EU leaders support German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at Arctic summit

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and other allied leaders expressed support for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the European Union (EU) Arctic Summit in Finland. Zeit reports this.

“He is the same chancellor as before. We have very good cooperation, and he plays a very large and very important role in the European Union,” Orpo said, commenting on the internal political crisis in Germany.

During the summit, Merz called on NATO allies to unite against growing threats. “Here in the far north of Europe you can see how threatened peace in Europe is. “I can only urge all of us to take this threat seriously,” the chancellor said. His speech lasted exactly one minute and 29 seconds, after which he left the hall without answering questions from journalists.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda also weighed in on German domestic politics, calling the success of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in Saxony-Anhalt a disappointment. At the same time, he supported German foreign policy on the issue of assistance to Ukraine and Germany’s role in the EU. Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs praised Merz for his role in negotiations on the importance of the Arctic.