Shock and embarrassment in Berlin! Friedrich Merz was only elected the new German Chancellor by the Bundestag in the second round. This has never happened before in the history of the Federal Republic.
Is it already damaged by goods before being able to present the show on the road? Can his coalition still work together in a spirit of trust? And what about its ambitious plans for Europe?
Questions for our panel in this edition of the European Parliament: Damian Boeseer, of the German Party of Volt seated with the Greens, Anna Stürgkh of Renew Europe (Austria) and Siegfried Mureșan, of the European Pecuple Party (Romania).
The Friedrich Merz era started with a blow. The 69 -year -old man did not receive the required majority of 316 votes in the first round. No one expected!
During the three months which followed the early elections which transformed its Christian democrats into the greatest force of the Bundestag, Merz has already undergone supported attacks of his conservative colleagues and their media allies for having too far removed the social democrats, his coalition partner.
And it was even before he entered the Chancellery! The question is: who were dissidents, Christian Democrats or the social democrats – or both? Some have called them traitors. One thing is certain: the new government will start with a serious distrust in its own ranks.
Too bad, because there are enormous expectations in Berlin and Brussels that Merz revives the economy, brings Europe back on the right track, repairs the Franco-German engine, reigns in Trump and apprivor the migration. Does he finally go all this?
The second subject was the political thriller in Romania where the Euro -right Eurosceptic George Sion won the first round of the replay of the Romanian presidential election.
The revival was necessary after the highest courtyard in the country canceled the elections of last December due to the attempted Russian manipulation. A decision that was strongly criticized by the world's far right, including the Trump administration. A victory for Simion could have a serious impact on Europe, say political observers.
On May 18, voters will face a brutal choice between two radically different candidates, Simion and Nicusor Dan, the mayor of Bucharest.
Simion, the leader of the nationalist alliance party for Romanian unity, has increasingly aligned his rhetoric and his position with those who sympathized in the interest of the Kremlin. In a recent and widely criticized statement, Simion said that Russia did not threaten any threat to NATO.
His opponent is Dan, an independent candidate with a training in mathematics and a strong pro-European progressive orientation. Voters must therefore decide between two fundamentally different visions.
Will Romanians maintain the country's pro-European course? Or do anti-EU forces prevail?
Finally, the panel discussed the consequences of the large power outage which recently struck the Iberian peninsula and certain parts of France.
The traffic lights failed, the elevators stopped, electronic payments broke down – and in the cities, people intervened to help each other. The electricity failure was probably triggered by technical problems, although the exact cause is not clear.
ADVERTISEMENTCould this happen elsewhere in Europe? Are we prepared for a major energy security crisis?
