Friedrich Merz was re‑elected as the chairman of the CDU at the party’s federal congress in Stuttgart. According to the congress leadership, he received 91.2 % of the votes on Friday evening. In his previous election in 2024 the approval rate was 89.8 %, and at his first election in January 2022-held online-the rate was 94.6 %. The 2022 vote had been preceded by a membership survey.
In CDU board elections, abstentions are treated differently from many other parties: they are counted as invalid votes rather than harming the result. This time, 14 of the 977 votes cast were abstentions. The election had to be conducted with paper ballots rather than the originally planned digital method because of technical problems.
Merz gave a broad‑based principle speech at noon, covering many topics but offering few new ideas beyond some self‑criticism. Foreign policy dominated the discussion. In the same vein as at the Munich Security Conference, he called for stronger trans‑Atlantic ties while urging greater independence. “Americans should remain our friends” he said, adding that the United States was beginning to lose its role as a reliable cue‑giver. He emphasized the need to adapt to this new reality.
Regarding the Ukraine war, he again warned against appeasement, stating, “Those who follow naïve pacifism today are fueling the wars of tomorrow”. He also referred to the Greenland dispute, noting that it showed Europe could achieve something if it stays united.
Merz said the measures now needed include investment in defence so that Europe cannot be coerced, and a reinvigoration of economic strength in Germany and the continent-linking his points to domestic policy. He admitted that in the past he had made overly ambitious promises. “Perhaps after the change in government we did not communicate quickly enough that this massive reform effort cannot be achieved overnight; I accept that criticism” he said on Friday in Stuttgart. Nevertheless, he urged continued courage, insisting that “there must be someone on the bridge to drive us forward”.
