
Afterwards, Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz met with the Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, and the Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre. Canada is planning to procure twelve submarines developed jointly by Germany and Norway. For the Chancellor, this is “not only good news from an economic point of view; it is also good news for our collective security”.
Ankara, 8 July 2026: On the second day of the summit, the agenda featured working sessions involving all the heads of state and government of the 32 NATO member states.
A reunion among friends and allies: Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron greeted one another ahead of the first working session of the heads of state and government in Ankara.
A regular feature of every political summit: the group photo of the heads of state and government.
Shortly before the working session begins, the political advisers can exchange final information with their heads of government.
The heads of state and government of the 32 NATO member states are calling, amongst other things, for Europe to take on greater responsibility for Euro-Atlantic security. “We will make NATO more European so that it can remain transatlantic,” said Chancellor Merz.
During the NATO summit, Friedrich Merz also met the host, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The two leaders held a bilateral discussion together.