But Angela Merkel, then the party's overall leader, blocked his path, and after the CDU lost the 2002 election, replaced him as parliamentary leader as well. "He embodied the more traditional ...

He has vowed to prioritize European unity and the continent’s security as it grapples with the new Trump administration and Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The centre-right CDU has emerged as the biggest party in the German election, making Merz the most likely to lead a government, following coalition negotiations.

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Still, Mr. Merz managed to coalesce his party around him and shift it to a more traditional conservative posture after Ms. Merkel’s long tenure took the party further to the left. His business ...

Friedrich Merz, who is on course to become post-World War II Germany's 10th chancellor after the country's election ... derailed by former Chancellor Angela Merkel in the early 2000s and even ...

After his conservative bloc came out ahead ... A long-time rival of centrist ex-chancellor Angela Merkel within the CDU party, Merz has attacked her open-door migrant policy and drawn her ire ...

Already, Merz has pledged to increase defense spending and put Paris, Warsaw, and London at the lead of a new policy to shore up Ukraine’s sovereignty and defend Europe from Russia with or without the ...

Merz, a man who has never held a government role, is preparing to take the reins in Germany just as the country faces economic and diplomatic crises.

However, reunification in 1990 allowed Angela Merkel, the East German daughter ... and could yet greatly constrain his ability to govern after the elections. Never the favourite of his party's ...