Friedrich Merz will make his first international visits to Poland and France as the new German chancellor ahead of Victory Day, which is celebrated in Europe on May 8, the head of the German government wrote on social media.
“My first trips as chancellor today are to our two largest neighbours, France and Poland. Germany is once again assuming responsibility. Not provocatively, but reliably. Not arrogantly, but ready to co-operate,” he wrote on X.
Earlier, Merz called on the administration of US President Donald Trump to refrain from criticising Germany’s domestic policy. The politician was responding to criticism from Secretary of State Marco Rubio regarding the recognition of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as an extremist organisation.
On May 6, the German parliament elected a new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) coalition, which won the parliamentary elections.
