Merz's coalition deal: a 'betrayal' of Germany?

With liberalism, freedom and democracy under threat globally, it's a time for 'giants' – but this is a 'coalition of the timid'

CDU chair Friedrich Merz (left) and Lars Klingbeil, head of the SPD, pictured at a press conference following successful coalition talks between the two parties
CDU chair Friedrich Merz (left) and Lars Klingbeil, head of the SPD, pictured at a press conference following successful coalition talks between the two parties
(Image credit: Florian Gaertner / Photothek / Getty Images)

So much for Germany's "radical" new direction, said Ralf Neukirch in Der Spiegel (Hamburg). When the incoming chancellor, Friedrich Merz, won the election in February, he promised to be bold and brave: to tighten our borders, unshackle our low-growth economy, bolster our defences, and wean us off our dependence on the United States. Last week, on the same day that the far-right AfD topped a national poll for the first time, the CDU leader unveiled his coalition deal with the SPD – and it was full of the same tired old policies: no military conscription; no social and tax reform; no major migration measures.

The centre-left SPD got something for pensioners, while Merz's centre-right CDU/CSU alliance walked away with gifts to farmers and entrepreneurs. "A perfectly normal coalition agreement, in other words. Only these aren't normal times." With war raging in Europe, the far-right on the rise and the US intent on destroying the global economic order, we need our leaders to be courageous. Instead, we have a "coalition of the timid".

OK, so Merz's new agreement is "hardly revolutionary", said Jan Frédéric Willems in Tagesschau (Hamburg). But his most radical measure came before the coalition agreement, when he upended decades of fiscal convention and released Germany's debt brake – unleashing a more than €500 billion bazooka of defence and infrastructure spending. Combine this multibillion-euro injection with a calm policy plan, and "a lot can be achieved".

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Immigration is fuelling AfD's ascendance, and yet the coalition's central promise in this area – to turn asylum seekers back at the border – is empty, as it depends on the unlikely cooperation of other countries. Coming on top of Merz's debt-fuelled spending splurge, the deal has "formalised the most spectacular betrayal of centre-right voters in modern German history". It's a gift the AfD "could scarcely have hoped for".

It had barely begun, but the honeymoon is definitely over for Merz, said James Angelos on Politico (Brussels). His approval ratings have plunged ten points since the election. The world needs Germany's new leader to succeed, said Tagesspiegel (Berlin). The stakes are incredibly high – both domestically, where Merz's coalition is the only thing standing between the AfD and power, and globally, given our country's economic and military weight in Europe. With liberalism, freedom and democracy under threat, it's a time for "giants" – yet sadly we have no Helmut Kohl, no Gerhard Schröder, no Merkel. All of them have experience of governing during international crises. Our incoming chancellor and his coalition partners do not. "Their learning curve must be steeper than anyone's before."

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