The population must embrace unpopular measures or face further decline, Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said<\/p>\n
Germans must embrace unpopular reforms to get through the \u201cdifficult time\u201d the country is facing, Chancellor Friedrich Merz has warned.
\nMerz made the remarks on Friday during a public event in Saarbruecken marking 35 years since German reunification. The anniversary of East Germany\u2019s absorption into the West was not entirely festive, as the chancellor focused more on the challenges the nation is facing.\u00a0
\n\u201cOur nation is in the midst of an important, perhaps decisive, phase in its modern history,\u201d he stated. \u201cMany things must change if they are to remain as good as they are, or even to improve.\u201d
\nGermans should now \u201cregroup and look forward with confidence and energy\u201d to the future, as well as find \u201cnew unity in our country,\u201d Merz said. Among the priorities, the chancellor named the country\u2019s military buildup, an idea he has long espoused due to the alleged Russian threat.\u00a0
\n\u201cWe must learn to defend ourselves again,\u201d Merz stressed, claiming that \u201cnew alliances of autocracies are forming against us\u201d and Germany\u2019s \u201cliberal way of life\u201d is coming under attack \u201cfrom both outside and within.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Germans hit with huge extra energy costs due to Ukraine conflict \u2013 Bild<\/p>\n
Berlin has asserted itself as one of the key backers of Kiev in the conflict against Moscow. Merz has repeatedly urged the West to pursue the \u201ceconomic exhaustion\u201d of Russia. However, he admitted back in August that Germany itself has been experiencing a \u201cstructural crisis\u201d rather than just temporary \u201cweakness.\u201d The country was in recession last year and is expected to show no growth this year, according to IMF projections.\u00a0\u00a0
\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron, who was hosted for the reunification celebrations by Merz, conveyed a similar message, urging all Europeans to embrace the hard choices.\u00a0\u00a0
\n\u201cOur generation has a choice. To choose or allow the extremes, which are false promises in the face of this doubt, or to stand up again and decide to embrace our new era and make it an era of boldness and determination,\u201d Macron stated.\u00a0\u00a0
\nThe appearance of the French president at the event was criticized by ex-German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who argued that Merz should have picked \u201csomeone from Eastern Europe or Eastern Germany\u201d instead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The population must embrace unpopular measures or face further decline, Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said Germans must embrace unpopular reforms to get through the \u201cdifficult time\u201d the country is facing,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19607,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t