Merz strikes urgent tone in calling for more European independence from US
by Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor from World news | The Guardian on (#6VFZZ)
Stance of German alliance's leader could herald closer ties with France but debt brake' poses obstacle to spending
Friedrich Merz marked his conservative alliance's victory in Germany's election by urging Europe to make itself more independent from the US - a project that will be music to the ears of Emmanuel Macron but may turn on whether Merz can build a Bundestag majority to lift the so-called debt brake that slows increases in defence spending.
One possibility for the CDU/CSU alliance leader, who is on course to become Germany's next chancellor, is to claim that the country is in an emergency, to try to force the change through the Bundestag before its dissolution.
Continue reading...