One year into Friedrich Merz’s chancellorship, the honeymoon is long gone - and much of the damage is self-inflicted. What went wrong?
Friedrich Merz recently chose the bold strategy of scolding Germany’s workforce for taking too many sick days, dismissing part-time jobs as a lazy "lifestyle choice", and even telling Germans to look to Greece to learn how to work hard.
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A staggering historical plot twist from a leader whose country spent years lecturing Europe on efficiency, isn't it?
But a year ago, Merz promised a conservative pro-market renewal, but his centre-right and centre-left coalition is paralysed by internal fighting. Germany's economic recovery has completely stalled, with growth projections for 2026 halved to just 0.5%. And voters are furious over high energy costs, heavy taxes, and an upcoming €4bn cut to the public pension system.
And internationally, a public swipe at Donald Trump over Iran backfired badly, with the US President claiming Merz does not know what he is talking about. Now, with the planned withdrawal of 5000 US troops from Germany, vital long-term security agreements look a bit shaky.
According to last month’s survey, Merz is now the most unpopular democratically elected leader in the world. A staggering 76% of Germans disapprove of his performance.
However, to be fair to Merz, his job isn’t easy. His coalition holds a tiny parliamentary majority of just 12 seats. With his CDU party dropping to 23% in the polls, he looks more and more isolated, allowing the far-right AfD to take the lead ahead of critical state elections this autumn.
Merz has built his entire political identity on offering Germans nothing but economic tough love and longer working weeks. They want to see real financial results before they decide to give the Chancellor a permanent holiday.
Given his notorious comments about how glad he was to escape the Amazon after last year's climate summit in Brazil, it is safe to assume he won't be choosing to spend that time off in Belém.
Watch the Euronews video in the player above for the full story.