The German parliament is set to elect conservative Friedrich Merz as the new prime minister.
The 69-year-old promises to stimulate the country’s flagging economy and boost its voice on the global stage.
It puts an end to Germany’s recent political sphere after the final government collapsed.
But Mertz takes office at a time of great uncertainty overseas and a surge in far-right at home.
“It is our historic duty to make this government a success,” said the CDU leader formally signed the coalition agreement on Monday.
Meltz supporters argue that what they consider to be a good government will help address the frustration of growing voters.
“I think we need to prove that we can solve the problem in a very responsible, visible and detailed way, not in a fundamental way,” says Mark Helfrich, CDU member at Bundestag.
However, the CDU, CSU and SPD coalition have a narrow majority of 328 seats.
In the federal election in February, CDU/CSU held back support with just four points, with alliance partner SPD colliding with the worst post-war outcome.
Merz has pledged to strengthen immigration rules, invest in the country’s disease infrastructure and restructure relationships with key European partners.
He has already run through the law to exempt defense and security from strict German debt regulations. The new council knew that they couldn’t find the majority needed to do so.
“A surprising decision,” says Claudia Major, senior vice-president of the German Marshall Fund in Berlin.
However, because support for rulers is relatively low, “Merz needs to convince more people of the need to spend more on defense.”
Snapping Mertz’s heels across this parliament will now be the far-right Fut Deutschland (AFD), the main opposition force in the West.
The AFD hopes to close German borders, close migrants on a massive scale, terminate the supply of arms to Ukraine, and resume Putin’s ties with Russia.
Last week, the AFD was officially classified as an extremist organization by Domestic Information (BFV), rekindled debate over whether the party should be banned.
The AFD now says it is suing BFV and accusing it of “abuse” of power.
And the designation was publicly condemned by senior members of the US administration of Donald Trump.
Managing Trump’s relationship with the White House is another balancing act for Meltz. Merz is a dedicated Atlantic who frowned upon election night when Europe declared that it should “achieve independence from America.”
Nevertheless, Merz’s government will “invest a lot to maintain transatlantic relations,” says GMF’s Claudia major.
There is speculation that he might even “go to golf.” This is a reference to trying to plead for Golf Mud’s cards by playing some holes on the fairway.
However, Merz’s first trip abroad was directed towards Paris and Warsaw, and the relationship he claims to have suffered under Olaf Scholz.
Agnieszka Pomaska, a member of Poland’s SEJM and member of Prime Minister Donald Tass’ Civic Platform Party, is “high time” to improve relations between Germany and Poland.
“We need to invest together in the Army, in the defense,” Pomasca says. Pomasca says Scholz’s government is “politically weak” and that it is never easy to work with a simple weaker government.
“We didn’t have this feeling that was very common in the past few years that Germany was one of the leaders of the European Union.”
