Conservative leader Merz set to become Germany's chancellor

6/5/2025 12:50

Conservative Friedrich Merz is set to be sworn in on Tuesday as Germany's new chancellor at a critical juncture as the economy battles its longest post-war downturn, relations with top security ally the United States fray and the far-right surges.



Lawmakers are widely expected to back Merz as chancellor in a vote in the lower house of parliament after his CDU/CSU conservatives, who won February's federal election, secured a coalition deal with the centre-left Social Democrats.



The pressure is on for Merz to show leadership after the implosion last November of outgoing SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-way coalition left a political vacuum at the heart of Europe even as it faced a myriad of crises.



A global trade war sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping import tariffs is threatening a third year of downturn in Europe's largest economy, which has already had to grapple with the end of cheap Russian gas since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and growing rivalry from China.