Chancellor Merz responding to questions on government policy guidelines
In his third Federal Government question time, Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz answered questions from members of the German Bundestag in assembled in plenary session. In his opening statement, he outlined the Federal Government’s guidelines under his leadership.
Germany can only assert its interests if the EU is strong, the Chancellor emphasised at question time.
Photo: Federal Government/Steffen Kugler
At the beginning of his third question time, Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasised that Germany must define and assert its interests in view of the “extraordinarily challenging times”, the most important interest being to keep “the freedom, peace, prosperity and also the welfare state of the Federal Republic of Germany” fit for the future.
The Chancellor emphasised that this can only be achieved within a strong European Union and NATO, and that Germany itself must be strong in order to achieve its interests. According to Federal Chancellor Merz, being strong in these times means “being a prosperous economy, securing existing jobs and creating new opportunities, while at the same time becoming capable of defence”.
Read the Federal Chancellor’s speech in full here.
A new common consensus to solve the problems
The Chancellor emphasised that the problems we are facing are not “unmanageable”, and many are even “home-made”. It is therefore “primarily up to us” to reduce or eliminate these problems, said Merz. This requires “a strong economy, a Federal Republic of Germany that can defend itself and a society that finds a new basic consensus internally".