Friedrich Merz Has a Tough Job as Germany’s Chancellor. It Just Got Tougher.

Friedrich Merz Has a Tough Job as Germany’s Chancellor. It Just Got Tougher.

Friedrich Merz’s party won Germany’s national election in late February. After weeks of coalition negotiations, Mr. Merz finally made it to the chancellor’s office late Tuesday afternoon, one failed parliamentary vote and several hours behind schedule. In the interim, nearly all of Mr. Merz’s problems got worse. Forecasts for the stalled German economy, which Mr….

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What to Know About Germany’s New Government

What to Know About Germany’s New Government

Exactly six months after Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition imploded, Friedrich Merz, a conservative Christian Democrat, will be sworn in as Germany’s next chancellor on Tuesday. The swearing-in comes after less than two months of negotiation between the Christian Democratic Union, or C.D.U., which came in first with 28.5 percent of the vote, and the incumbent…

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In a Europe Adrift, Macron Seizes the Moment

In a Europe Adrift, Macron Seizes the Moment

In the weeks after President Emmanuel Macron called a snap election last summer that resulted in a deeply divided French Parliament, if his name came up it was often to call for his resignation. The unpopular president, long derided by critics as aloof, all-controlling and arrogant, looked certain to ride out the final three years…

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