Reinsalu says Germany's new chancellor could become leader for all of Europe

  • 2025-01-20
  • BNS/TBT Staff

TALLINN – Isamaa chairman Urmas Reinsalu noted after a meeting with the leaders of the European People's Party in Berlin over the weekend that Friedrich Merz, who is aspiring to become Germany's new chancellor, could become a real leader for all of Europe.

"According to all predictions, the CDU will win, and Germany will get a new leader and Europe a real leader after a long time," Reinsalu wrote on social media about the extraordinary elections in Germany on Feb. 23. "Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz assured me that more active cooperation with the Baltic and the Nordic countries will be an important element of his foreign policy agenda as chancellor."

"Merz's message on energy was simple: we cannot build our energy sector solely on wind and solar; we need diversified capacity growth," Reinsalu said, adding that Merz is one of those leaders who dares to clearly reduce overregulation that restricts the economy and people, and encourages dismantling deep bureaucracy.

According to Reinsalu, Merz cited the obligation to fasten caps to plastic bottles as a grotesque example of bureaucracy.

"The remedies offered by him are faster economic growth, a functioning energy policy, investment in security. Merz has repeatedly criticized today's Socialist government of Germany for its laxity in supporting Ukraine," Reinsalu said.

Merz sees Angela Merkel's liberal refugee policy as a fundamental mistake and promises a new approach for Germany and Europe, the leader of the opposition Isamaa party added.

German parties are preparing for an emergency election scheduled for Feb. 23, seven months before the next scheduled elections. In addition to Merz, incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a Social Democrat, and Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck, of the Green Party, are also vying for chancellorship.

According to the Associated Press, pre-election opinion polls show that 30 percent of voters would vote the CDU and Merz. The far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) is in second place with a rating of 20 percent.