Merz said he would form a government “as soon as possible” to strengthen European defense and “get rid of dependence on the United States”

After Germany’s conservative Union won Sunday’s new Bundestag election, Christian Democratic Union leader Merz said a new government would be formed “as soon as possible” to revive a “country shaken by multiple crises” and deal with the rapid rise of the far right. At the same time, he stressed that strengthening European defense would be his “top priority” to ensure that the continent “gradually gets rid of its dependence on the United States.” In a speech immediately after winning the election, Merz pointed out that in the face of a US government that was “indifferent to the fate of Europe,” he proposed to build an “independent European defense system” as an “alternative to the current NATO form.” “I would not have said such a thing, but after Trump’s statement last week, it is clear that the Americans, at least this US government, are indifferent to the fate of Europe,” Merz said in an interview with German ARD TV. Merz also mentioned that Germany’s relationship with the United States is facing a “tricky” situation, and Trump’s remarks on the war in Ukraine have worried European countries. He believes that NATO, a military alliance established in 1949 to ensure mutual protection among Western countries, is at an important turning point. “I want to see where the NATO summit at the end of June will lead us, whether we will still discuss the existing NATO structure or we have to quickly build independent European defense capabilities,” Merz said. He added: “I have no illusions about what is happening in the United States.”