Three days after the federal election: Merz meets Macron

SZ.de Three days after the federal election: Merz meets Macron Daniel Brössler, Berlin • 31 million • 1 minute reading time The next Federal Chancellor is likely to enter the international stage in Paris. French President Macron is having dinner with CDU leader Merz - and is apparently already involving him in crisis diplomacy. Merz meets Macron Three days after his election victory, CDU leader and likely future Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz is entering the international stage: French President Emmanuel Macron is receiving him for dinner in Paris on Wednesday, according to information from the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Macron is thus apparently also involving his future German contact in the ongoing crisis diplomacy at an early stage. That morning he had informed the other heads of state and government of the EU states in a video conference about his recent talks with US President Donald Trump. In Washington, Macron had advocated the inclusion of Europe in possible negotiations on an end to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. Merz has repeatedly emphasized his good relationship with Macron, who received him at the Élysée Palace in December 2023. After his election as Chancellor, Merz plans to make his first trips to France and Poland. The relationship between Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Macron is considered to be rather cool. Even before the travel plans were announced, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit had made it clear that until a new Chancellor was elected, the office would be held by Scholz alone and that there would be no joint trips to EU summits, for example. "There is no government internship, and there is no hand-holding either. Changes of government are very common in democracies," he said.